Jolliet and Marquette led the first French expedition down the Mississippi, in 1673. They reached the mouth of the Arkansas. Their expedition was was one of the first in the chain of events that would finally lead to French possession of Louisiana.Louis Jolliet (also spelled Joliet), was born in Quebec in 1645. He was the first important explorer born in North America from European descent. He was taught at the Jesuit seminary in Quebec, but for unknown reasons left the order in 1667, and journeyed to France, probably studying cartography there. The next year he returned to Canada, became a fur trader and met Father Jacques Marquette.
Marquette was born in 1637 in Laon, France. He became a Jesuit priest, and, on his own request, was sent to Quebec in 1666. In 1668 he set up a new mission, at Chequamegon Bay near the western end of Lake Superior. When the Huron Indians that he worked among fled after Sioux attacks, he followed them and moved the mission on the northern shore of the Straits of Mackinac (between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron).
Rumours had been heared about a large river in the south (the Mississippi), and the French hoped that this river would lead them to the Pacific. Louis Jolliet was sent out to search for this river, and Marquette was chosen to be the chaplain and missionary of the expedition.
In 1673 Jolliet, Marquette and five others left on their journey to the Mississippi. They followed Lake Michigan to Green Bay, canoed up the Fox River, crossed over to the Wisconsin and followed that river downstream to the Mississippi.
The first Indians they encountered were the Illinois, who were extremely friendly to the explorers. They expressed their great happiness to have the French visiting them, and provided them with a peace pipe to use for the remainder of the journey.
As they went further on along the river, they grew more and more convinced that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and not the Pacific. Yet they pushed on until almost the mouth of the Arkansas. Here the Indians told them that the sea was only ten days away, but also that hostile Indians would be found along the way. They also noticed the presence of Spanish trade goods among the Indians. Not wanting to be captured by Indians or Spanish, they decided to return. They used an easier route now, shown by the Indians, up the Illinois and then by way of the Chicago River to Lake Michigan.
In October 1674, Marquette went back to the Illinois, intending to live and preach among the Kaskaskians. However, he did not manage to reach the village that year, and had to winter near present day Chicago. Arriving around Easter 1675, he preached to a large number of Indian chiefs and braves. However, his health was deteriorating. He decided to return north, but died of dysentery before reaching the mission where he intended to spend his last days.
Jolliet's journal and map got lost when his canoe overturned on the Montreal rapids. The only remaining record of the expedition is an unfortunately rather short diary, reputedly written by Marquette. For some time he clashed with the authorities about the proceeds of his trip, but in 1679 he travelled up the Saguenay and Rupert rivers to spy on the British positions around the Hudson Bay, and received Anticosti Island as a reward. In 1694 he made another journey, exploring the coast of Labrador and visiting the Eskimos. He died in 1700, being lost on a trip to one of his land holdings.
Other Internet Resources
Sources used:
This page, part of Discoverers Web was created by Andre Engels.