Jacques Marquette was a French Jesuit missionary born in 1637 who explored much of the central United States in the late 1600s. He learned several Native American languages which helped him establish friendly relations and gain information from tribes he encountered. In 1673, Marquette and Louis Jolliet embarked on an expedition down the Mississippi River, becoming the first Europeans to make a map of the river. Marquette established several missions among Native American tribes but his health declined, and he died in 1675 at age 38 while staying at a mission in Illinois.