1. EXPLORER REPORT
Jee Yeon Park
Jacques Marquette was born on June 10, 1637 in a place named Loan, France. When
he was young, his mother often entertained him by telling lots of stories of the Jesuit
Fathers. Those tales must have made an impression on Jacques. Therefore, he went to
a Jesuit University in Reims and began to study with the Jesuits when he was sixteen. He
graduated at the age of 17 with a bachelor’s degree and finally, he was able to join
the Society of Jesus after few years.
In 1668, he was order to return to Quebec. He was even required to prepare for the
Ottawa mission. It took him for two years on a mission to get in touch with the Ottawa
Indians. In the following year, he went to the St. Esprit Mission on Lake Superior and then
came back to the Saint Mary’s River, where he started a mission. Jacques Marquette
also opened another mission farther south, at Michilimackinac on Mackinac Strait. He
was sent as a missionary to learn Indian languages in North America so he had the
opportunity to learn six different Indian languages and customs of the Indians. Due to
the reason that he never belittled the Indians’ beliefs, he earned many friends and allies
among the Native Americans, which led him to travel with little fear.
In 1673, a governor general Comte DeFrotenac of the North America believed that the
Mississippi might be an easier route to the Far East for traders. So, the governor sent
Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette to find the Mississippi. They both had different
things that they were good at. Louis Jolliet was able to trace the course of the river and
Jacques Marquette knew lots of Indian languages. Speaking different languages was
very important because he would be able to communicate with the Indians that they
met and get different information from them. He could also spread Christianity as they
were travelling.
In May of 1673, Jacques Marquette, Louis Jolliet and five other men were ready to set
off for a long journey. From St. Ignas Mission, they sailed to the south of Lake Michigan
to the Fox River. They intended to follow the river all the way to its mouth, but Illini tribe
told them that there were other explorers about few days to the south. Marquette and
Joliet knew that those explorers were Spanish. Fearing for their safety, they turned back.
In October 1674, Marquette fulfilled his wish to establish a mission at Kaskaskia. After his
return from the Mississippi exploration, Marquette decided to stay at Mackinac,
recovering his health and thus writing a journal of the voyage, which was first published
in Théévenot's Recueil de voyages in 1681. Marquette’s poor health led to his death on
May 18, 1675.
Bibliography:
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July 2009. Web. 01 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/america/canada/history/marquette.htm>.
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<http://library.thinkquest.org/6297/marquett.htm>.