Marquette, Jacques (zhäk märkĕt`), 1637–75, French missionary and explorer in North America, a Jesuit priest. He was sent to New France in 1666 and studied Native American languages under a missionary at Trois Rivières Trois Rivières (trwä rēvyĕr`) or Three Rivers, city (1991 pop. 49,426), S Que.
..... Click the link for more information. . 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. When fear of the Sioux drove the Ottawa and Huron away from La Pointe, Marquette accompanied them to Mackinac, where he founded a new mission on Point St. Ignace. Contact with the Native Americans of Illinois led Marquette to plan a mission among them, and he became interested in the reports of a great south-running river. Marquette welcomed his appointment by Frontenac, governor of New France, to accompany Louis Jolliet Jolliet or Joliet, Louis (both: jō`lēĕt', jō'lēĕt`, Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. on an expedition to find the river. They were the first to establish the existence of a water highway from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. On his return from the Mississippi voyage, Marquette stayed at Mackinac for a time, recovering his health and writing a journal of the voyage, which was first published (1681) in Thévenot's Recueil de voyages. In 1674, Marquette set out to establish a mission in the Illinois (state) area, but his health failed him, and he died on the route back to Mackinac, near present-day Ludington, Mich. In 1677, Marquette's body was removed to St. Ignace.

Bibliography

See edition (1900) of his journal in the Jesuit Relations; C. R. Stein, The Story of Marquette and Jolliet (1981).

Marquette, Jacques

known as Père Marquette

(born June 1, 1637, Laon, France—died May 18, 1675, Ludington, Mich.) French missionary and explorer. Ordained a Jesuit priest, he arrived in Quebec in 1666 to preach among the Ottawa. He helped found missions at Sault Ste. Marie in 1668 and St. Ignace in 1671 (both now in Michigan). In 1673 he accompanied Louis Jolliet on his exploration of the Mississippi River, traveling south to the mouth of the Arkansas River. They returned via the Illinois River to Green Bay on Lake Michigan, where Marquette remained. In 1674 he set out to found a mission among the Illinois Indians, reaching the site of present-day Chicago. His journal of his voyage with Jolliet was published in 1681.

Marquette, Jacques (1637–75) Catholic missionary, explorer; born in Laon, France. As a young man and as a Jesuit priest, his hero was St. Francis Xavier. He came to Quebec, Canada (1666), learned Indian languages, and proceeded to do missionary work among the Ottawa and Huron Indians in the Great Lakes region. In 1673, he and Louis Jolliet (French explorer, 1645–1700), searched for and found (June 17, 1673) the waters of the Mississippi River; they were the first white men to follow the course of the river. They went as far as the mouth of the Arkansas River and then returned. Marquette preached among the Illinois Indians (1674–75) until he died prematurely from ailments aggravated by his exertions. His journals remain an invaluable record of the region in these years. Wisconsin placed his statue in the U.S. Capitol.