In January 1699 Iberville explored the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, rediscovering the mouth of the Mississippi. Later he established a temporary fort, Fort Maurepas, on Biloxi Bay (now Ocean Springs, Miss.) and then sailed for France.
After the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697) temporarily settled the dispute between the English and the French over Hudson Bay, Iberville was commissioned to fortify the mouth of the Mississippi in order to secure the claim made on Louisiana by René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle. In January 1699 Iberville explored the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, rediscovering the mouth of the Mississippi. Later he established a temporary fort, Fort Maurepas, on Biloxi Bay (now Ocean Springs, Miss.) and then sailed for France. The following year he returned and established a second fort, Fort La Boulaye, just below present-day New Orleans and in 1702 constructed a new post, Fort St. Louis, on the Mobile River. The success of these defense projects persuaded Louis XIV to begin colonizing Louisiana.
