Question: Which explorer accidentally established a Texas settlement in 1685?
Answer: René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. Faulty maps led La Salle to believe the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. He established a settlement near Garcitas Creek in present-day Victoria County, more than 400 miles west of his intended destination. Although commonly called Fort St. Louis, the settlement had no official name.
