Guillaume Delisle (1675-1726), La Louisiane (1718)

This map was issued in Paris by Delisle and proved to be perhaps his most influential. He used it to support French authority in the New World, claiming the Carolinas for France, and to illustrate how the British Colonies were surrounding the French possessions in the west. The map has several features that contributed to its influence. In addition to presenting the first detailed depiction of the Mississippi Valley and delta, Delisle included the routes of early explorers, including De Soto and La Salle, as well as the phrase "Mission de los Teijas etablie en 1716," an early form of the place-name Texas.

Courtesy of the Wisconsin State Historical Society