During the 1680s, French explorers began searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. By controlling the headwaters of North America’s largest river, the French sought to challenge their geopolitical rivals, the British. In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the Mississippi for France and called the new colony Louisiana, in honor of King Louis XIV. Despite this claim, the French did not immediately settle. In 1699, an expedition led by the Le Moyne brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, arrived on the Gulf Coast to establish the colony. Rather than the mouth of the Mississippi, with waters too shallow to establish a port, the Le Moynes went further down the coast, founding the first permanent settlement at Fort Maurepas (near Biloxi) in 1699 and the first capital of Louisiana, Mobile in 1702. Not until 1718 did the French found a post at the base of the Mississippi, their new capital, New Orleans.
The earliest records that the library holds from the French Period are largely published narratives describing Louisiana from those first explorers. Some of the below books have been digitized and/or translated.
French -- Louisiana.
Le Moyne family.
Louisiana -- Discovery and exploration.
Louisiana -- History -- To 1803.
Mississippi River -- Discovery and exploration.
Mississippi River Valley -- Description and travel.