La Salle's history is linked to the general history of the Aosta Valley and that of the Valdigne.

We don't know practically anything regarding the period preceding the Roman occuptaion of the valley.

Valdigne, as well as the Aosta Valley was certainly inhabited firstly by the Celts (whose traces are still embedded in our regional dialect, “patois” and above all in the local toponymy) and then later by the Salassi tribe. However, there is no sign of any of the Salassi's vestiges within our territory.

Tradition has it that the Artze trail that descends through the village of Vedun above Avise and connects it to the sub villages of Echarlod and La Salle, is the continuation of the ancient road of the Salassis that ran half way up the hill on the left hand side of the upper part of the Aosta Valley. The ancient trail that was widened and adapted to the needs of the modern road system from Arpuilles above Aosta to Saint Nicolas, has now become the out-and-out “road of the Salassi” that is easily accessible by car.

The domination of the Romans from the 1st Century B.C. to the middle of the 5th Century A.D. wasn't always calm, due to the continuous revolts of the proud Salassis, who from high upon the mountain tops where they took refuge, made the crossing of the Roman troops along the River Dora difficult and dangerous.

Others, instead, sustain that it went along the valley line, passed over the bridge of Equilivaz, crossed the villages of La Salle and Morgex and finally reached up as far as Pré-Saint-Didier.

Unfortunately, the period of the Roman ruling is not documented: neither by the remains of the ancient legionary road, nor by other monuments or vestiges of that time.

Later, hoards of Barbarians crossed over the boundaries of the Roman Empire and occupied the provinces.

The Aosta Valley was initially invaded by the Burgundes who began to settle in the Valdigne territory. Their command was one of the most “humane”, as they used to usually establish themselves in areas that were already occupied. There they built houses and villages to then dedicate themselves to agriculture and sheep-farming. It was the Burgundes who, according to tradition, brought the first vineyards to the Valley.

The Franks and the Lombards followed the Burgundes and only towards the end of the second Reign of Bourgogne in 1032, did the Aosta Valley pass under the ruling of the House of Savoy with Count Umberto I, also known as “Biancamano” (“Whitehand”).

During the Middle Ages, the history of the Aosta Valley coincides with that of the Lords or “Signori” that were self-sufficient and prosperous. The Lord or “Signore” acted as go-between his subjects and the sovreign. His duty was to protect them and ensure that justice and the right to receive census of the lands they owned.

Valdigne, in any case, belonged directly to the Count of Savoy and had no other feudal lords. Its representative, the Bailiff of Aosta, administered the fief and had his own court in Morgex. During the XIII, XIV and XV century, the Counts and Dukes of Savoy granted to the subjects of the Valdigne allowances that defined reciprocal rights and duties. These formed the basis of the organisation of the budding rural communities. Basing themsleves on these allowances, each community democratically elected its representatives, mayors and prosecutors.

It was in this way, during an unspecified period in time, that the communities of Derby and La Salle came to be with their corresponding parish priests, cemetaries, their fraternal orders and at a later date, their mayors and schools.

It isn't easy to trace La Salle's history from the Middle Ages to the XVIII century. In fact, the most important events reported from the chronicles of the past, are historical facts such as wars, invasions, plagues etc. concerning the Aosta Valley and the Valdigne in general.

The rare information on the ancient La Salle, has been recovered by rummaging through the parish's and episcopate's archives, seeing as that of the borough council was destroyed by the flames that burnt down the old town hall during the liberation in 1945. Therefore, all of the civil documents went irreparably lost.