Matagorda Bay

Matagorda Bay is a shallow inlet on the Texas coast, sheltered from the Gulf of Mexico by long barrier islands. Rivers enter its protected waters, and narrow passes connect the bay with the open sea. Its marshes, islands and channels formed part of the homeland of Indigenous peoples who knew the coast long before European ships arrived.

In 1685 René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle brought a French expedition into the bay while seeking the mouth of the Mississippi. The ships had missed their intended destination, and one vessel was wrecked near the entrance. The colonists founded a settlement inland on a tributary of the bay, but disease, shortages and conflict undermined the venture. La Salle was killed in 1687 while seeking help, and the colony did not survive.