The French were moving rapidly across America, claiming the land as theirs, when Robert La Salle first explored the Mississippi River delta. On his return trip to drive the Spanish out and establish a settlement there, he unknowingly passed the mouth of the river as his crew sailed the Gulf of Mexico, landing in Texas instead. Bad luck plagued them, and the people who had come to colonize the area grew angry and discontented. But La Salle pushed forward to try to realize his dream of a settlement for the French.