places between the Great
Lakes and the Mississippi
River. One of these forts
was founded at the mouth
of the St. Joseph River. La
Salle called the settlement
Fort Miami after an Indian
tribe that lived in the area.
Fort Miami was the first
European settlement in
coat of arms
of the governor
of New France.)
During the summer of 1679 the
Griffon sailed from
Niagara to present-day
Green Bay, Wisconsin.
There it took on a load of
furs. On its return trip
the Griffon disappeared.
The first sailing vessel on
the Great Lakes also
became the first one to
sink on the lakes.
In March 1680 La
Salle was at Fort
Miami.
Walkin’ w
ith
La
S
France in 1666,
following his older
brother who had moved
there. La Salle became a
farmer. Having “a desire
for exploration,” he got
permission from the governor of New France to
explore the Ohio River
Valley.
A few years later, La
Salle wanted to expand the
French fur trade by building forts at important
12
MICHIGAN HISTORY FOR KIDS FALL 2001
Michigan’s
Lower Peninsula. La Salle also
built the first sailing
vessel on the Great Lakes.
The boat was built near
Niagara Falls on Lake Erie
and named the Griffon.
(A griffon was a legendary
beast that appeared on the
t
O
ne of the best-known
French explorers was
Robert Cavelier,
Sieur de La Salle.
Born in France in 1643,
La Salle traveled to New
coat
of arms
a symbol of
a family, usually an animal
made into a
design.
alle
Robert Thom
No one knows for
sure what the Griffon
looked like. This
painting of the Griffon
was based on other
ships of the time.
Find the griffon in
this picture.
brambles that . . . our
clothes were all torn and
our faces so covered with
blood that we hardly knew
each other.”
At the present-day city
of Dexter, La Salle’s men
built a dugout canoe. They
paddled it down the Huron
River to the Detroit River
south of Grosse Ile. They
rafted across the Detroit
River. One month after
leaving Fort Miami,
La Salle reached
Niagara. He had become
the first European to
walk across the interior
of Michigan.
Two years after crossing
the Lower Peninsula,
La Salle led an
expedition
expedition
a journey taken
with a specific
to the Gulf of
purpose or goal,
Mexico to
often into
search for the
unknown lands.
mouth of the
Mississippi River. After
spending almost three
years wandering around
the future states of Texas
and Louisiana, La Salle’s
men rebelled and murdered him. t
He did not know that the
Griffon had sunk. Needing
to return east, La Salle
decided to walk across the
Lower Peninsula. On
March 25, he and five companions left Fort Miami.
There were no roads to follow and the Frenchmen
avoided trails to prevent
being noticed by the Native
Americans. Two days after
leaving Fort Miami, La
Salle recorded, “We continued our march through the
woods, which was so interlaced with thorns and
FALL 2001
MICHIGAN HISTORY FOR KIDS
13
14
Carolyn Damstra
Man
Mission
WITH A
F
ather Jacques Marquette spent only nine years in New
France. Yet, he was one of the most important French
explorers of his time.
Born in France and trained as a priest, the 29-year-old
Marquette came to America to teach Native Americans about
Catholicism. After learning several Native American languages,
Marquette established a mission among the Ojibway (Chippewa)
at Sault Ste. Marie in 1668.
Three years later, Marquette started a mission at the Straits
of Mackinac. He named it St. Ignace.
15
they wore.
returned to St.
Ignace, but
Marquette
Fox
stayed among
River
the Native
Marquette and Americans.
Jolliet traveled First, he lived
over 2,500
near presentmiles by
day Green Bay,
canoe in
1673.
Wisconsin.
Then he lived in
200
miles
the present-day
state of Illinois.
In the spring of
1675 Marquette headed
back to St. Ignace. The
missionary and two companions paddled up the east
side of Lake Michigan.
They became the first
Frenchmen to travel this
route. Along the way,
Marquette became ill with
fever. On May 18 he died.
His companions buried him
and placed a cross to mark
the site.
Two years later, Native
Americans from St. Ignace
visited the grave. They
gathered Marquette’s
remains and reburied
them at St. Ignace.
Today, the exact location
where Marquette died is
uncertain. ipp
i Riv
er
M
is s
iss
W
On May 17,
1673, Marquette, Jolliet
and five other
men set out
from St.
Ignace. They
traveled by
canoe along
Arka
nsa
s
the northern
shore of Lake
0
Michigan.
They paddled
across the present-day state of
Wisconsin. One month
after leaving St. Ignace
they became the first
Frenchmen to see the
Mississippi River. Marquette
noted in his journal that
they arrived at the great
river “with a joy which I
am unable to make known.”
The Frenchmen paddled
down the Mississippi until
they realized that it flowed
south into the Gulf of
Mexico. The great river was
not a shortcut to China.
On July 17, 1673,
Marquette and Jolliet
This statue of
Father Marquette is turned around and
on Mackinac Island. headed north. They
Jesuits were called
had come about 1,700
“Black Robes”
miles by canoe. Jolliet
because of what
ver
Ri
hile Marquette
was at Sault Ste.
Marie he met
Louis Jolliet. Born
in Canada, Jolliet was a fur
trader and a skilled mapmaker. Both Marquette
and Jolliet had heard
Native Americans talk
about a great river that
was west of the Great
Lakes. The French hoped
this river might be a shortcut to China.
In December 1672 the
governor of New France
gave the two men permission to explore this river.
According to one historian,
Marquette received the
news like “a small boy
receiving a
new red sled
on a white
Christmas.”
St. Ignace