Franquelin map 1684 at the the Library of Congress

The First Maps of the Continental Interior and the Voyages of La Salle

If the Marquette Autograph map is accepted as spurious, then it can obviously no longer hold claim as the earliest map of the North American Continental Interior. What map can hold title as the "earliest" map? The Minet Map and the Franquelin Map each have a share in the claim. The Franquelin map is discussed here initially as a cartographic tour de force. It could be said that it is the finished document, the Minet map having had served as a developing draft. The map was prepared specifically for King Louis XVI.

Franquelin's Map of Louisiana, 1684

It measured an amazing 6' by 4.5'. LaSalle sailed to France in November of 1683 accompanied by Franquelin. The map was prepared in 1684. One can imagine LaSalle conveying the map to the king, saying, "your Highness, this is your new Colony, La Louisine."

Cartouch from Franquelin's Map of Louisiana

It says:

"Map of Louisiana, or the Voyages of Sieur de La Salle and the lands he discovered from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico in the years 1679. 80, 81, & 82. By Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin in the year 1684, Paris"

Louis XIV

The Swath of North America, La Louisiane, claimed by LaSalle on April 9, 1682, for King Louis XIV.
Rendered from the Franquelin map of 1684 by C.J. Weber