La Belle (ship)

The hull remains of La Belle undergoing reconstruction
History
France
NameLa Belle
OwnerLouis XIV
OperatorRené-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
BuilderHonoré Mallet
FateShipwrecked
StatusHull raised and on display at the Bullock Texas State History Museum
General characteristics
Typebarque longue
Tonnage40–45
Length54 ft 4 in (16.56 m)
Beam14 ft 9 in (4.50 m)
Draft8 ft (2.4 m)

La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle's four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico with the ill-fated mission of starting a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685. La Belle was wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year, dooming La Salle's Texas colony to failure. The wreckage of La Belle lay forgotten until it was discovered by a team of state archaeologists in 1995. The discovery of La Salle's flagship was regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds of the century in Texas, and a major excavation was launched by the state of Texas that, over a period of about a year, recovered the entire shipwreck and over a million artifacts.