French Explorers

About Jacques Marquette


Father Jacques Marquette By: Steven Garcia Hi, my name is Steven Garcia and I was assigned a French Explorer called Father Jacques Marquette. He was born in the year of June 1, 1673. He went to a school ran by Jesuit Preists and so his dream was to become a member. He joined the Jesuit order in 1656 and spent the next 10 years teaching and studying in France. In 1666 he was sent on a missionary to New France where he spent 2 years learning 6 languages from the Native Americans. In 1668 he was sent as a missionary to the Ottawa, spent a winter at Sault Ste Marie, and in 1669 reached La Pointe mission on Chequamegon Bay near the western end of Lake Superior. Marquette accompanied the Ottawa and Huron as they fled from Sioux attacks to the Straits of Mackinac and found a new mission on Point St. Ignace. Marquette was appointed by Frontenac, governor of New France, to accompany Louis Joliet as chaplain and missionary on an expedition to find this river. In 1671 he lived with the Huron and Ottawa Indians. They talked alot about the Great River Called the Mississippi River where in their language meant long river. Since little was known from this river he thought it would lead to the Pacific Ocean where he would have a chance to spread christianity. In 1673 Jolliet, Marquette and five other men began their expedition by following Lake Michigan to Green Bay. Here they canoed up the Fox River, crossed over to the Wisconsin and followed that river downstream to the Mississippi. The first Native Americans they encountered were the Illini, who were very friendly to the expedition and presented them with a peace pipe to use for the remainder of the journey. The further the expedition went, the more convinced they became that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not the Pacific as they had hoped. They also noticed the presence of Spanish trade goods among the friendly Native Americans and not wanting to be captured by either tribes hostile to the French or by the Spanish, the expedition decided to return north. The Illini tribe showed them an easier route to Lake Michigan which was to travel up the Illinois River and cross over to the Chicago River . After his return from the Mississippi expedition, Marquette decided to return to the Illini tribes to preach and found a mission. He arrived around Easter in 1675, but because his health was deteriorating, he decided to return north to Mackinac. He died of dysentery on the trip back. In 1677 Marquette's body was moved to St. Ignace. This is the story of Jacques and his exploration of the Mississippi River with his friend Jolliet Marquette and the 5 other men.
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