5857892 La Salle Claiming Louisiana for France, April 9th 1682, 1847-48 (oil on canvas) by Catlin, George (1796-1872); 37.8x56.4 cm; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA; (add.info.: The expedition arriving at the mouth of the Mississippi; Lasalle erects a cross, taking possession ???n the name of Louis le Grand, King of France and Navarre,??Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-87) French explorer and fur trader in North America, best known for this expedition in which he canoed the lower Mississippi River from the mouth of the Illinois River to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the whole river basin for Louis XIV and France.).