Joliet and marquette biography for kids pictures

Jacques Marquette , S. In , 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. Jacques Marquette was born in Laon , France , on June 1, He came of an ancient family distinguished for its civic and military services.

Marquette joined the Society of Jesus at age He studied and taught in France for several years, then the Jesuits assigned him to New France in as a missionary to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

What did marquette and joliet discover

In , Marquette was moved by his superiors to missions farther up the Saint Lawrence River in the western Great Lakes region. That year he helped Druillettes found the mission at Sault Ste. Marie in present-day Michigan. At La Pointe, he 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. Because of wars between the Hurons at La Pointe and the neighboring Lakota people , Marquette left the mission and went to the Straits of Mackinac ; he informed his superiors about the rumored river and requested permission to explore it.