LA SALLE 



3338 



LAS VEGAS 



vessels, and included a hundred soldiers, be- 

 sides carpenters and colonists, with a good 

 store of supplies. However, when the ships 

 reached their destination, La Salle mistook 

 Matagorda Bay for the mouth of the Missis- 

 sippi, and the colonists were landed at that 

 point. There was dissension between La Salle 

 and the captain of the fleet, and the latter 

 departed before the mistake was discovered. 

 La Salle saw that his colony was doomed unless 

 assistance could be procured, and with a few fol- 

 lowers he heroically set out on foot for Canada, 

 to obtain the necessary relief. On the way he 

 was treacherously shot from ambush by one of 

 his followers. 



La Salle was a man of great vision and untir- 

 ing energy, but he lacked the tact necessary to 

 enable him to hold his followers loyal to his 

 cause. During his entire career he faced oppo- 

 sition and obstacles which would have over- 

 whelmed one of less energy. "It is easy," says 

 Parkman, "to reckon up his defects, but it is 

 not easy to hide from sight the Roman virtues 

 that redeemed them. America owes him an 

 enduring memory; for, in his masculine figure, 

 she sees the pioneer who guided her to the 

 possession of her richest heritage." His name 

 is perpetuated in a county of Northern Illinois, 

 and in a thriving city of that county, situated 

 on the Illinois River, ninety-nine miles south- 

 west of Chicago. M.R.T. 



Consult Abbott's The Adventures of the Cheva- 

 lier de La Salle and His Companions; Thwaites' 

 France in America. 



LA SALLE, ILL., an important industrial 

 city of Northern Illinois, with extensive coal- 

 mining interests, situated in La Salle County 

 about midway between the geographical center 

 of the state and its northern border. It lies 

 at the head of navigation of the Illinois River, 

 and at the western terminus of the Illinois 

 and Michigan Canal. Ottawa is fourteen miles 

 east, Peoria is sixty-two miles southwest and 

 Chicago is ninety-nine miles northeast. Rail- 

 road transportation is provided by the Chi- 

 cago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Illinois Central 

 and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; inter- 

 urban electric railways connect with Chicago 

 and intervening cities. La Salle was settled in 

 1830, was incorporated as a city in 1852 and 

 named for Rene Robert Cavelier La Salle, the 

 French explorer. Poles predominate in the 

 large foreign element. The population in- 

 creased from 11,536 in 1910 to 12,221 in 1916 

 (Federal estimate). The area of the city is 

 three square miles. 



The country surrounding La Salle is a rich 

 bituminous coal region, and the city is the 

 center of a large trade carried on by means 

 of rail, river and canal. Coal mining is an 

 important industry, but there are extensive 

 manufactures of spelter, sheet zinc and sul- 

 phuric acid. One of the establishments em- 

 ploys 2,000 men, its annual output being nearly 

 $7,000,000. Some of the largest Portland ce- 

 ment mills in the state are located here, and 

 there are manufactories of clocks, brick, sheet- 

 metal tools, machinery, plows and acid phos- 

 phate. Silica sand, fire clay and cement rock 

 are found in the vicinity. 



The notable buildings are a $100,000 Federal 

 building, erected in 1916, a $200,000 hotel, built 

 in 1915, and the township high school. In addi- 

 tion to the public and parochial schools the city 

 has a business college and a Carnegie Library. 

 Features of interest are a state mine-rescue 

 station, the Illinois Central Railroad bridge and 

 Hegeler Park. In the vicinity are Deer Park 

 and Starved Rock. On the latter a band of 

 besieged Indians died of starvation about 1774 

 (see STARVED ROCK). R.W.T. 



LASSALLE, la sal', FERDINAND (1825-1864), 

 a disciple of Karl Marx and the founder of the 

 German Social Democrat party. As a political 

 movement Socialism owes more to him than 

 to any other man. He was born at Breslau, 

 and studied at the universities of Breslau and 

 Berlin. By 1848 he had become a radical 

 Socialist, but although he wrote several pam- 

 phlets, he was never so influential through his 

 writing as through his leadership. He first 

 showed his ability as an organizer at the time 

 of the democratic disturbances of 1848, and 

 for his activity in that revolt he was impris- 

 oned. From that time until 1861 he confined 

 his activities chiefly to writing on philosophy 

 and Socialism. In 1861 he organized the work- 

 ing classes into the first German labor union, 

 and was again imprisoned for sedition. In the 

 summer of the same year he was killed in a 

 duel. See MARX, KARL. 



LAS VEGAS, lahs va' gas, N. M., an im- 

 portant wool market of the Southwest, located 

 in the northeastern part of the state, 132 miles 

 northeast of Albuquerque and forty-eight miles 

 east of Santa Fe. It is generally regarded as 

 one city, but there are really two separate 

 corporations. The older community, largely a 

 Mexican town, is on the west bank of the Gal- 

 linas River. It is the county seat of San 

 Miguel County, and contains the county court- 

 house. The modern city, known officially as 



