1673

1673. Marquette and Joliet. , In 1673, Jesuit priest and missionary Father Jacques Marquette and French-Canadian explorer and fur trader Louis Joliet led the first French expedition of the Mississippi River. Hearing rumors of a great river to the west that would lead to the Pacific Ocean, they launched a search for this potential northwest passage. Joliet was to lead the exploration. Marquette would serve as chaplain, extending Christianity to any Native Americans they might meet., This panel shows Marquette leaving the Great Lakes region for a trip down the River despite warnings from members of the Ottawa tribe in Wisconsin that things would become more dangerous farther south. Traveling in one canoe, the small crew navigated the Wisconsin River to enter the Mississippi. They soon concluded they were headed toward the Gulf of Mexico. Recalling the warning that if they traveled farther south they would encounter extreme heat, fierce people and great beasts, they turned back for the safety of French settlements on the Great Lakes., Spanish Exploration , Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto was the first European to explore the vast Mississippi River Valley in the early 1540s His trek to America was spurred by an unsuccessful search for gold. In May 1541, he sighted the Mississippi River and crossed into what is now Arkansas, exploring farther west and south. While returning to the Mississippi in 1542, he died of a fever and was buried in stream by his men.