La Belle, the Ship That Changed History

After two decades of searching for La Salle's lost ship La Belle, Texas Historical Commission (THC) divers in 1995 located a shipwreck containing historic artifacts of European origin in the silty bottom of Matagorda Bay, off the coast of Texas. The first cannon lifted from the waters bore late seventeenth-century French insignias. The ill-fated La Belle had been found. Under the direction of then-THC Archeology Division Director James E. Bruseth, the THC conducted a full excavation of the water-logged La Belle. The conservation was subsequently completed at Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory, resulting in preservation of more than one million artifacts from the wreck. An official naval vessel granted to La Salle by the king of France in 1684, La Belle is still considered a sovereign naval vessel belonging to the French government under international maritime law. A formal agreement negotiated by the French Republic, the Musée national de la Marine, the US Department of State, and the THC allows the ship and artifacts to remain in Texas permanently and to be housed in an exhibit at Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. Containing page after page of visually stunning detail and authoritative historical and archeological background, La Bell, The Ship That Changed History is a rich tribute to the painstaking work that led to the discovery and preservation of this cultural treasure. It is also an intriguing and entertaining window on Texas's pivotal place during the era of European colonization of North America.--Back cover.