LA SALLE 



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LA SALLE 



of two winglike plates of cartilage which con- 

 stitute the side walls of the larynx and meet in 

 front to form the projection popularly known 

 as Adam's apple. The cricoid cartilage is 

 shaped like a signet ring, its broad side form- 

 ing the back wall of the larynx. The voice is 

 produced by means of the true vocal cords, two 

 bands of elastic tissue controlled by small 

 muscles and stretching between the upper front 

 edges of the cricoid cartilage and the inner 

 front wall of the thyroid. Between the true 

 vocal cords is an opening known as the glottis, 

 and above and lying parallel with them are 

 other folds of membrane, the false vocal cords, 

 so called because they have no share in voice 

 production. 



The sounds produced in talking or singing 

 are the result of the vibration of the true 

 vocal cords, this vibration being caused by the 

 air rushing through the voice box. High, shrill 

 notes are produced when the cords are tightly 

 stretched, while deep, rumbling tones indicate 

 a slackening of the elastic bands. An adult 

 male has longer cords than an adult female, 

 and this is true also of the glottis. The larynx 

 of a boy who is approaching maturity under- 

 goes rapid growth, a process which gives him a 

 "cracking" voice. See VOICE J.H.K. 



LA SALLE, la sal', RENE ROBERT CAVELIER, 

 Sieur de (1643-1687), next to Samuel Cham- 

 plain, was the greatest of the French pioneers 

 in America. He was born at Rouen, France, 

 emigrated to Canada at the age of twenty-three 

 and settled upon 

 a tract of land 

 eight miles above 

 Montreal. In 

 1669 he sold his 

 land and started 

 on a tour of 

 Western explora- ^^ 

 tion in company 

 with a party of 

 missionaries 

 bound for the 

 upper Great 

 Lakes. He soon LA SALLE 



left the party, however, and with a few fol- 

 lowers proceeded southward. He is reported 

 to have discovered the Ohio River and to have 

 descended it as far as the rapids at Louisville, 

 but his biographers are not agreed upon this 

 point. Within the next two or three years 

 La Salle traveled the length of Lake Michigan, 

 crossed to its western shore and explored the 

 valley of the Illinois River. 



In 1673, on recommendation of Count Fron- 

 tenac, governor of Canada, he obtained from 

 the French court a title of nobility and the 

 grant of a large tract of land which included 

 Fort Frontenac, on the site of the present city 

 of Kingston, Ontario. Had La Salle remained 

 there and engaged in the fur trade he might 

 have become wealthy, but he was moved by a 

 larger purpose. The rich country of the Illi- 

 nois appealed to him, and he saw in it the site 

 of a future empire, which in time might exceed 

 the home country in wealth. It was his ambi- 

 tion to acquire and develop this vast territory 

 for France. Accordingly, in 1677, he went to 

 Paris and laid his plans before the court. He 

 was received with honor, and many of his re- 

 quests were granted, with the provision, how- 

 ever, that his plans be carried out without 

 expense to the government. 



La Salle's enterprise aroused the opposition 

 and jealousy of the Canadian fur traders, be- 

 cause, should it succeed, it would deprive them 

 of a part of their revenue. Notwithstanding 

 this opposition, however, he proceeded to carry 

 out his plans. He returned to Canada in 1678, 

 and the. following winter built, near Niagara, 

 the Griffin, the first sailing vessel placed upon 

 the Great Lakes. In the summer of 1679 the 

 Griffin sailed to the Strait of Mackinaw, but 

 it was lost on the return voyage. 



During the next three years La Salle de- 

 scended the Mississippi to its mouth, and there 

 took possession of the entire Mississippi Val- 

 ley for France, naming the region Louisiana, 

 in honor of his king, Louis XIV. Much of 

 what formed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 

 was included in this region. In 1680 he built 

 Fort Crevecoeur, on the Illinois River, above 

 the present site of Peoria. This was the first 

 rude settlement by white men within the pres- 

 ent state of Illinois. Two years later Fort 

 Saint Louis was built upon a bluff of the Illi- 

 nois River, near the present village of Utica. 

 Around this fort La Salle gathered and main- 

 tained for twenty years the largest confedera- 

 tion of Indian tribes ever controlled by a white 

 man for so long a period. The bluff upon 

 which the fort was built is now known as 

 Starved Rock (which see), and is in the center 

 of a state park. 



Having established his fort and placed it in 

 charge of his lieutenant, Tonty, La Salle again 

 went tj France to secure means and people for 

 establishing a colony at the mouth of the Mis- 

 sissippi. In 1684 he sailed for the Gulf of 

 Mexico. The expedition was embarked on four 



