Then & Now: Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette – Joliet and Chicago

In 1673, French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette first crossed this wetland area on their return trip from the exploration of the Mississippi Valley.

Both were the first to recognize the importance of the portage near Chicago as a potential water link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

This area stretches nearly six miles and was recognized by Jolliet for its strategic value, namely, providing a critical link between the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers.

Jolliet suggested to his patrons at Quebec that by cutting a canal through the “river portage,” New France could control the water route through the interior of the continent.

Shortly after early settlement, the south branch of the Chicago River was known as the River of the Portage, as it became the key link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

This branch of the river flowed southwest from a swampy location called Mud Lake by early adventurers. From Mud Lake west, a small channel, known for years as the West Fork, meandered a short distant before ending.

It was along these tributaries that the notion of a canal that connected the Des Plaines River to the Chicago River were first contemplated.

The canal was finally realized in the 19th century, when construction began on the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1836.

Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, traveled with Louis Jolliet on this expedition to explore the Mississippi Valley.

Marquette returned to the region in 1674-75 on missionary work and remained during the winter because he was ill.

According to his diaries, Marquette stayed along the south branch of the Chicago River, near the eastern end of the Chicago Portage, and reflected on the importance of the river and Lake Michigan on the areas’ landscape.

Efforts have been made to memorialize the site, including a mahogany cross that was erected on Sept. 28, 1907, by the City of Chicago, the Chicago Association of Commerce, and Miss Valentine Smith, the city archivist.

In 1930, the city of Chicago also memorialized Marquette on a bronze tablet that is located on the northern bridge tower of the Damen Avenue (Robey Bridge).

The monument is eroding as it sits on a busy stretch of Damen Avenue. That stretch of Damen Avenue sees less pedestrian traffic crossing than it used to, on the South Branch of the Chicago River.

Several statues of Marquette and Jolliet have been erected around the region over the years.

One of the more impressive monuments was a the Statute of Louis Jolliet that stood in a plaza near the Palace of Manufactures at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

A bronze statue of Louis Jolliet, sculpted by Sigvald Asbjornsen in 1903, sits outside the Joliet Public Library in downtown Joliet.

Asbjornsen, who emigrated to the United States in 1892, sculpted a number of public works around Chicago, including a statue of Benjamin Franklin in Lincoln Park. Asbjorsen’s statue of Louis Joillet was dedicated on February 14, 1904.

A monument to Father Marquette was erected on Oct. 14, 1951, under the Archbishop Joseph H. Schlarman, the Bishop of Peoria.

Located on the northeast corner, property of St. Mary’s Church in Utica, Illinois, the stone sculpture captures a profile of the Jesuit missionary and inscription at the base.

In April 1675, Father Marquette offered the first parochial Mass near this location in the presence of thousands of Native Americans.