⚓π«️ La Salle Monument near Port Lavaca, Texas – Fog, Exploration, and the Edge of History
Simba and I visited the La Salle Monument near Port Lavaca, Texas — a striking historical marker standing along the shores of Matagorda Bay . The monument commemorates the 1685 landing of French explorer RenΓ© Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle , whose arrival marked one of the earliest European claims in what would eventually become Texas. Rising from the coastal landscape, the granite figure faces the bay that carried La Salle and his expedition into this unfamiliar territory. Visiting on a foggy morning added an extra layer of atmosphere, making it easy to imagine tall ships offshore and uncertainty hanging in the air as history quietly unfolded along the water’s edge. π A Monument Born from Exploration and Ambition The La Salle Monument was erected during the Texas Centennial celebrations of the 1930s, a period when the state sought to honor defining moments from its deep and complex past. La Salle’s failed attempt to establish a French colony here would ultimately influence Spani...