Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieru de La Salle is remembered as a great explorer in North America, but his last expedition was more like a military campaign. Back in France in 1683 after an exploring expedition, he proposed to the King and ministry that he establish fortified posts on the Gulf of Mexico and on the Mississippi River, and collect an army of over 15,000 Indians in preparation for military operations against the Spaniards in the most northern province of Mexico. The long-term goal would be for the French government to control all trade and colonization of the entire Mississippi valley. The crown approved his proposal and gave him four ships rather than the two he requested, including a 36-gun ship from the navy. The expedition departed France in the summer of 1684.

Henri Joutel was a soldier and a volunteer on the expedition who seems to have been an aide to La Salle, and also supervised provisioning of the ships and care for the settlers who accompanied the expedition. Historians have considered his journal account to be unbiased and reliable.