Dr. Lee W. Woodard discovered that Rene Robert Cavelier De La Salle was assassinated at the juncture of Fourche Maligne and Poteau rivers in eastern Oklahoma. James (Jimmy) Hiens crafted the Normandy French Heavener Runestone in 1687 to memorialize that infamous death place. Hiens also made the 1687 burial crypt for the La Salle expedition members, Duhaut and Liotot, which was previously known as The Van Buren Arkansas Mystery Grave.
The grave of La Salle expedition drowning victim, Petit Jean De Marne (Marle), is at the East end of Petit Jean mountain of Arkansas, and became the basis for Arkansas legends of Petit Jean. These 1684-1687 La Salle expedition archeological and historic landmarks vitally involve french colonial, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas history, as well as Arkansas and Oklahoma state parks, which do not yet properly understand their Landmarks. This discovery also has great importance for the study of native American society during 1600's, since La Salle Expedition participants vividly described the Native Customs of Coenis and Assonis Indians now known to have been located near Spiro Native American Mounds and junctures of Poteau and Arkansas Rivers.
These discoveries are told in Dr. Woodard's books: Secret La Salle Monument and Historical Marker, Petit Jean's Mountain, "7 Noms" At Wicked Fork Where La Salle Died, and in his Forthcoming La Salle's Last Year: Including Relevant Arkansas and Oklahoma Landmarks.
Three Books about the expeditions of French Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle into Oklahoma and Arkansas
Dr. Lee Woodard's education includes a Bachelor of Arts in
Ministry, Master of Divinity, and Dr. of Ministry |