1673-1973

In 1672 Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette were commissioned by King Louis XIV to discover the course of the Mississippi River. On June 17, 1673, the expedition entered the Mississippi from the Wisconsin River and began its descent by canoe.

On July 4, 1673, the seven-man expedition passed the mouth of the turbulent Missouri River and later observed the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi. Upon reaching an Arkansas Indian village near present Helena, July 17, they were certain that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. Fearful of the Spanish if they continued southward, at this point Father Marquette and Joliet turned back.

A dedicated and gentle priest, Father Marquette first brought the word of God into the Mississippi Valley, gave the world an account of its lands and, with Joliet, laid the basis for France's claim to the area.

Born at Laon, France, June 1, 1637, Father Marquette died April 18, 1675, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan from the hardships of his missionary life.

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Show me all markers in:  Jackson, MO  |  Cape Girardeau County  |  63755  |  Missouri  |  United States of America

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