In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet embarked – in two canoes – on an expedition to explore the Mississippi River. Marquette was especially useful during the voyage, as he knew several Native American languages, thus he was able to gather valuable information from local tribes as they made their way through the wilderness.
BTW: the word Mississippi comes from the Algonquian language and means Father of Waters.
Once they reached the Big Daddy – June 17, 1673 – these two explorers traveled south all the way to the mouth of the Arkansas River. On that trip, Marquette and Joliet became two of the first Europeans to ever set foot on the eastern shores of the beautiful land we now call Iowa.
READ MORE ABOUT THIS IOWA STORY HERE.
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