René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, (1643-1687)

Explorer, trader and seigneur. He was involved in the foundation of Fort Frontenac (1673) and built Fort Niagara and the Griffon, the first sailing ship on Lake Erie (1679). He found the mouth of the Mississippi (1682), but a later attempt at finding the Mississippi from the sea and establishing a settlement ended in failure and his murder.