| Father Marquette National Memorial | |
|---|---|
   | |
| Location | St. Ignace, Michigan,USA |
| Nearest city | Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 45°51′6″N84°43′2″W / 45.85167°N 84.71722°W /45.85167; -84.71722 |
| Area | 52 acres (21 ha) |
| Established | December 20, 1975 |
| Governing body | Michigan Department of Natural Resources |
Father Marquette National Memorial pays tribute to the life and work ofJacques Marquette,French priest and explorer. The memorial is located inStraits State Park nearSt. Ignace in the modern-dayU.S. state ofMichigan, where he founded aJesuit mission in 1671 and was buried in 1678. The associated Father Marquette Museum building was destroyed in a fire on March 9, 2000.
Marquette arrived inNew France in 1666. Marquette establishedMichigan's earliest European settlements atSault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace nearMackinac Island in 1668 and 1671. He lived among theGreat LakesIndians from 1666 to his death in 1675. During these nine years, Father Marquette mastered several native languages and joinedLouis Jolliet in his expedition to explore and map a navigable route to thePacific Ocean, which resulted in the French discovery of theMississippi River.
The Marquette and Joliet expeditions explored theFox River, the Mississippi River as far asArkansas, theIllinois River, and theChicago River. They did not proceed to the mouth of the Mississippi due to hostility of the natives and fear of confrontingSpanish colonials.
In October 1674, Marquette and two companions set out on a missionary expedition. By the end of the year, he was afflicted withdysentery. He died nearLudington, Michigan while attempting to return to St. Ignace. The grave of Father Marquette was found to be located in downtown St. Ignace near the Ojibway Indian Museum on State Street.
Subsequent to the destruction of the Marquette Memorial Museum by fire in 2000, the site contains exhibits and a fifteen-stationinterpretive trail. The main building is an open-concept wood structure with kiosks.
The 52-acre (210,000 m2) memorial is owned and administered by theMichigan Department of Natural Resources and is an affiliated area of theNational Park Service. Thenational memorial was authorized on December 20, 1975. Unlike most national memorials, Father Marquette is not listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
