In 1718, La Harpe left France, along with 40 men, and established a trading post in April 1719 on the Red River near what is now Texarkana, Texas. This was near the center of the Caddo Confederacy. La Harpe hoped to establish trade relationships with more distant and unknown Indian tribes and, thus, on Aug 11, 1718, he set off with 9 men, including 3 Caddo guides, and 22 horses loaded with trade goods to visit a Wichita village to the northwest. (This same year, another French explorer, Claude Charles Du Tisne also journeyed west to visit a different Wichita village in Kansas.)