|
| Title | Map of Marquette and Jolliet Route |
| Coverage / Year | 1673; French Colonial Period; |
| Description | Pierre Marquette and Louis Jolliet successfully located the Mississippi River and traveled down it in two birch bark canoes, accompanied by five voyageurs. On the return trip they chose the Illinois River and then the Des Plaines River, where it was easier to paddle upstream. From the Des Plaines River it was a short portage to Lake Michigan. |
| Interpretation | On May 17, 1673, Marquette and Jolliet departed from the mission at St. Ignace (Michilimackinac) Michigan. From the Wisconsin River they were able to reach the Mississippi River on June 17, "with a joy I cannot express, " wrote Father Marquette in his diary. On their trip Marquette and Jolliet visited Indian villages and saw a painting of the legendary Piasa Bird on the bluffs near present-day Alton. They went as far south as the Arkansas River and then turned back, knowing the river would lead to the Gulf of Mexico and not to the west as they had hoped. On their return trip they stopped on the Illinois River near present-day Utica and visited a village of the Kaskaskia Indians, part of the Illinois Confederacy. Marquette promised to return and establish a mission there. Marquette became ill on the trip and stayed behind near Green Bay, while Jolliet continued on to New France (Canada). |
| Lesson Plans / Themes | Westward Expansion; Settling in the Midwest; French in Illinois; Map Skills |
| Learning Standards | 16 History; 17 Geography; |
| Author or Creator | Illinois Heritage Association |
| Other Contributors | Illinois State Historical Library
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
|
| Source | bl/wh photo |
| Subject / Keywords | Discovery & exploration; French Colonial District; French Colonial Period; Missionaries; Marquette, Pere Jacques, 1636-1675; Joliet, Louis, 1645-1700 |
| Collection Publisher | Illinois Heritage Association
|
| Further Information | For any further information related to this record, please contact the Collection Publisher. See http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc for more information about this project. |
| Rights Management Statement | http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc/conditions.htm |
| Resource Identifier | IHA00043 |
| CONTENTdm file name | 43.jpg |
