New-York tribune., 1903-01-01
MARQUETTE,
Nesc Biography Of the French
Pioneer.

FATHER MAR9yETTE 81 Es s.I Reuhe1 emo eOd Ob
"a D. Appleton & Co
{ was or September 70 1866. that Marquette.
. young Jesuit having received orders 10 re-
>arf for missionary work in New France. ar
lived at Quebec and presented himself before
the Superior Of his order. Within a month he
sent to be pupil Of Father Druillettes' at
Three Rivers where he studied the Montagnais
language. The Jesuits lived almost the life OF
the savages they attempted to christianize' and
the use Of the native tongues was serious
stumbling block 10 many a jealous missionary
Father Marquette. in. time, was master of SIX
i1alects The care taken hy the order 10 avoid
offending the savsges or instructing them in
~. doctrines Of the church hy any browbeat-
ac method is well shown i'm the instructions
sued to missionaries who sVere to accompany
indians in canoes up the Ottawa Never make
,iiem wait for you in embarking was one IN
;,nction Try TO eat their ssgamite they
cook it. had and dirty it is, Fasten
up the skirts of your cassock that You may not
carry water or sand into the canoe. Be
very careful when in the canoe. that the brim
of your hat does not annoy them. Perhaps II
would be better 20 your night cap There
is no such thing as improprety among In
dams"
Such was the spirit of the Black robes. as
the savages called them. Going among them I'm
this mood. doing thousand little kindnesses.
living on moss. pounded fishbone. or alternately
glutting with fish and starving. the missionaries
persistently preached the Great Manitou. threat
ened the savage with hell fire. told him Of the
Saviour and the Virgin. set UP altars. endured
ridicule and insisted prayer Often their
efforts were brought 10 naught by the ascend
ancv of the medicine man. whom the missionary
N;-,,la ng Eata
At other times they the affection and re-
spect Of the Wild people they sought and their
gratitude Their courage was patent 10 the
trickest-headed savage. and their enterprise IN
explora ton set him aghast The reports to
Quebec. however. often show that the mission
ary his guard against being over
sanguine. Father Marquette writes from Sault
Ste. Marie speaking of the readiness Of the
tribe there 10 be baptized. and the fear that the
TOO acuuiescent would slip back TO superstition
after baptism. Especial attention is given 10
instructing them. and to baptizing the dying.
who are surer harvest In due time he was
sent to the seat Of the Obiiwas at Sault Ste
Marie and later 70 succeed Allouez at La Pointe
Mission, in Chequamegon Bay. Lake Superior.
There he was successful. in part in his work,
and began the study of the Illinois language
There also he heard directly Of the Mississippi.
which became his ambition to reach.
This river and it's course formed a geographi-
cal puzzle some holding that it emptied through
California and others through Virginia La
Pointe Mission had to be abandoned in haste,
eli the Indians going along. because of the
declaration of made by the Sioux, people
of whom Father Marquette says that their
manners and customs quite extraordinary;
they chiefly adore the calumet. and say not
word at their feasts: and when any stranger
arrives they feed him with q wooden fork
nne would a child, After conducting the tribe
10 Mackinack Marquette appointed by the
i,ezv Governor Count Frontenac to accompany
The young explorer Joliet on an expedition to
liud the Mississippi They set out. small party
al seven Frenchn1en, warned of hostile Indians
:,--s9 ,rTlearthlv monsters. and made for Green
I;ev on Nav Ia 1873 Proceeding up the Fox
,.ver TO De Pere and Lake Winnebago. they
jo.f the portage into the Wisconsin River and
l,a.ldled down into the broad Mississippi on the
-e-enteenth of June. Making cautious de-
=,.ant anchoring in midstream at night TO avoid
4 tack thev reached the Arkansas River a
.,-ourh later and learning further of the lower
1ovl - from some friendly Arkansas Indians
5ete-r-ired TO return ard report The pull up
stre9m was laborious. slow and unhealthy. All
the party grew ill., and Marquette never fully
recovered. He ,arried through thirteen months
at De Pere. and. gaining some strength. insisted
10 visit them ON the return he sank steadily
and died on tho shores Of small harbor on
the eas; side of Lake Michigan. The bones of
Father Marquette were taken later to his church
81. Tsnace.
In nine years of missionary labor and al only
1hirty-eight years Of age, he had impressed his
character on ms organization. and had had the
good fortune 10 leave his name in the history Of
is field. The fact that mis- account of the
. discovery has alone come down due to an
accident 70 his partners manuscript. Yet with
srrogating him than his due. the
figure Of Marquette has perhaps for some senti-
mental reason. 4 deeper hold tradition than
that Of his companion on the voyage. A high,
deVout idealsm and \ genial. energetic restless
ness marked the whose name makes a
livelier appeal to the imagination than has been
the let of many Of his contemporaries.