Major General James G. Blunt

"Pere Marquette" redirects here. For other uses, see Pere Marquette (disambiguation).

Jacques Marquette, S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675),[1] sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette,[2] was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Ignace. In 1673, Marquette, with Louis Jolliet, an explorer born near Quebec City, was the first European to explore and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River Valley.

Early life

Jacques Marquette was born in Laon, France, on June 1, 1637. He was the third of six children for Rose de la Salle and Nicolas Marquette. The de la Salles were a wealthy merchant family. The Marquette family had been well-respected for many years, as numerous members had served in the military and taken civil posts.[3] Jacques Marquette was sent to study at the Jesuit College in Reims at age 9. He remained there until he joined the Society of Jesus at age 17.[4][5] Marquette taught for a year at Auxerre, then studied philosophy at Ponta Mousson until 1659. He taught at Ponta Mousson, Reims, Charleville, and Langres until 1665.[6] Throughout this time, Marquette had sent multiple requests to be sent on missionary work. The superior of the Jesuit mission in New France, Father Jerome Lalemant, needed missionaries to work with the Five Nations. Marquette was ordained on the Feast of Saint Thomas of Aquinas in Toul on March 7, 1666. Months later, on September 20, he arrived in Quebec.[7]

Missionary Work

Marquette was first sent to the mission of Saint Michel at Sillery. Because this mission served peaceful and friendly indigenous people from different tribes, it was considered an ideal place for training new missionaries. Marquette studied the languages and customs of the Algonquin, Abenaki, and Iroquois people that he often tended to at Sillery.[8][9] From there, he was assigned to Trois-Rivières on the Saint Lawrence River, where he assisted Gabriel Druillettes.[10] This mission was located in a river town that had permanent shops and taverns. A large number of French soldiers were stationed in the town, as there were frequent attacks from the Five Nations.[11] During his two years at this mission, Marquette devoted himself to the study of the local languages and became fluent in six different dialects.[10][12]

In 1668, Marquette was moved by his superiors to missions farther up the Saint Lawrence River, then into the western Great Lakes region. That year, he helped Druillettes, Brother Louis Broeme, and Father Claude-Jean Allouez found the mission at Sault Ste. Marie in present-day Michigan.[13][14][15] The missionaries planted crops, then built a chapel and barns. They established friendly relationships with the Ottawa and Chippewa that were inhabiting that area, and were allowed to baptize most of the infants and people who were dying.[16] The Chippewa were exceptionally skilled at catching whitefish from the rapids in the St. Marys River.[17] People from many tribes would travel to purchase the whitefish. Marquette and the other missionaries would explain their faith to the visiting Sioux, Cree, Miami, Potawatomi, Illinois, and Menominee. They hoped that these visitors would be interested in getting their own Jesuit missionary, or "Black Robe", as they were called by the indigenous people.[18][19] In 1669, Marquette was assigned to replace Allouez at the La Pointe du Saint Espirit mission. Father Claude Dablon arrived to continue and expand the missionary work at Sault Ste. Marie.[20]

Marquette began the 500-mile journey to his new assignment in August, travelling by canoe along the south shore of Lake Superior. The party soon encountered wintry conditions that often made it impossible to light a fire when they went ashore at night. When the party reached their destination, they were greeted by the Petun Huron.[21] Excited to have a Black Robe again, they quickly assembled a banquet. In addition to this group of Huron, Marquette was tasked with missionary work for three bands of Ottawa: the Keinouche, Sinagaux, and Kiskakon. Marquette visited and attended to all four settlements. Since he felt the Kiskakon were the most ready to accept Christianity, he spent more time working with them and even lived with the families in their village.[22]

During his time at La Pointe, Marquette encountered members of the Illinois tribes, who told him about the important trading route of the Mississippi River. They invited him to teach their people, whose settlements were mostly farther south.[4] Marquette was eager to explore this river and asked for permission to take a leave from missionary work, but he first had to attend to an urgent matter. The Hurons and Ottawa at La Pointe had begun fighting with the neighboring Lakota people. Since he feared an attack by the Lakota, Marquette felt it it was necessary to find a new place for the mission.[4][23] Dablon agreed that a new mission was necessary and offered to find a place for it. Some of the men wanted to stay and fight. Marquette attempted to discourage the imminent war, but most of the men maintained their position. He told the others to prepare to move east and promised to take everyone who wanted to avoid the war to the new mission.[24]

In the spring of 1671, Marquette and his party began their eastward journey to the new St. Ignace Mission. The canoes, loaded with men, women, children, and dogs, travelled through Lake Superior and down to the Straits of Mackinac The mission that Dablon had established for them was located on Mackinac Island. The group would be welcomed by a small group of Ottawa that already inhabited the island.[25] The new residents became worried about the possibility of winter starvation, as game was scarce and no corn had grown. A group of elders approached Marquette with these concerns, and Marquette agreed. In the fall, the mission was moved to the mainland at St. Ignace, Michigan.[26]

Explorations

Pere Marquette and the Indians [at the Mississippi River], oil painting (1869) by Wilhelm Lamprecht (1838–1906), at Marquette University[27]

Marquette's request to take a leave from missionary work to explore the great river was granted. In 1673, Marquette joined the expedition of Louis Jolliet, a French-Canadian explorer. They departed from Saint Ignace on May 17, with two canoes and five voyageurs of French-Indian ancestry.[4] Four of these are known to be: Jacques Largiller, Jean Plattier, Pierre Moreau, and Jean Tiberge.[28] They travelled through Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and into Green Bay.[29] [30] This is where the party made their first encounter with the Menominee, who were known as the "wild rice" people.[31] Marquette told them of his mission to spread religion to the people along the river. The Menominee tried to discourage Marquette and the others, warning them about the perils of the river and the people inhabiting the land along it.[31]

They went up the Fox River, nearly to its headwaters. They encountered a village inhabited by Miami, Mascouten, and Kickapoo. Marquette noted that they allowed him to teach about Christianity, and listened attentively. He was especially impressed by the Miami. Despite their reputation as warriors, he found them pleasant in appearance and temperament. When Marquette's party left the village, they were accompanied by two Miami that would assist them in finding their way to the Wisconsin River.[32] From the Fox River, the Miami directed the men to portage their canoes a distance of slightly less than two miles through marsh and oak plains to the Wisconsin River,[30][33] Many years later, the town of Portage, Wisconsin was built and named for the ancient path between the two rivers. They ventured forth from the portage, and on June 17, they entered the Mississippi near present-day Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.[30]

On June 25, the travelers found footprints near the Des Moines River and went to investigate. They were enthusiastically greeted by the Peoria who lived in three small villages nearby. They offered accommodations to the men and prepared a banquet[34]. The men were offered many gifts by the Peoria. Since Marquette and the men were traveling, they had to decline the most of what was offered. Marquette did accept a calumet gifted to him by the chief. He explained that it was a symbol of peace and Marquette should display it as an indication of his amicable intentions. As the men left the village, the chief advised them against going too much further south.[35]

Map of the discovery made in the year 1673 in North America

The Joliet-Marquette expedition traveled to within 435 miles (700 km) of the Gulf of Mexico but turned back at the mouth of the Arkansas River. By this point, they had encountered several natives carrying European trinkets, and they feared an encounter with explorers or colonists from Spain.[30] They followed the Mississippi back to the mouth of the Illinois River, which they learned from local natives provided a shorter route back to the Great Lakes. They reached Lake Michigan near the site of modern-day Chicago, by way of the Chicago Portage. In September, Marquette stopped at Saint Francis Xavier mission in present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, while Jolliet returned to Quebec to relate the news of their discoveries.[36]

Grave of Jacques Marquette in Saint Ignace, Michigan

Marquette and his party returned to the Illinois territory in late 1674, becoming the first Europeans to winter in what would become the city of Chicago. As welcomed guests of the Illinois Confederation, the explorers were feasted en route and fed ceremonial foods such as sagamite.[37]

Death

In the spring of 1675, Marquette traveled westward and celebrated a public Mass at the Grand Village of the Illinois near Starved Rock. A bout of dysentery he had contracted during the Mississippi expedition sapped his health. On the return trip to Saint Ignace, he died at 37 years of age near the modern town of Ludington, Michigan. After his death, natives from the Illinois Confederation returned his bones to the chapel at Mission Saint-Ignace.[38][39]

A Michigan Historical Marker at this location reads:

Father Jacques Marquette, the great Jesuit missionary and explorer, died and was buried by two French companions somewhere along the Lake Michigan shore on May 18, 1675. He had been returning to his mission at St. Ignace, which he had left in 1673, to go exploring in the Mississippi country. The exact location of his death has long been a subject of controversy. A spot close to the southeast slope of this hill, near the ancient outlet of the Pere Marquette River, corresponds with the death site as located by early French accounts and maps and a constant tradition of the past. Marquette's remains were reburied at St. Ignace in 1677.[40]

Adjacent to gravesite of Marquette on State Street in downtown Saint Ignace, a building was constructed that now houses the Museum of Ojibwa Culture.

However, a Michigan Historical Marker in Frankfort, MI reads:

Marquette's Death: On May 18, 1675, Father Jacques Marquette, the great Jesuit missionary and explorer, died and was buried by two French companions somewhere along the Lake Michigan shore of the Lower Peninsula. Marquette had been returning to his mission at St. Ignace, which he had left in 1673 to go on an exploring trip to the Mississippi and the Illinois country. The exact location of Marquette's death has long been a subject of controversy. Evidence presented in the 1960s indicates that this site, near the natural outlet of the Betsie River, at the northeast corner of a hill which was here until 1900, is the Marquette death site and that the Betsie is the Rivière du Père Marquette of early French accounts and maps. Marquette's bones were reburied at St. Ignace in 1677.[41]

Legacy

In the early 20th century Marquette was widely celebrated as a Roman Catholic founding father of the region.[42]

Places

Monuments

Marquette is memorialized by various statues, monuments, and historical markers:

Marquette has been honored twice on postage stamps issued by the United States:

  • A one-cent stamp in 1898, part of Trans-Mississippi Issue, which shows him on the Mississippi River;[48] This is the first time a Catholic priest is honored by the U.S. Postal Department.
  • A 6-cent stamp issued September 20, 1968, marking the 300th anniversary of his establishment of the Jesuit mission at Sault Ste. Marie.[49]

Bibliography

  • Donnelly, Joseph P. (1985). Jacques Marquette, S.J. (1637–1675). Chicago: Loyola University Press.

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Jacques Marquette". Encyclopædia Britannica. March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ Melody, John. "Archdiocese of Chicago" The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. February 23, 2012
  3. ^ Donnelly, Joseph (March 1969). "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". The Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 80 (1): 40. JSTOR 44210720 – via JSTOR.
  4. ^ a b c d ""Jacques Marquette", Biography". biography.com. August 2, 2023.
  5. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia: 40–41.
  6. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society: 41.
  7. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia: 42.
  8. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society.
  9. ^ Donnelly, Joseph (1968). Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. Chicago: Loyola University Press. p. 85.
  10. ^ a b Spalding, Henry. "Jacques Marquette, S.J." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. February 15, 2019
  11. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. p. 97.
  12. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society: 42–43.
  13. ^ Monet, J., "Marquette, Jacques", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003
  14. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia: 43.
  15. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S,J,. 1637-1675. p. 112.
  16. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. p. 122.
  17. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. "Father Jacques Marquette and the Indians of Upper Michigan". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia: 43.
  18. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, 1637-1675. p. 117.
  19. ^ Chmielewski, Laura (2018). Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet: Exploration, Encounter, and the French New World. New York: Routledge. p. 1.
  20. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S,J,, 1637-1675. pp. 129–130.
  21. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. pp. 131–133.
  22. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. pp. 140–142.
  23. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S,J,. 1637-1675. p. 158.
  24. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. p. 164.
  25. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. pp. 171–172.
  26. ^ Donnelly, Joseph. Jacques Marquette, S.J., 1637-1675. pp. 176, 179.
  27. ^ The painting was rendered as an engraving on a US commemorative postage stamp, 1898 (Illustration)
  28. ^ Chmielewski, p. 76
  29. ^ Chmielewski, p. 81
  30. ^ a b c d Catton, Bruce (1984). Michigan: A History, p. 14. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-30175-3
  31. ^ a b Chmielewski, p, 81
  32. ^ Chmielewski, pp. 82-84
  33. ^ Chmielewski, p. 84
  34. ^ Chmielewski, pp. 88-89
  35. ^ Chmielewski, pp. 90-92
  36. ^ Campbell, T.J., "James Marquette", Pioneer priests of North America, 1642–1710, Vol. 3, Fordham University Press, 1910
  37. ^ "Odd Wisconsin Archive: Beer and Sweet Corn". wisconsinhistory.org. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
  38. ^ "Marquette, Jacques 1637 - 1675". November 3, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  39. ^ Holzknecht, J. (1895). "The Relics of Pere Marouette". The American Catholic Historical Researches. 12 (1): 30–34. ISSN 2155-5273. JSTOR 44373868.
  40. ^ "Michigan Historical Markers". michmarkers.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
  41. ^ "Marquette's Death".
  42. ^ Katherine D. Moran, The Imperial Church: Catholic Founding Fathers and United States Empire (Cornell University Press, 2020).
  43. ^ "Bibliography on Marquette County". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  44. ^ "Focus on our history: How county was named". Ludington Daily News. October 3, 1987. p. 2. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  45. ^ "Home | Marquette Transportation Company". marquettetrans.com. Marquette Transportation Company LLC. 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  46. ^ "Term: Marquette, Jacques 1637 – 1675". wisconsinhistory.org. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013.
  47. ^ Chicago Public Library. About Legler Branch.
  48. ^ Haimann, Alexander T., "Arago: people, postage & the post. 1-cent Marquette on the Mississippi". National Postal Museum. Accessed May 2, 2017.
  49. ^ Tessa Sabol. "Trans-Mississippi Exposition Commemorative Stamp Issue and National Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century." National Postal Museum. Accessed May 2, 2017.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Jacques Marquette, S.J.". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

Media related to Jacques Marquette at Wikimedia Commons

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Marquette