<Tr> <Th> Known for </Th> <Td> exploring the Great Lakes, Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Signature </Th> </Tr> <P> René - Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de La Salle (November 22, 1643--March 19, 1687) was a French explorer . He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico . He claimed the entire Mississippi River basin for France . </P> <P> Robert Cavelier was born on November 22, 1643, into a comfortably well - off family in Rouen, France, in the parish Saint - Herbland . When he was younger, he enjoyed science and nature . As a man, he studied with the Jesuit religious order and became a member after taking initial vows in 1660 . At his request on March 27, 1667, after he was in Canada, he was released from the Society of Jesus after citing "moral weaknesses ." Although he left the order, never took final vows in it, and later became hostile to it, historians sometimes described him incorrectly as a priest or a leader . </P>

Who explored the entire mississippi to the gulf of mexico