How early can the Louisiana Basin be settled by Europeans

In OTL, the East coast of what is now the United States was the first place to be heavily settled by Europeans.

Now how early can Europeans settle the Louisiana basin in large numbers?

Wether it be the British, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese or any other powers, I don't care, but would it be possible for the Louisianan basin to be settled as early as and along the lines of the East Coast in terms of population?

Not saying it has to be as densely populated, but dense enough to actualy be properly settled.
 
Well <channeling Louisiana History class>, the first Europeans in the area OTL were the expeditions headed by Cabeza de Vaca about 1520 and de Soto in the early 1540s. A timeline where the Spanish mount an expedition to chart the Mississippi based on the findings of either of these could get some Spanish settlement by the end of the 16th century. Only problem is, why would Spaniards settle there that early? They were out for gold and converts to the Faith, and Louisiana was thinly populated and devoid of precious metals.
 
Successful DeLuna? He tried to settle Florida in 1559. With a success in the region, another colony might be tried. Or the French, in competition. It looks to me like DeLuna was trying settle the areas that Jean Ribaut tried to settle, so maybe the Huguenots would shoot for a colony in Louisiana. With less danger to the silver galleons, the Spanish may not invest any effort to chase them off.

http://www.de-luna.com/pal.html
http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/ogh/Tristan_de_Luna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristán_de_Luna_y_Arellano
http://etc.usf.edu/Maps/pages/6900/6947/6947.htm
 
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