Henri de Tonti

Henri de Tonti
Co-founder of Fort St. Louis, Illinois country
In office
Founded 1682[1]
MonarchLouis XIV of France
Personal details
Born
Enrico Tonti

c. 1649
Gaeta
DiedSeptember 1704 (aged c. 55)
Fort Louis, Louisiana (present-day Mobile County, Alabama)
Cause of deathYellow fever
Relations
Signature
Nicknames
  • "Father of Arkansas"
  • "Iron Hand"
Military service
Allegiance France
Years of servicec. 1668–1676
RankCaptain
BattlesFranco-Dutch War

Henri de Tonti ( Enrico Tonti; c. 1649 – September 1704), also spelled Henri de Tonty, was an Italian-born French military officer, explorer, and voyageur who assisted René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, with North American exploration and colonization from 1678 to 1686.[2] de Tonti was one of the first explorers to navigate and sail the upper Great Lakes. He also sailed the Illinois and the Mississippi, to its mouth and thereupon claimed the length of the Mississippi for Louis XIV of France.[3] He is credited with founding the settlement that would become Peoria, Illinois. De Tonti established the first permanent European settlement in the lower Mississippi valley, known as Poste de Arkansea, making him "The Father of Arkansas".[4][5]

  1. ^ museum.state.il.us website Home > Archeology > Starved Rock Site
  2. ^ "A tour of Mobile's first 100 years", staff reporter, The Press-Register, Mobile, AL, February 24, 2002
  3. ^ "Henri de Tonti". Encyclopædia Britannica. August 28, 2019.
  4. ^ "Henri de Tonti (1649–1704)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  5. ^ HMdb.org, "Henri de Tonti Historical Marker", Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Retrieved August 9, 2009.