Father Marquette National Memorial

Since it was only 2pm and I had no pressing plans for the rest of the day, I decided to make a stop at St. Ignace Straits State Park to visit the Father Marquette National Memorial. 

Unfortunately a fire destroyed the museum in 2000 and all that remains is the memorial, which had some nice displays, maps and benches, and some nature trails.

Jacques Marquette was born in Laon, France in 1637 into a well-to-do family. After completing his education, he became a Jesuit missionary and in 1666 arrived in present day St. Ignace, Michigan and founded his first mission to minister to the Native Americans.  Several years later in 1673, he along with Louis Jolliet set out in canoes to explore and map Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River ending at the junction on the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers before returning northward. This exploration proved invaluable to the French as it helped to expand the fur trade deeper into Indian Territory.    

 Father Marquette also founded missions in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan  and in Kalkaska, Illinois and was well respected among the natives.







In 1677, two years after his death, his bones were returned to the mission in St. Ignace. Eventually the Jesuits abandoned the mission and burned it
 to the ground. Two hundred years later in 1877
,  the site  of the mission and most likely the
 burial spot  of Father Jacques Marquette
was discovered next to a church in the middle
of present day St. Ignace, and was marked off.