Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
MARQUETTE, Jacques
MARQUETTE, Jacques. (Laon, France, June 1, 1637-near Ludington, MI, May 18, 1675). Missionary and explorer. Marquette, with a group of explorers, was the first white man to view the present site of Dubuque. In 1672-1673 Father Marquette, a Jesuit priest, set out with [JOLLIET, Louis|Louis JOLLIET]] to explore what Native Americans of the region called "the great river" -the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
The explorers entered Green Bay from Lake Michigan. They paddled up the Fox River and made an easy portage to the Wisconsin River that they drifted along until it emptied into the Mississippi. This feat led them to become the first Europeans to reach the upper levels of this river. They paddled down the Mississippi past the area on which Dubuque would be built to the Arkansas River where they were told the river emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. To avoid Spanish rulers in the area, the party turned northward and entered the Illinois River on their way to the present site of Chicago.