Père Marquette: Priest, Pioneer and Adventurer

Born in France in 1637, Marquette became a Jesuit at the age of 17. Possessing a keen desire for adventure, coupled with a true missionary's compassion and a gift for linguistics, it was not long before Marquette was assigned as a missionary to New France. Once there, his daring nature drove him into the wilderness of the Great Lakes, establishing missions and preaching the gospel to even the most remote tribes. Never hesitant to risk death by exposure, starvation, or Iroquois raid, Marquette would continue to minister to tribes as far south as the Arkansas River until his death in 1675.