Important Dates in
Louisiana1541 Explored by
Hernando de Soto. 1683 Claimed for
France by Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. May
2, 1803 Sold to the United States. April
30, 1812 Admitted to the Union as the 18th
state.
Jean
Laffite was a pirate who once preyed
on merchant ships in the Gulf of Mexico. In 1815,
he and his men helped General Andrew Jackson
defeat the British at the Battle of New Orleans.