Born June 10, 1637, Laon, France
Died May 18, 1675, territory of Illinois Indians, North America
In 1672 Louis Jolliet was chosen to lead a French-Canadian expedition to explore the Mississippi River and to discover whether it emptied into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean. French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette was chosen to go along as the expedition’s interpreter, for he spoke several Indian languages fluently. The information he learned from Native Americans proved invaluable to the explorers as they made their way into the unknown. In addition—when Jolliet’s account of the expedition was lost in a canoe accident—Marquette’s journal became the only first-person record of the historic trip.
Marquette was born on June 10, 1637, in the northern French town of Laon. The son of a distinguished family, he entered the Jesuit order in 1654, studying to become a priest. During that time he wrote to a religious superior, asking to be sent out to foreign lands as a missionary. In 1666 he got his wish when he was ordained a missionary priest and sent to French Canada to teach and convert Native Americans. He arrived in the city of Québec in September. Studying Indian languages for a time at the Jesuit center in Trois-Riviéres on the St. Lawrence River, he showed great ability, and became fluent in at least six Native American tongues.
Marquette next joined his Jesuit superior, Father Dablon, at the Ottawa Indian mission located near Sault Ste. Marie (between Lakes Superior and Huron). Then in September of 1669 he was sent out to found a new mission on Chequamegon Bay, at the western end of Lake Superior. Indian hostilities eventually drove Marquette to set up a second mission, however, on the north shore of the Straits of Mackinac (connecting Lakes Michigan and Huron) in 1671. Called St. Ignace, the mission was where the Jesuit first met the explorer and fur trader Jolliet, who had been sent by the French-Canadian colonial government to travel the great south-flowing river—what would become known as the Mississippi—that Indians in the region had often spoken about.
Marquette was asked to accompany Jolliet on his expedition, as its chaplain and interpreter. His Jesuit superiors saw the trip as a wonderful opportunity to introduce Christianity to the Native American tribes met along the way. Marquette, too, was eager for the chance: in his journal he wrote, “because the salvation of souls was at stake … I would be willing to give my life.” In May of 1673 the expedition of seven men set off from St. Ignace, paddling in birchbark canoes. They traveled westward along the north shore of Lake Michigan to Green Bay, then up the Fox River. Carrying their gear overland to the Wisconsin River, they reached the Mississippi in mid-June. They were warmly greeted by members of the Illinois Indian tribe, who gave the party a calumet, or peace pipe. The expedition members would use it for the rest of their trip, when meeting other Native Americans for the first time.
As the expedition continued down the Mississippi, it became obvious to the explorers that the river flowed south—into the Gulf of Mexico—and not west. They did pass the mouth of the Missouri River as it rushed into the Mississippi, though, and both Jolliet and Marquette felt sure that this great waterway was the one that headed west. Traveling as far south as the border of present-day Arkansas and Louisiana, the expedition cut short its mission after local Indians warned the men of danger. On their way to the mouth of the great river, the travelers were told, they would likely meet hostile tribes that possessed guns. Spanish forces were also said to be approaching the area from the west. Rather than risk warfare or capture, the explorers turned back just days short of their destination. They had traveled more than twenty-five hundred miles in four months.
On July 17, 1673, the expedition headed north up the Mississippi. Paddling against the strong current made progress difficult. Told by Indians about an easier route, the group traveled up the Illinois River and crossed overland to the Chicago River, which carried them to Lake Michigan by September. Jolliet and Marquette split up at St. Francis Xavier mission at Green Bay. The explorer went on to Montreal in French Canada to report on his discoveries. Marquette fell ill, and stayed at a mission near present-day De Pere, Wisconsin, for some time.
By mid-1674 Marquette had recovered and resumed his missionary work. Wishing to fulfill a promise he had made to a Kaskaskia Indian tribe he met on the expedition, he headed for their village to set up a mission. Before reaching his destination, however, ill health returned, forcing him to winter at a camp in what is now suburban Chicago. Continuing his journey in March of 1675, Marquette finally made it to the Kaskaskia village on the Illinois River during Holy Week, a few days before Easter. There he preached a sermon to a gathering of two thousand Illinois Indians, including five hundred chiefs. By this time, Marquette was terribly sick. He headed north for the mission of St. Ignace, but his ailing body could not withstand the journey, and he died along the way, on May 18, 1675. He was buried at the mouth of a river that now bears his name, located near the present town of Ludington on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore.
During his time in North America, Marquette sent regular reports about his activities to his superiors in France. Among those documents is one entitled Récit, which is believed to be the Jesuit’s first-person account of the 1673 Mississippi expedition. But starting in 1928, with the writings of Franciscan friar Francis Borgia Steck, historians have questioned the authorship of the narration. A number believe the that the journal was really written by Father Dablon from the recollections of Jolliet and the notes of Marquette. (After Jolliet lost all of his papers when his canoe overturned, he did write another report entirely from memory, and it corresponds very closely with Récit.) It is unlikely that the controversy will ever be resolved. Regardless, Marquette—who is one of two Wisconsin figures represented in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol—remains celebrated for his religious dedication and adventurous spirit.
Baker, Daniel B., ed. Explorers and Discoverers of the World. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.
Bohlander, Richard E., ed. World Explorers and Discoverers. New York: Macmillan, 1992.
Saari, Peggy and Daniel B. Baker. “Louis Jolliet.” Explorers and Discoverers. Detroit: U•X•L, 1995.
Waldman, Carl, and Alan Wexler. Who Was Who in World Exploration. New York: Facts on File, 1992.
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