m^m^mm^mm /- •' 
 
 JOLIBT Ai\D MARUUBTTE 
 IN IOWA 
 
 BY 
 
 LAENAS GIFFORD WELD 
 
 RhPRINXBO PROM TBU jANtlARY 1903° NUMBBR OV 
 THE IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POWTICS 
 t'aBi. isKSD AT Iowa City Iowa bv 
 The Statk Historical Society of Iowa 
 
-^ 
 
 
JOLIET AX I) MAHqUETTE 
 
JOLIET AND MARQUETTE IN lOAVA 
 
 The first recorded interview between the white man and 
 the Indian, within the limits of the present State of Iowa, 
 was incident to the landing of Joliet and Marquette upon 
 the west bank of the Mississippi on the 2')th of June, 1(173. 
 The exact locality in which this interview was held has 
 always been a matter of doubt. That the subject is one of 
 some interest is shown by the fact that a numl>er of points 
 have been named as probable sites of the landing of the two 
 explorers upon the occasion in ((uestion. Among these may 
 be mentioned Montrose, Sandusky, and the mouth of 
 Lemoiliese Creek or Bloody Run — all in Lee County. 
 ^^'^riters have generally agreed upon placing the landing 
 near the mouth of the Des jMoines river, but l)oth Shea and 
 Parkman favor some stream further north. It was ceitainly 
 near to some western tributary of considerable size. 
 
 Though Joliet was the nominal head of this memorable 
 expedition, the first to make known the true course of the 
 Mississippi, we owe relatively little of our knowledge re- 
 garding it to documents which he has left. Most unfortun- 
 ately, on his way back to Quebec in the following sj)ring, 
 his canoe was wrecked in the rapids of La Chine just above 
 Montreal, two of his companions being drowned and his 
 box of papers lost. Thus it happens that we owe such 
 knowledge as we have of the details of the expedition to 
 the accounts furnished by Marc^uette. Manj^uette's narra- 
 
tive was originally sent to Dablon, the Superior of tlie 
 Jesuit ]VIissions, at Quebec. Dablon forwarded a copy of 
 it to Paris as a part of his Relation of the year 1674. The 
 original seems to have remained in the Jesuit archives at 
 Quebec until about 1800, when it was deposited in the Hotel 
 Dieu. From this jjlace it was removed in 1842 to St. 
 Mary's College in Montreal. Some years later the manu- 
 script fell into the hands of Dr. John Gilmaiy Shea, the 
 historian of the Roman Catholic Church in America, who 
 published it in 1853 in his Discovert/ of the ^lissiasij^pL 
 
 In the Recueil de Yoijage of The\;enot (IGSo) Mai"' 
 quette's narrative was published in an aV)ridged form. This 
 form was the one principally used by historians before Dr. 
 Shea secured access to the original document. It is still 
 valuable as supplying a gap in the original, two pages of 
 which have been lost. These pages, however, form a part 
 of the descrijition of the Illinois Indians and are of no 
 especial significance from a geograi)hical standpoint. Thev- 
 enot also published a map which he erroneously ascribed 
 to Marquette, but the tme author of which is unknown. 
 The genuine map was found in connection with the original 
 MS. in the library of St. Mary's College. Joliet's 
 "earliest" map, probably sketched from memory in 1674, 
 has also been preserved as well as his Carte Generale of 
 1681 c'lrca^ signed by FranqueHn. Franquelin's Cavte de 
 la Loui&iana of 1684 is of interest in this connection, 
 though the original has apparently been lost and we have 
 only the /'c/c simile of the MS. copy made by Parkman now 
 in the library of Harvard University. Two other maps by 
 Joliet, known as the "larger" and the "smaller" map, are 
 
also in existence; but, like his "earliest" map, these were 
 j»rol)ably drawn from memory and are therefore uni-elialile 
 as to detiiils. Excepting those sources of information fur- 
 nished by Manpiette, little is to he learned from any of the 
 above regarding the jiarticular ipiestion at issue. A brief 
 synopsis of Mar([uette's narrative, including all geographical 
 references, is here given. 
 
 It was on the 17th of May, KiT.'?, that Joliet and Mar- 
 (piette, with Hve c<iiiij)anions, embarked at St. Ignace ujton 
 the voyage for the discovery of the ]\Iississij)j)i, "fully re- 
 solved to do and suffer everything for so glorious an under- 
 taking." Three weeks later, June loth, having crossed 
 the p(jrtage between the Fox river and the A\'isconsiu, they 
 launched their canoes upon the latter stream and, in the 
 words of Mar([uette, "left the watei-s flowing to Quel)ec. . . . 
 to float upon those wliicli would conduct us thenceforwaixl 
 to strange lands." On June 17th, just one month after 
 leaving the Mission of St. Ignace, they reached the mouth 
 of the AN'isconsin and floated out upon the ^Mississippi in 
 latitude recorded as 42 i degi-ees. The high range of Iduffs 
 ui>on the western l)ank and the broad meadows to the east 
 were noted at once. Soundings gave sixty feet of water, 
 and the width of the stream varied from over two miles to 
 less than a third of a mile. The current bore them to the 
 south and southeast as far as 42 degrees of latitude. Here 
 a marked change in the aspect of the country was observed. 
 The mountains and the forests had almost disappeared, 
 while the islands were more lieautiful and covered with finer 
 trees. Deer and moose, bustards and "wingless swans" 
 i^cyynes sans aideii) were seen in abundance. The great 
 
cat-fish of the Mississippi, the sturgeon, the curious and now 
 rare spade-fish, and the wild cat were also noted. Having 
 reached latitude 41° 28', following the same general course, 
 turkeys were observed to take the place of game and bison 
 (jnsikioiis) appeared. Advancing to the south and south 
 southwest they found themselves at latitude 41 degrees and 
 then at "40 degrees and some minutes, partly by southeast 
 and partly by southwest, after having advanced more than 
 sixty leagues since entering the river, without discovering 
 anything." 
 
 "Finally on the 25th of June,'' continues the narrative, 
 "we saw upon the water's edge, human foot prints and a 
 well beaten foot path leading to a beautiful prairie. We 
 stopped to examine it and concluding that it was a road 
 which conducted to some native village, we resolved to go 
 
 and reconnoitre M. Joliet and myself undertook this 
 
 discovery, rather hazai'dous for only two men, who thus put 
 themselves at the mercy of a barbarous and unknown peo- 
 ple. In silence we followed this foot path and after having 
 made about two leagues, we discovered a village upon the 
 bank of a river and two others upon a slope distant half a 
 league from the first." 
 
 The incidents and experiences of the journey do not con- 
 cern us. It is suflicient to note that the villages mentioned 
 were occupied by Illinois Indians whose more jjermanent 
 abode was upon the borders of the Illinois river. It is 
 only from the maj) that we know this meeting to have taken 
 place to the w^est, rather than to the east, of the INIissis- 
 sippi. The name of the group of villages, as there given, 
 is Peourea; while Moingoiieiia appears at no great distance. 
 
The first of these names survives as Peoria while the second 
 has been corrupted into Des Moines. The account of the 
 ovation given the explorers here covera only the day of 
 landing and the day following. Nevertheless, after devot- 
 ing some pages of his journal to the description of the Illi- 
 nois Indians, theii* mannei-s and theii* customs, Manjuette 
 resumes his narrative thus: ""We took leave of our Illinois 
 on the last of June towai-d three o'clock in the after- 
 noon." 
 
 Their adventures as far down as the mouth of the Mis- 
 souri are next described. Regarding this latter stream the 
 
 nan-ative says " sailing gently along a beautiful water, 
 
 clear and still, we heard the noise of a rapid into which we 
 were about to fall. I have never seen anything more fright- 
 ful, — masses, made up of whole trees and of branches, float- 
 ing like islands out of the mouth of the PeJcitanoui^ with 
 such force that we could not without great danger run the 
 risk of jiassing across. The tumult was such that the water 
 was muddy and could not become clear. Pekitanoui is a 
 great river which, coming from the far northwest, empties 
 into the JVIississippi." This can refer to none other than 
 the Missouri, the name here given meaning in Algomiuin 
 "muddy water." Neither the latitude of the mouth of the 
 Pekitanoui nor its distance from any point already passed is 
 noted, though the river is entered upon the map with the 
 names of several villages situated along its course. 
 
 After indulging in some interesting speculation as to how 
 the South Sea might be reached by the ^Missouri, Marquette 
 
 'Upon the map the spelling is Pekittan<yui. 
 
8 
 
 resumes: "After making about twenty leagues due south 
 and somewhat less to the southeast, we come to a river 
 named OuahouMgou^ the mouth of which is in latitude 36 
 degrees." Upon the map the name of this river appears as 
 Ouaboushigou, that is, Wabash. It is, of course, the Ohio. 
 Later in the narrative, after giving an account of experi- 
 ences and observations beyond the mouth of the Ohio, he 
 says: "We had descended nearly to the 33d degree of lat- 
 itude, going for the most part to the south, when we saw 
 upon the water's edge a village called JliteJu'gamea.^'^ This 
 seems to have been the village of a warrior tribe of the same 
 name living near the mouth of the St. Francis river. Here 
 the natives were disposed to be hostile, though the peace 
 calumet was displayed to good effect. At last one old man 
 was found with whom Marquette could converse. They 
 could get no other answer to their anxious inquiry regarding 
 the distance to the sea than that they would learn all that 
 they desired to know at the great village of Akamsea'^ 
 (Arkansas), eight or ten leagues further down the river. 
 The night was spent with the Mitchigameas. Next morning 
 the explorers re-embarked and were soon at Akamsea, where 
 they were received with iinusual cordiality. This was the 
 end of the journey southward. The latitude, that of the 
 mouth of the Arkansas, is correctly given as 33° 40', the 
 only latitude correctly determined and recorded in the course 
 of the whole voyage — with one or two possible exceptions, 
 depending upon the interpretation given to the earlier por- 
 tions of the narrative. 
 
 'This appears as Metchifiamea upon the map. 
 * Akunsea, as entered upon the map. 
 
The little party turned northward on the 17th of July, 
 just one month after having entered the river, and the tire- 
 some ascent was begun. Reaching the mouth of the Illinois 
 river, the latitude of which is given as ;{.S degrees, they 
 entered that stream, ascended it, passed the portage between 
 the Desplaines and the Chicago rivere and launched their 
 canoes upon I^ake Michigan. Late in Septemljer they 
 reached the Jesuit Mission of St. Francois Xavier, situated 
 near the head of (Jreen Bay. They had left this mission 
 four months previously and had traveled in the meantime 
 u]>wardH of three thousand miles. 
 
 Manpiette's narrative, just cited, is si> vague with refer- 
 ence to topographical details and so inconsistent with respect 
 to geographical positions that little dependence can be placed 
 upon it, except when taken in connection with the accom- 
 panying map. This last will be made the subject of some- 
 what careful e.xamination, its genuineness being assumed as 
 thoroughly e8tal>lished. 
 
 We have to note in the fii"st instance that the latitudes as 
 given upon Marquette's map are in error, all being about 
 one degree too far south, except AlanMea, the southernmost 
 point reached, which is coirectly placed at 33° 40'. Here- 
 with is presented a carefully prei)ared copy (See Fig. 1) of 
 a portion of Dr. Shea's fac nimile of the original, much 
 reduced. The j)arallels of latitude are as indicated l)y the 
 marginal figures in the original, while the meridians of 
 longitude are separated by intervals obtained l>y multiplying 
 the average latitude interval of one degree by the cosine of 
 •40 degrees, the "middle latitude" — in accordance with a well 
 known mathematical j )rinciple. The meridian of i) 1 degrees 
 
10 
 
 lias been placed near to the mouth of the "Wisconsin, its true 
 position. On the right hand margin of the map Mai'(|uette's 
 latitudes are indicated. On the left these latitudes have been 
 increased by one degree; so that, if read from this margin, 
 Marquette's map has been lifted bodily one degree in lati- 
 tude. The dotted sketch on the left of the map represents 
 the true course of the INIississippi and, presumably, those 
 tributaries which are noted by Marquette. The longitudes 
 along the lower margin, to the left, refer to this dotted 
 sketch only. A comimrison of ]Marquette's river with the 
 true course of the Mississijipi shows that his plot is a mar- 
 velously accurate one, as far down as the mouth of the 
 Ohio. Inasmuch as means of determining longitude by 
 jiortable instruments were not available in Marquette's day, 
 we can only explain the accuracy with which his longitudes 
 are plotted by supposing that careful note was taken, at 
 least until the latter part of the voyage down stream, of 
 distances and courses sailed. Other-ndse, it is impossiijle to 
 explain the close conformity exhibited by the accompanjdng 
 illustration. 
 
 This discrepancy of one degree in Marquette's latitudes 
 would seem to demand explanation. Let it l^e noted that 
 the complete map includes a large portion of Lake Superior, 
 St. Mary's river and the straits of Mackinac, regions well 
 known to Marc^uette and the other Jesuit missionaries of 
 the time. Accompanying the Jesuit Relation of 1G70-1, 
 prepared by Dablon, is a map of this upper lake region 
 entitled, Lac Siqyerieiir et autves lieux oii sont les Jlissiotis 
 des Peres de la Compagnie de Jesus eomj)rises sous le iwm 
 d^ Outaouacs. Without doubt Marquette was familiar with 
 
fi fi ff- fo ti ni ii Sb 
 
 ST 
 
 J¥ 
 
 33 
 
 fi fO Xf 
 
11 
 
 this map, which was probably the work of some of his own 
 associates. It is even conceivable that he sketched the 
 upper portion of his own map directly from it. The fact 
 that it includes, among others, the altogether irrelevant en- 
 try, Chemin an A-ssinipoiut/dk a 120 lienH vers le Xunloueat, 
 which also appears upon the map of 1670-1, seems to con- 
 firm this theory. Now upon this map of 1070-1 the lati- 
 tudes of Mission </n St. Esprit, of Mission Je Ste. Marie, 
 of St. Ljnare and of the lV)ttawattomie village at the head 
 of Green Bay, near to the Mission of St. Francois Xavier, 
 are exactly as recorded upon Marcjuette's map. A\'hether 
 the mistake is due to the defective astrolalje of some Jesuit 
 geographer, or to some other cause, does not concern us. 
 The error is evidently reproduced in the upper portions of 
 ]\Iarquette's map and, sujiposing that his map was plotted 
 by "dead reckoning," would naturally be propagated far 
 down the Mississij)])i. 
 
 Cei-tain it is that the latitudes u])on the map do not agree 
 with those given in the nan'ative. Moreover, those para- 
 grajihs describing the voyage from the time at which the 
 explorers entered the Mississippi up to the time of lauding 
 near Peouarea are utterly irreconcilable, so far as the lati- 
 tudes and directions are concerned, with the true course of 
 the ]\Iississippi. Neither is it possible to interpret them at 
 •all satisfactorily upon the assumption that some of the lati- 
 tudes were con-ectly given by Joliet while others are of 
 Manpiette's own determination. 
 
 ^^'hile the journal does not specifically state that the lati- 
 tude vaguely given as "4t) degrees and some minutes" is 
 that of Peouarea, it is evident from the map that this is to 
 
12 
 
 be understood. The estimated distance traversed since en- 
 tering the Mississippi — over sixty leagues — is as indefinite 
 as the estimate itself is uncertain. If twenty leagues be 
 counted to the degree, in nautical fashion, the distance is 
 above 207 statute miles. This would indicate as the place 
 of lauding some point on the river near Port Louisa in 
 Louisa County.^ The latitude of this point is about 41° 12', 
 which is something over a degree greater than that of 
 Peouarea as given by JNIarquette's map and nearly the same 
 amount greater than that inferred from the narrative. The 
 stream entering here from the west, as shown in the sketch 
 of the true course of the Mississippi, is the Iowa river. 
 
 The same error of one degree in latitude appears upon 
 Marquette's map in the location of the broad curve between 
 Keokuk and Quincy, by which the course of the Mississippi 
 changes from southwest to southeast. The mouths of the 
 Illinois, the Missouri, and the Ohio rivers are also plotted, 
 each one degree south of its true position. Finally, the lati- 
 tude of Mitchigamea is given in the narrative as 33 degrees; 
 while that of the southernmost point reached, Akamsea, 
 "eight or ten leagues" below, is correctly recorded as 
 33° 40'. This last station is set down in its true position 
 ujion the map, as is also Mitchigamea, thus shortening the 
 liver stretch between the mouths of the Ohio and the Ar- 
 kansas by about one degree. 
 
 A^Tiether Marquette's erroneous latitudes were kept by 
 "dead reckoning" or determined Avith a defective iustru- 
 
 'The distance by the river from Prairie du Cliien, about three 
 miles above the mouth of the Wiscousin, to Port Louisa is given by 
 the managers of the Diamond Jo Steamboat Line as 212 miles. 
 
13 
 
 ment (probably an astrolabe), possibly the same instrument 
 that had Vjeeu used by his Jesuit brethren in observing the 
 latitudes upon the Upjier Lakes, is immaterial. The uni- 
 formity of the error throughout the whole course of the 
 voyage, even down to the last recorded ])Osition, would 
 indicate the use of an instniment whose readings were sub- 
 ject to some constant error.' In any case such correct 
 positions as are recorded in tlie narrative may have been 
 deteiTuined by Joliet, whose skill in such matters does not 
 admit of doubt. '^ 
 
 Whatever may be tlie time exjilanatiou of the latitude 
 errors of Manjuette's chart nothing can more clearly prove 
 that it is an actual plot, made during the course of the voy- 
 age, than the manner in which he aljridges the last stretch 
 of the river and ends its course abruj)tly at latitude 83° 40'. 
 There is no sjieculation as to its course either below that 
 point, or above the point at which the stream was first 
 entered. Whatever discrepancies may have found their way 
 into his narrative as a result, it may be, of "comparing 
 notes" with Joliet, Marquette's chart is genuine, consistent, 
 and honest. In the accomi)anying diagram (See Fig. 2) the 
 comparison of the latitudes of all identifiable stations, as 
 
 ' While speculation in such matters is, of course, quite useless, it 
 may be noted that such an error as that with which we have to deal 
 may be accounted for by supposing that the "loop," by which the 
 astrolabe is hung from the thumb of cither hand wlien in use, may 
 have been broken off at some time and carelessly repaired. The 
 error might have been eliminated by holding the instrument first 
 with one hand and then with the other. 
 
 'Joliet was for many years of his subsequent life the chief hydro- 
 graphic officer of New France. 
 
14 
 
 given on Marquette's map, with their true latitudes, as 
 taken from a modern chart, is rendered simple and easy. 
 It is evident at a glance that the river at whose mouth 
 Marquette locates Peouarea can correspond ^\'ith no other 
 considerable stream than the Iowa. Attention should also 
 be called, perhaps, to the southern "dip" of the Iowa, on 
 the one hand, and of the stream indicated by INIarquette on 
 the other. 
 
 One of the principal grounds for locating the Illinois vil- 
 lages in question at the mouth of the Des Moines river 
 seems to be the fact that the name Moingouena appears 
 upon Marquette's map not far from Peouarea. While it is 
 highly ])robable, if not quite certain, that Moingouena was 
 gallicized into I)e^ Moines., it is by no means clear that 
 Manpette's Moingouena was meant to be placed upon the 
 same stream as Peouarea. It appears, rather, at some vague 
 distance across country among the ' 'A o/».s' de JS^atiojis eshig- 
 nees dans Jes Terres.'''' Inasmuch as Marquette mentions 
 only three villages in his narrative, all of which are repre- 
 sented at Peouarea by the conventionalized tepees used 
 throughout the map to indicate Indian villages, it is prob- 
 able that he knew of Moingouena only by hearsay, just as 
 was the case with numerous other villages whose positions 
 he took some pains to record. This tribe may therefore 
 have been located, even at this time, upon the banks of the 
 river which still bears its name. 
 
 Though the maps of the Mississippi sketched by Joliet, 
 probably wholly from memory, cannot be relied upon in 
 detail it is interesting to note that upon the "larger" and 
 "smaller" maps not a single western tributary to the Mis- 
 
( Marqi- kite's 
 
 j LaTITI'I'KS 
 
 ( Tui i; 
 
 ) Latitiuks 
 
 Sti. M'li!' 
 
 St. Ii/iiiire 
 
 I'lllltllllltOIIlt 
 
 MdKCoiiteim 
 
 411 
 
 — 4: 
 
 Siiiilt ill Si I. Mii,-!< 
 
 St. lijiiiiii 
 .Miiiiiiiiliii < , II i". 
 
 Ji. I'ek-itliiiiiiii! — 
 
 li. thnihoiiskiyiiii — : 
 
 .ikinixiii 
 
 I 'I. Sii/t/i . tin I II ll'iij 
 4 1 liiiliii. W'Ik. 
 
 4H .Mniltli <•/ Wi.ii-iili.iiii A". 
 
 4-.' t,"l KlLlt'll III IkI lit' Mi.lK. 
 
 W'lifisi/iiiiii'Oi liii'i I' 
 : — 4 1 /nir,l llil'l I- 
 
 li't. W'lxti r,i ISi ml iif 
 Mi nil. 
 
 IIHiiiiIk liii'i r 
 .}/i.i.iiiin'i liii'i I 
 
 17 'f/iiii liti'ir 
 
 [rhmi.iii.i liifi.r 
 
 Pig. 2. A diagramatic comparison of Marquelles latitudes with the true latitudes of all identifiable 
 stations shown upon his map. The dotted lines refer to stations other than those along the Missis- 
 sippi, some of which do not appear in Fig .. The iutcrrapted line is drawn from Prouari^a upon the 
 assumption that the stream indicated at this point upon Marquette's map is the Iowa river. 
 
15 
 
 sissippi is shown between the mouth of the "Wisconsin and 
 the Missouri river. His map of 1074 (the "earliest") does 
 show a western stream occupying a relative position cor- 
 responding roughly with that of the Des ^loines river. 
 Along this stream ajipear tepees representing five villages 
 and bearing the legends: Illinois Peouarea 300 Cabanes 
 180 canots de bois de 50 pieds de lowj, Atoniauka, Puna, 
 Maha and Paoutet. The name Moingouena does not ap- 
 pear, and is only remotely suggested by Minongio, the 
 westernmost of five villages ranged along the Missouri 
 river. 
 
 Fran(|uelin's Carte de Zo'/Zs-zV^/u/ (1684) places Moinijoana 
 upon a western tributary which we may assume to be the 
 Des jNIoines while Peouereo is at the mouth of a stream 
 further north. This latter sti-eam, however, corres])onds 
 more nearly with the Wapsipinicon than with the Iowa; 
 since, between its mouth and that of the Des Moines (?), the 
 Kickapoo, now known as Rock river, enters the Mississippi 
 from the east. 
 
 It must be borne in mind, in any case, that Iowa was not 
 the peiTiianent abode of either the Peouarea or the Moin- 
 gouena Indians, and it is by no meanS cei-tain that either 
 tribe, in its fre(|uent sojourns to the country across the Mis- 
 sissippi, always resorted to the same western tributary. It 
 does not follow, therefore, that the location by Man^uette 
 of the Peouareas and the Moingouenas upon the same stream 
 in 1673, even if he so intended, gives any indication that the 
 stream in question is the one which today bears the name of 
 the latter tribe. 
 
 There is no evidence whatever, then, to show that the 
 
16 
 
 stream at whose mouth Marquette places Peouarea is other 
 than that indicated by a careful study of his chart, viz. , the 
 Iowa river. This being the case Louisa County, not Lee 
 County, must henceforth be regarded as including within its 
 limits the scene of the opening incident in the history of 
 our Commonwealth. 
 
 Laenas Gifford Weld 
 The State Univeksitt of Iowa 
 Iowa City