Father Marquette National Memorial

IUCN Category V - Protected Landscape / Seascape

BWf1

The Father Marquette National Memorial pays tribute to the life and work of Jacques Marquette, a French priest and explorer. The memorial is located in Straits State Park near St. Ignace, Michigan, where he was in 1671 a Jesuit mission founded and was buried in 1678. The connected buildings of the Father Marquette Museum was destroyed on 9 March 2000 by fire.

Father Marquette

Marquette came in 1666 in New France at. He founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace he lived near the Mackinac Iceland in 1668 and 1671st From 1666 until his death in 1675 among the Indians of the Great Lakes region. During these nine years, he learned several Indian languages ​​. Together with Louis Joliet he went in search of a navigable route to the Pacific, where they discovered the Mississippi.

On their expedition Marquette and Joliet explored the Fox River, the Mississippi River to Arkansas, the Illinois River and the Chicago River. Due to the hostility of the natives, and fear of confrontations with the Spanish colonists not penetrated to the mouth of the Mississippi.

In October 1674 to Marquette and two companions went on a missionary expedition. At the end of the year he was suffering from dysentery. He died near Ludington during his return trip to St. Ignace. The grave of Father Marquette is located in downtown St. Ignace near the Ojibway Indian Museum on State Street.

Today's terrain

Since the destruction of the museum covers the memorial exhibits and a nature trail with 15 stations.

Administrative history

The 210,000 square meter memorial is owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and is managed by him. It is a connected area of ​​the National Park Service. The National Memorial was approved on 20 December 1975. Unlike most National Memorials, it is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

327198
de