A first book in American history with European beginnings . JOLIET AND MARQUETTE—THE GREAT CANOE TRIP When Champlain died he left the power of the Frenchfirmly planted in Canada, which was fast becoming a fa-mous trading section for the fur traders. Besides the fur traders and those looking simply foradventure, there was another class of Frenchmen whocame to Canada as the years went by. These were thehardest workers and bravest adventurers of all. Theywere the Jesuits, a society of French Roman Catholicswho had sworn to do all they could to convert the worldto the Catholic religion. Brave and
A first book in American history with European beginnings . JOLIET AND MARQUETTE—THE GREAT CANOE TRIP When Champlain died he left the power of the Frenchfirmly planted in Canada, which was fast becoming a fa-mous trading section for the fur traders. Besides the fur traders and those looking simply foradventure, there was another class of Frenchmen whocame to Canada as the years went by. These were thehardest workers and bravest adventurers of all. Theywere the Jesuits, a society of French Roman Catholicswho had sworn to do all they could to convert the worldto the Catholic religion. Brave and fearless, they were 140 THE EARLY FRENCH EXPLORERS eager to go into the wilds of America and make the In-dians a great Catholic nation. Soon they pushed theirway along the borders of the Great Lakes and establishedsettlements, or missions, where they tried to teach andcivilize the wayward red men. At one of these missions, on Lake Superior, was ayoung Jesuit priest, Marquette, or Father Marquette, ashe was called. Every vear the Illinois Indians used to. Marquette and Joliet Floating Down the Mississippi. come to the Jesuit settlement, and from them FatherMarquette heard about a great river which they had tocross on their way. This river they called the Marquette was very anxious to find this river,which he thought must flow into the Gulf of California. At this time the Governor of Canada was Count Fron- tenac. Through the Indians he, too, heard about the great river; and he resolved to send some one to find it and to explore it for France. For this expedition he 11 141 A FIRST BOOK IN AMERICAN HISTORY selected a young man by the name of Louis Joliet andgave him orders to take Father Marquette on the voyage. In May, 1673, they started. They coasted along theshores of Lake Michigan until they came to the head ofGreen Bay. Here they entered the Fox River. Afterpaddling for several days between fields of wild rice andprairies covered with deer and elk, they finally
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