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I just learned about this - so don’t take my word for it. But from what I’ve gathered, the French were one of the first Europeans to come out west and explored America around the early 16th century. And in our study of Arkansas’ history we came across this guy Henri de Tonti who, in the late 1600s established a trading post off of the Mississippi River and it later became known as the Arkansas Post.
So who is Tonti? He’s Italian, found the city Detroit with his younger brother, and was the friend and associate of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (see above, the one with a sad face, kneeling) - the famed French dude who explored and “claimed” the entire Mississippi area (as in, the state of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) for France.
Tonti lost his hand during the Sicilian Wars and wore a prosthetic hook. His nickname was “Iron Hand”. I cannot find any connection between Tonti and Captain Hook.
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