May 17 marks the 350th anniversary of when Marquette, Jolliet set out on their voyage

On May 17, 1673, French Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette set out on a voyage that led to the colonization of the Great Lakes region, including the region known as the Illinois Valley.

They explored the Mississippi Valley.

The party of five Frenchmen arrived to the Starved Rock region in late August or early September of 1673, nearing the end of their voyage, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The explorers landed at Kaskaskia, the large Illinois Native American village located about a mile upstream and on the opposite shore of the Illinois River from Starved Rock.

The party stayed only a short time at the village before heading north at the conclusion of the voyage. Marquette returned to the Starved Rock area in 1675 when he established the first Roman Catholic mission in today’s Illinois, the Mission of the Immaculate Conception.

Marquette established the mission in what is now Utica, which according to a plaque standing on the grounds of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Utica, says “devoted missioner and heroic priest-explorer he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass near this spot Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday 1675 and established the First Christian Mission of the Illinois Country.”

In March, the La Salle County Historical Society hosted Jim Healy to perform a one-man play recounting the life and times of Jolliet.

Jolliet and Marquette 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. 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 finally was realized in the 19th century, when construction began on the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1836. The 175th anniversary of the Illinois and Michigan Canal also is being celebrated this year.