MARQUETTE, Jacques, French Jesuit missionary and explorer: b. Laon, France, 1 June 1637; d. near site of the present Luding ton, Mich., 18 May 1675. His family was of good social position in his native city. It is evident that he must have had the advantages of early education, as he entered the Jesuit College at Nancy, in 1654, with the intention of joining the Society. He studied and taught, as Jesuit scholastics usually do, at Pont-i-Mou son, Rheims, Charleville and Langres. In 1666 he was to go as a missionary priest to New France. He arrived at Quebec, 20 Sept. 1666. In the next month he began his preparation for life among the savages by the study of the Indian languages, at Three Rivers, under the direction of Father Druillettes who knew all the ways of missionary life. He spent two years in the wilderness, with Father Druillettes to house as his "home," learning the forest and lake and living, as near as possible, the life of the redmen. In 1668, Father Marquette was ready to begin work among the Ottawas. From Montreal, he went to Sault Sainte Marie, known to-day as the "Soo," then marked in French records "Santa Maria" of the Algonquins. The term as used by the Jesuits, included the Sioux, the Miamis, the Sacs, the Winneba goes, Foxes, Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Beavers, Creeks,' Ottawas, Hurons, Menonu nees and Illinois. From Sault Sainte Marie, he was sent to La Pointe Mission in Lake Superior. The place selected for his work was at Chequamegon Bay. From 14 Sept. 1669, until 1671, when the mission was given up because of the inability of the Hurons to de fend themselves against the Sioux, he served and learned mud). Father Marquette probably did not foresee that this abandonment meant that there would be no Christian mission on Lake Superior "for over a hundred years"; as the Rev. Samuel Hedges remarks, "There can be little doubt that the Blackrobe sat in their council circle, and took part in their delibera tions, which determined their flight." He says Marquette joined the Hurons in their rush to the south toward the Island of Mackinac, then Machillimackinac. The little town of Saint Ignace — named in honor of the founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius Loyola, on Moran Bay.— claims the honor of being the spot where Father Marquette built his chapel in 1671. Mackinac Island disputes with Saint Ignace the right of precedure, but there can be no doubt, whether a previous mission existed in Mackinac Island or not, that it was from Saint Ignace, Father Marquette set out in his search for the Mississippi,—of the existence of which tradi tions and rumors lived among the tribes.
The quarrels that had deflected the course of Sieur Rene de la Salle cud not, in the end, prevent him from tracing the course of the Mississippi to the sea, and De Soto, earlier, had crossed the valley near its mouth, but it was Marquette who, having equipped himself with the Indian lore, added to such scientific knowledge as he could acquire, actually dis covered the wonderful stream of the Indian legends. Count Frontenac was the devoted friend of La Salle, but he could not overcome the jealousies raised by the clashing of com mercial interests. It has been the fashion to accuse the Jesuits of merely mercenary motives in opposing the opening of the territory of their missions in New France to all trappers and traders. It is plain, human,— putting aside all imputed motives,— that Jesuits like Jogues, Albourg, Druillettes and a hundred others did not lead lives of unspeakable deprivations and amazing self-sacrifice merely for temporal gain for their Society or their country. When it is known that they were French, it is at once known that they were patriots. And if the Jesuits opposed the mercantile designs of the supporter of La Salle, it must be admitted, in the light of after events, that they were safeguarding the interests of their charges. The fate of Jogues and of Rene Goupil did not deter men like Marquette. It only made them more anxious to teach Christianity or to die. Marquette, like all the missionary priests of his Society, held that it was his duty to con tribute to the knowledge of the world. Whether it was the analysis of a dialect or the bending of a river, the Jesuit made each his duty, always remembering the motto of his Society, °To the greater glory of God." Marquette had kept in mind all the talk about the great river and the natives that dwelt upon its banks. He was sent, he believed, as one who must teach all nations, and he did not disdain any knowledge that might help him to this, valu ing the knowledge itself, for every Jesuit was a student both of nature and of books. Louis Joliet had started to become a Jesuit, but had, instead, become a fur trader. When he was commissioned by the governor of New France, to look for the great stream that, it was rumored, opened into the Pacific, Father Mar quette, who earnestly desired it, was sent by his superiors to accompany him. On 8 Dec. 1672 Joliet reached Saint Ignace under his own authorization from De Frontenac and one from Father Marquette's provincial, to claim for God and the king all the land and water they could find.