1699

Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, who founded the first French settlement in present-day Mississippi

February 10: Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, leading a French expedition to establish a permanent settlement in Louisiana, first enters present-day Mississippi at Ship Island. Going ashore he meets friendly Indians from the Biloxi tribe; he names a nearby bay in the Indians' honor. Later he comes across members of the Bayougoulas tribe, who tell him of the large river to the west where their village is located. Iberville successfully navigates through the North Pass into the Mississippi River and sails north until he comes to a decorated pole which he learns is the boundary marker between the Bayougoulas and the Houma. The pole, which the French call a baton rouge (red stick), would later be the site of the city with that name.
When Iberville returns to Biloxi Bay, he comes across the Mongoulachas, who give him Tonty's letter to La Salle which they had been holding for fourteen years. The letter reinforces and substantiates the French claim to the Mississippi valley.