Henri de Tonti (né Enrico Tonti; – September 1704), also spelled Henri de Tonty, was an Italian-born French military officer, explorer, and voyageur who assisted René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, with North American exploration and colonization from 1678 to 1686. de Tonti was one of the first explorers to navigate and sail the upper Great Lakes. He also sailed the Illinois and the Mississippi, which they traveled to its mouth and claimed for Louis XIV of France. de Tonti established the first permanent European settlement in the lower Mississippi valley, known as Poste de Arkansea, making him "The Father of Arkansas." Early life and military service Henri de Tonti was born in Gaeta, , to Lorenzo and Isabelle (née di Lietto) de Tonti. His father was the governor of Gaeta and a Neapolitan banker. He is credited with inventing the tontine, a form of life insurance, though it has been suggested he merely modified existing Italian life insurance practices. Lorenzo was involved in a revolt against the Spanish viceroy in Naples, and the family was forced to seek asylum in France around the time of Henri's birth. Henri's brother Alphonse was born in 1659, and later became one of the founders of what is now Detroit. Henri de Tonti's cousins, Daniel Greysolon Dulhut and Claude Greysolon de La Tourette were also able to build a name for themselves in New France. In 1668 around the age of 18, de Tonti decided to join the French service. He was a cadet in the French Army for his first two years of military service. The following four years, de Tonti was a midshipman at Marseilles and Toulon and embarked on seven tours at sea, four of which were on warships and three of which were on galleys. de Tonti later became captain-lieutenant of the maître de camp in Messina. This was a troop that Louis XIV sent to Sicily in 1675 under the Command of The Duke of Vivonne to support the rebellion of Messina (circa 100,000 inhabitants in 1674) during the Franco-Dutch War. de Tonti took part in the military operations in the village of Gesso, up the hills near Messina and he lost his hand in a grenade explosion which was replaced with a metal appliance, and was also taken as a prisoner of war. After being detained for six months, de Tonti was exchanged for the Governor's son.