The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-10-14

soon his wish was gratiiicd. Father
Marquette set sail from France, and
on September 20, 1866, landed at Que
bee. There was, at that time, another
missionary, Father Nj. Alouez, on an
exploring tour far away upon the lakes
of the interior. With adventurous
footsteps he was traversing prairie
solitudes and forest glooms, upon
which no eye Of civilized man had ever
yet looked.
There was quite an important trad
ing post at the mouth of Saguenay
River, Il stream which entered the st.
Lawrence about one hundred and
| twenty miles below Quebec. Father
Marquette took his station at this
| point, nlld for twelve years patiently
labored. Full Of enthusiasm, his heart
SIowrd with zeal as he listened to the
| nnrrative Of Father Allouez, Of popul-
| GUS tribes far away on the shores of
Huron. Michigan, Superior. These
tribes had never heard of the mission
| of the Son of God, to save lost world,
| Father Marquette could not resist the
| impulse to carry the gospel to these
realms OF darkness.
| Father Marquette had q remarkable
| facility in the acquisition of languages.
| There was Il general resemblance in
the language of all the tribes on the
ST. Lawrence. He could very soon
speak flucntly with all. Taking Indian
guides with him, he commenced tours
IN various directions in the canoe. He
visited tribe after tribe, met the chiefs
at their council fires. slept in the wig
vans, administered medicines to the
sick, and with zeal which no discour-
agcment could chill, converted the saw
ages.
After spending two years in these la
bors he was appointed to the Lake Su-
perior missions, and began that long
and painful journey of thousand
miles on April 81, 1868, when he left
Quebec for Montreal. This journey-a
distance of one hundred and eighty
miles-in a birch canoe, with three
boatmcn to aid in padding it against
the stream, was performed in q week.
From Montreal they padded up the
Ottawa River nearly four hundred
| miles. Thence through series of mar
row streams and minor lakes they en-
/ oLa nj
rapid flood of French River, through
cheerless solitudcs eighty miles in ex-
tent, they entered Georgian Bay.
Crossing this vast sheet of water, over
an cxpanse of fifty miles, they saw the
apparently boundless waves of Lake
Huron opening before them. The
| northern shores of this inland sea they
| skirted, until they reached the river
st. Mary, which connects Lake Su-
perior with Lake Huron. Here two
missionary stations were established.
One was near the entrance of the
river into Lake Huron, about forty
miles below the Falls of St. Mary;
the other was at Green Bay. Father
Marquette reared his log cabin in the :
vicinity Of Mackinaw, naming the sta
tion st. Ignatius. In this vast solitude .
this heroic man commenced his labors Z
of love. For three years he labored
among the two thousand souls cheer
fully. joyously. During all this time
his mind had been much exercised
with the thought Of exploring the lim-
itless and unknown regions south and
west.
On May 10. 1879, Father Marquette,
Louis Joliet and five Loatmen in two
birch canoes set out. and their nimble
paddles cut the bright surface of Lake
Michigan. They soon reached Green
Bay. Here, the priest tells US: II put
our voyage under the protection Of the
Blessed Virgin, promising her that IL
she did US the grace to discover the y
great river, would give it the name
of Conception" They proceeded up
Fox River, crossed by a portage to the
Wisconsin, sailed down that stream !