Down the river they floated, passing the Missouri, the Ohio, and the Arkansas, where Joliet and Marquette had turned back. With the kindly help of new guides, they passed on until they found the Mississippi branching into three streams. La Salle divided his party, and each took a stream to the Gulf. [Sidenote: =La Salle takes possession of new country=] On shore, just above the mouth, a cross was raised and La Salle took possession of all the country he had explored "in the name of Louis the Great, King of France." The company shouted, "Long live the king!" La Salle's first great object had been accomplished. Then the party began the slow journey up stream. La Salle finally reached Mackinac, and there again began to lay great plans. The first thing he did was to go to Starved Rock and build a fort for the protection of his union of Indian tribes. [Sidenote: =Builds Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock=] Starved Rock is a rough cliff which rises one hundred thirty-five feet high, right out of the valley. Its sides are almost perpendicular. La Salle and his men cut away the trees on top and built storehouses, log huts, and a palisade. They named it Fort St. Louis. In the valley below, hundreds of Indians came and built their wigwams that they might be safe from their enemies, the Iroquois. Tonti was put in command of the fort. [Sidenote: =La Salle misses the mouth of the Mississippi=] La Salle's next step was to return to France and ask the king to plant a colony of Frenchmen at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The king agreed, and La Salle set sail for the Gulf of Mexico with a fleet of four ships and a colony of more than one hundred fifty persons (1684). But he missed the Mississippi and landed at Matagorda Bay in Texas. The colonists blamed La Salle. He tried in vain to find the Mississippi. [Illustration: STARVED ROCK ON THE ILLINOIS RIVER _Many interesting Indian legends are connected with this rock, which stands one hundred thirty-five feet above the river below_] [Sidenote: =La Salle's death=] Suffering and discontent increased until a party of La Salle's men lay in ambush and shot him, and left his body in the woods. More than a year went by before the faithful Tonti at Starved Rock heard of the sad fate of the great leader. [Sidenote: =The heroic Tonti=] The French king refused to send aid to the starving colonists in Texas, but the brave and heroic Tonti, though saddened by the death of La Salle, resolved to rescue them. His rescuing party suffered awful hardships. They deserted Tonti on the lower Mississippi, and he was at last forced to return to Starved Rock. THE MEN OF NEW FRANCE [Sidenote: =Men of New France lived as the Indians lived=]