Louis Jolliet

Louis Jolliet, also known Louis Joliet (September 21, 1645–May 1700), was a Canadian explorer born in Quebec who is important for his discoveries in North America. Joliet and missionary Jacques Marquette were the first white men to map the Mississippi River.

Exploration of the Mississippi River

In 1672, upon the advice of the intendant, Jean Talon, Joliet was dispatched by Governor Frontenac to explore the grande riviére beyond the Lakes, which the Indians alleged flowed into the southern sea. In the order the French governor refers to Joliet as one "experienced in these kinds of discoveries and who had been already very near the river." In December of the same year, Joliet reached the Straits of Mackinac, where, with Father Jacques Marquette, he spent the winter and the early spring in questioning the Indians and preparing maps for the journey.

Related Topics:
1672 - Intendant - Jean Talon - Governor Frontenac - Straits of Mackinac - Jacques Marquette

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In May of the following year, 1673, the historic quest began. With five voyageurs and two canoes, Joliet and Marquette reached the Fox River in June. A few leagues beyond, a short portage was found by which they reached the Wisconsin River, down the tortuous course of which they glided until, on June 17, the little party drifted into the waters of the great Mississippi. For a month they paddled southward, passing a great river from the west which the Indians assured them flowed into the Vermeille Sea—the Gulf of California—and, near it, a little village whose inhabitants, they were told, traded with the Indians on the Pacific coast. Joliet descended the river to 30° 40', christening rivers, plateaus, and elevations with Indian and French names which were destined to endure no longer than La Salle's great dream of the "Empire of New France."

Related Topics:
1673 - Fox River - Wisconsin River - June 17 - Gulf of California

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Having established beyond doubt the important fact that the great river emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, the expedition returned, arriving at Green Bay in September, after having paddled 2,500 miles. Here Marquette remained while Joliet hurried to Quebec, where he arrived the middle of August 1674 after having lost all his documents and maps by the upsetting of his canoe in the Lachine Rapids. Whether or not Joliet was the first Frenchman to have gazed upon the Great River, the reports that he laid before the governor and his establishment of the fact that the Mississippi was a highway to the sea led to the immediate formation of plans on the part of Canadian merchants and officers for the settlement of the Mississippi Valley, though Joliet's offer to plant a colony among the Illinois was refused by the French Government.

Related Topics:
Gulf of Mexico - Green Bay - 1674 - Lachine Rapids - Mississippi Valley

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~