Enlightenment · North America · Exploration

1673

Marquette and Jolliet Reach the Mississippi

May 1673

A French Jesuit and a Canadian fur trader paddled west from the Great Lakes, crossed a portage in Wisconsin, and entered a vast river the locals called Missi-sipi. They followed it as far as the mouth of the Arkansas before turning back. New France now knew the great interior artery of the continent.

More from 1673 Enlightenment

In context

Also in 1673 (2 other events on record)

Test Act Bars English Catholics · Europe · Religion
Pope Denounces Jesuit Rites · East Asia · Religion

Before and after in North America

Before: August 22, 1671: Henry Morgan Sacks Panama
After: 1674: Father Marquette Founds Mission at Chicago

Before and after in Exploration

Before: 1664: French East India Company Refounded
After: April 9, 1682: La Salle Claims Louisiana

Era

Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.