Louisiana was claimed for France by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1682. In the early eighteenth century,while the French struggled to create permanent settlements in the territory, but they did establish New Orleans in 1718. The territory changed hands throughout the history of the Americas. The Spanish gained control over it in 1762 and ceded it back to the French in 1800. The territory was finally bought by the United States in 1803through Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase.