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First European settlement along the Mississippi...
First European settlement along the Mississippi...
Item # 699194
July 03, 1699
THE LONDON GAZETTE, England, July 3, 1699 Page 2 (the back page) has a report from Paris that is likely the earliest mention in any newspaper of a settlement along the Mississippi River.
The report notes: "...Monsieur d'Ibberville arrived on the 26th of the last month at Rachelle from his expedition to the West Indies; He entered into the River Mississipi [sic], which falls into the Gulph of Mexico, and designing to make a settlement there, built a fort near the mouth of the River, and left 80 men in it; And it's said, he intends very shortly to return thither...".
This was the settlement of what is considered "Old Biloxi" by Sieur d'Iberville. At that time d'Iberville was exploring the coast of the Gulf of Mexico attempting to rediscover the mouth of the Mississippi. At Biloxi Bay, in what is now the town of Oceans Springs, he built Fort Maurepas, the first permanent European settlement on the Mississippi.
With the first successful newspaper in North America beginning in 1704, no American title would report this even, and the number of English-language newspapers of that era is exceedingly small.
Complete as a single-sheet issue, 7 by 11 1/2 inches, wide margins, very nice condition.
Category: The 1600's and 1700's
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