9. Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet 1673
Jacques Marquette was a Jesuit missionary born in France and assigned to New France in 1666. Shortly after his arrival, he and fellow missionaries founded Sault Ste. Marie, which became Michigan’s first European settlement. In his capacity as a missionary to indigenous people, he learned several native languages including Huron. Through his interactions with these native groups, he heard about a large river to the west. Marquette asked his superiors permission to search for and explore the river.
Louis Jolliet was born in Quebec and considered a French Canadian. As a young boy, Jolliet interacted with native groups as he worked with his merchant stepfather in the fur trade. He was fluent in French, Spanish, and English as well as several native languages. Prepared to enter into the priesthood, he never took his orders and in 1667 entered into the fur trading business.
Marquette and Jolliet joined forces for an expedition to search for and explore the fabled Mississippi River. With a crew of five men and two canoes, the Jolliet-Marquette expedition departed from St. Ignace, Michigan on May 17, 1673. The party followed Lake Michigan to Green Bay, and then paddled upstream following the Fox River to what is present-day Portage, Wisconsin. The group had to their canoes two miles through marsh.
With a crew of five voyageurs—men who transported goods for the fur trade—and two canoes, the Jolliet-Marquette expedition departed from St. Ignace, Michigan on May 17, 1673. The party followed Lake Michigan to Green Bay. They paddled upstream following the southerly flow of the Fox River to what is present-day Portage, Wisconsin. The group had to portage, carry, their canoes two miles through marsh. Portaging was common for the Jolliet-Marquette expedition. River obstacles, rapids, and cascades were common and hiking with their canoes was the only way to avoid such treacherous conditions.
The group put in at the Wisconsin River and traveled downstream. On June 17, 1673, they reached the Mississippi River at present-day Praire du Chien, Wisconsin. Floating downstream the group encountered few inhabitants. As they claimed the land for France, they documented the river, plants, and animals. As they approached the Arkansas River, they made note of native people adorned with items of Spanish origin. Fearing hostility, they turned around and began the laborious trek back upstream.
Through their infrequent encounters with native inhabitants, they were informed of a shortcut to the great lake. From the Mississippi River, they traveled up the Illinois River and then on to the Des Plaines River. They portaged their canoes to the Chicago River and traveled into Lake Michigan near today’s Navy Pier. The Jolliet-Marquette party was the first group of men of European ancestry to explore the upper Mississippi River and the upper Midwest of North America.
Louis Jolliet went to Quebec with reports of their journey. In May 1700, he set off on an exploration of Anticosti Island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and was never seen again. Father Marquette wintered in the Illinois Country in 1674, staying in a small encampment that is now Chicago. He died in 1675 of dysentery.