Home |  PublicationsEncyclopedia |  Mallet Expeditions

The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture

MALLET EXPEDITIONS.

During the eighteenth century, as Spain and France vied for control of the interior of the North American continent between Canada and Mexico, various expeditions looked for trade routes across the region. Determined to find a way to expand their nation's market to Santa Fe, French traders looked for viable east-west routes from New Orleans and from Missouri. In 1739 the brothers Pierre Antoine and Paul Mallet, both French Canadian traders, explored a potential route from the Missouri River area to New Mexico; their return trip eastward in 1740 followed, at least in part, the Canadian River to its confluence with the Arkansas and then down that stream to New Orleans. They may have been the first to completely cross present Oklahoma.

In 1741–42, accompanied by André Fabry de la Bruyère, they tried to repeat their journey and returned westward via the Arkansas and Canadian. The dry conditions forced Fabry to turn back, and although the Mallets continued westward, they too were forced to abandon their mission. In 1750 on a third trip, this time from Kadohadacho Post up the Red River and then up the Canadian, the brothers were arrested and Pierre sent to Cuba. Although Mallet described the country and exposed the reality that the Canadian and Red were different streams, the Spanish took scant notice of the information. The geographical mysteries of the Louisiana country remained unrevealed until a survey of the Red River boundary was ordered after the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819.

Dianna Everett

Bibliography

Martha Royce Blaine, "French Efforts to Reach Santa Fe: André Fabry de la Bruyère's Voyage up the Canadian River in 1741–1742," Louisiana History 20 (Spring 1979).

Anna Lewis, "French Interests and Activities in Oklahoma," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 2 (September 1924).

Delbert F. Schafer, "French Explorers in Oklahoma," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 55 (Winter 1977–78).

Robert S. Weddle, The French Thorn: Rival Explorers in the Spanish Sea, 1682–1762 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1991).


Browse By Topic

European Exploration


Citation

The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition) is the preferred citation for articles:
Dianna Everett, “Mallet Expeditions,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=MA007.

Published January 15, 2010

Copyright and Terms of Use

No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain.

Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole.