La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

;1674.] MARQUETTE'S MISSION. 77Marquette spent the winter and the followingsummer at the mission of Green Bay, still sufferingfrom his malady.and he was permitted by hisIn the autumn, however, it abated;Superior to attempt theexecution of a plan to which he was devotedlyattached, — the founding, at the principal town ofthe Illinois, of a mission to be called the " ImmaculateConception," a name which he had already given tothe river Mississippi. He set out on this errand onthe twenty-fifth of October, accompanied by twomen, named Pierre and Jacques, one of whom hadbeen with him on his great journey of discovery. Aband of Pottawattamies and another band of Illinoisalso joined him. The united parties — ten canoes inall — followed the east shore of Green Bay as far asthe inlet then called "Sturgeon Cove," from the headof which they crossed by a difficult portage throughthe forest to the shore of Lake Michigan.Novemberhad come. The bright hues of the autumn foliagewere changed to rusty brown.The shore was desolate,and the lake was stormy. They were morenavigator and surveyor, he made about this time a chart of the St.Lawrence. In 1690, Sir William Phips, on his way with an Englishfleet to attack Quebec, made a descent on Joliet's establishment,burnt his buildings, and took prisoners his wife and his mother-inlaw.In 1694 Joliet explored the coasts of Labrador, under theauspices of a company formed for the whale and seal fishery. Onhis return, Frontenac made him royal pilot for the St. Lawrenceand at about the same time he received the appointment of hydrographerat Quebec. He died, apparently poor, in 1699 or 1700, andwas buried on one of the islands of Mignan. The discovery of theabove facts is due in great part to the researches of Margry.