About the Book
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 26. Chapters: Bay City, Texas, Palacios, Texas, Blessing, Texas, Van Vleck, Texas, Markham, Texas, La Belle, Matagorda Bay, Carancahua Bay, South Texas Nuclear Generating Station, Collegeport, Texas, Sargent, Texas, Tres Palacios Bay, Wadsworth, Texas, R. J. Hill Building, Palacios Municipal Airport, Hotel Blessing, Bay City Independent School District, San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, Big Boggy National Wildlife Refuge, KMKS, Camp Hulen, Palacios Independent School District, Matagorda, Texas, Van Vleck Independent School District, Tidehaven Independent School District, Boling Independent School District, Matagorda Peninsula, Matagorda Independent School District, East Matagorda Bay, Midfield, Texas, Elmaton, Texas, Turtle Creek, Pledger, Texas, Hawkinsville, Texas, Caney, Matagorda County, Texas, Allenhurst, Texas, Cedar Lake, Texas, Cedar Lane, Texas, Van Vleck High School. Excerpt: La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle's four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico with the ill-fated mission of starting a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685. La Belle was wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year, dooming La Salle's Texas colony to failure. For over three centuries the wreckage of La Belle lay forgotten until it was discovered by a team of state archaeologists in 1995. The discovery of La Salle's flagship was regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds of the century, and a major excavation was launched by the state of Texas that, over a period of about a year, recovered the entire shipwreck and over a million artifacts. In the late 17th century, much of North America had been claimed by European countries. Spain had claimed Florida, and New Spain included both modern-day Mexico and much of the southwestern part of the continent. The northern Atlantic coast was...
