The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-05-12
Father RennepIn.

In 1878, the Recollect Father, Louis
Hennepin, entered the Niagara region
about December 6. To him is to be
credited the celebration of the first
! Mass III this section of our country,
and he is the actual discoverer of the
| falls. Later he was joined by the
| sanity Father Gabriel de la Ribaurde
and Fathers Membre and Watteraux.
| Father Gabriel was murdered by the
| Indians in 1850. Five years later,
| Father Membre received the crown of
martyr. Father Hennepin leaves a
| very good account of his work in the
Niagara region and an excellent de-
scriptiOn of the falls.
Louis Hennepin, one of the great
discoveries, was born at Ath, Belgium,
in 1910, and later entered the Francis
can Order. Under the leadership of
LaSalle, he arrived in the new world
about 1875. He spent the first four
years in his new home at Quebec
During these years he mastered much
of the Indian traditions and dialects,
with the idea of being a missionary
among them. When La Sale organ
lied his exploring party, Father Hen
nepin was sent with him. In August,
| 1879, the explorer sailed from the Nj
agara River in a vessel named the
"GriffQn.' They passed through Lake
| St. Clair and up Lake Huron, and
later arrived at Green Bay, and then
proceeded to the mouth of what is
now known as the River of st. Joseph.
| Here fort was built In the early
| part of December LaSalle and Henne-
| pin, with few others, set out for the
| head waters of the st. Joseph. Later
they arrived at the Kankakee River,
and going down this they discovered
the Illinois, and in the latter part of
| December arrived at the village of the
| Illinois. They discovered Lake Peoria.
| At the outlet of this lake LaSalle
erected a fort, "Creve-Coeur." La
Sale now left the expedition and re-
turned to Quebec.
Father Hennepin proceeded on an
expedition which brought him to the
Mississippi River. He and his COM
| panions were on April u, 1850, cap
tured by the Sioux Indians and were
! taken to their village located near
what is now ST. Paul. Mimi. Wherever
the Indians wandered Hennepin and
his companions were forced to go.
| While in this section he discovered the
st. Francis River
| Ascending the Mississippi to a spot
near what is now Minneapolis, Mimi,
| Hennepin discovered the Falls of ST.
Anthony, which he named in honor of
| the Saint of Padua.
| To obtain an excellent view of the
| Mississippi, near this point of discov-
cry by Father Hennepin, one has only
to go to the rocky cliff of St. Paurs
Seminary. AT point just above the
island you can see a great distance
up or down the river. For his discov-
cries in Minnesota, Hennepin County
is called after this daring explorer.
After he was released by the Indians,
through the efforts of Duluth, he went
| to the French settlement at Green
Bay, and from there proceeded to st.
| Ignacc. In 1851 he arrived in Mon
treal and from there proceeded to
| Quebec.
While at Fort Champlain he met
Bishop Laval. Shortly afterwards he
returned to Europe. There he spent a
year in a monastery and published an
account of his explorations. After the
publication of his book Hennepin was
recognized as great explorer Later
another edition of the work was is
sued, and this contained many state
ments that were not in the original
work This is an unfortunate part OF
| his life. In 1897 there was published
| the "Nouvelle Decouyerte,' and the
claim was made that before ascend
ing the Mississippi to the Falls of St
Anthony, he descended the river to its
mouth. This was trip of $3.50 miles,
and was made in thirty days. In his
first book Father Hennepin spoke only
| of his trip north.
| Father Hennepin, while in the New
World, bore the reputation of a fear
1 lCoo ctAu OSll-uOAJ LIS VI lO0t. 1lC WOuio
when he was stationed in Canada,
| start out in the depth of winter, with
a little chapel service on his back,
that he might baptize dying Indian.
1t has been claimed that certain data
in this book was published without his
knowledge. Had he not issued a book
after 1853, it is probable that no