Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-06-19
REMAINS OF MARQUETTE.
The First White Man Who Be-
held the Site Future
Great" at Length Dis
covered.

We reproduce below from tie She
boygan Free Press an interesting
article describing how the remains Of
Father Marquette came recently TO be
discovered.
Father Marquette in May, 1858,
left Green Bay and ascended the Fox
river to the portage between it and
| the Wisconsin river, with Joliet and
five other F%renchmen. They trans
ported their two light canoes to the
Wisconsin river on their shoulders,
descending to its mouth, which they
reached Jnne II. They spent a day
near the mouth of the Des Moines
river, two miles from the site of Keo-
kuk, among the Peoria Indians. On
June %, at three o'clock p. NJ, they
left that spot, reached the high cliffs
Of Alton, where Marquette stopped to
sketch two grifins painted high up on
the smooth surface Of the erpendicu
large rocks. He must have passed the
site Of St. Louis about the first Of July
1878. After descending as low down
the river as the mouth of the Arkan-
sas, he returned BY the way of the
Illinois rive: and Lake Michigan to
, Green Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. He
visited the Indians on the Illinois riy-
er in 1875, and on his way back TO
!. Mackinaw or Point St. Ignace along
| the eastern shore Of Lake Michigan,
he died in May of the same
year Q675) and was buried
on a rising spot near
the little river now bearing his name.
Two years later his remains we're re
moved by the Ottawa Indians, who
encased them ia birch bark, and re.
y buried them under the church at the
re Pointe St. Ignace. This church was
ID burned down in 1906, and its site i.
er now identified, and his remains found
n as appears by the following from the
in Sheboygan Free Press of May 10th
he "Like wildhre the news spread
N throughout the village this week tina
the foundation Of the Jesuit Mission
which was established by Father Mar
quette two hundred years ago, ha
81 been discovered on the farm Of Mr.
to David Murry, at Pointe st. Ignace
and that numerous church relics c
those days had been unearthed, show
* ing beyond question that this was tn
place where the mission was erected
Soon after the news was received tn
y bulletin at the telegraph office al
nounced the fact that the bones Of
he human being had been found OF III
he grounds, which were undoubtedly tn
ar remains of that intrepid missionar
mt Father Marquette. AS the readers {
ate the early history of Michigan al
oa- aware, in 1911 Father Marquett
re. built alog chapel at Pointe ST. Ignac
the and named the station lgnatius. A
"a ter this a church was erected, whic
was subsequently destroyed by fiji
80 and all trace of its location was los
IS Efforts have been made at differel
re- times to discover the site of the Of
nd mission, but heretofore they have bee
est of no avail. On the farm of Mr.. Mu
ov- ry, about two hundred feet from Il
'es- the main road running through II
an town, there is a small rise of grou1
red covered oyer with thick unde
brush, which had not been cleare
~ away. 1t was here that NJ
Patrick Murray, son of David Mu
ray, m day last week made the in
portant discovery of the location
'e'" the old church. The foundatio
marked by a rise of ground, somewh
.an in the shape OF a cross, is very clear
,tes traced, as well as the location of Il
- baptismal font and the place wbe
:. the church treasures were kept.
my soon as the fact of the discovery W
nau made known, many people gather'
'teu on the ground, and in the research
sail that were made was found a numb
ned of ancient church relics, such as go
10Th pieces, portions of crosses. winde
and glass, etc. 1t is reported that a Gre
ion has been found with Father Ma
! ia quette's name upon it. There is c
eitement at the Pointe in regard
oe the matter, and a guard is now
viii duty to protect the place from int;
sion until some definite plan of acti,
par shall be determined upon by the pr
per authorities. A rumor is ourrel
the with how much truth in it we cam
say, that large rewards have been
re- fered for the discovery of the old m
sion site or the remains of Faith
Der Marquette"
lest