Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet

by Laura M. Chmielewski

In this succinct dual biography, Laura Chmielewski demonstrates how the lives of two French explorers – Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, and Louis Jolliet, a fur trapper – reveal the diverse world of early America. Following the explorers' epic journey through the center of the American continent, Marquette and Jolliet combines a story of discovery and encounter with the insights derived from recent historical scholarship. The story provides perspective on the different methods and goals of colonization and the role of Native Americans as active participants in this complex and uneven process.

196 pages, Hardcover

Published November 16, 2017

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably not a book for the general reader. However, though it was primarily written for inclusion in an American history course, it provides a very interesting overview of the "contest of cultures" between the French, Spanish, and English for early American history buffs. Chmielewski also does an excellent job placing these explorers in the historical, political and religious context of their era.

I had read about Marquette and Jolliet in Catholic elementary school, but I was reminded anew of these gutsy French-Canadian explorers after a visit to Michigan, where Father Marquette is buried. I wondered why little seemed to be written about them compared to, for instance, Lewis and Clark. Of course, this is due to the tremendous political, ideological, and technological transformations that occurred over the 130-year period difference, but luck was also a factor. Whereas historians have a nearly complete recounting of the L & C expedition, all of Jolliet's notes and maps were lost in the St. Lawrence river. The only extant reports are those of Marquette, whose main concern was "saving souls" and whose memoirs had to pass through Jesuit censors before being released.

Hence, much of Chmielewski's book explicates the political and religious background of the seventeenth century, which would be helpful for many readers. She also describes the encounter from the Native American point of view and the subsequent impact of European explorations on their lives. Though a daily, detailed account of the travails and triumphs of the expedition is not available, Chmielewski gives us as complete a picture of these explorers and their worldview as possible in a succinct manner.