Jolliet and Marquette
A New History of the 1673 Expedition
Mark Walczynski’s history book Jolliet and Marquette shines light on an important North American expedition.
In 1673, Louis Jolliet, an explorer, and Jacques Marquette, a priest, set out to chart the Mississippi River and the surrounding areas. While not as well known as the Lewis and Clark expedition, their travels were vital in opening up the continent to French exploration. They also represented the first European exploration of the Mississippi River.
The book corrects previous scholarship, noting the prejudices of earlier researchers. It introduces original research on the expedition and spends considerable time addressing how Native American cultures were impacted by European exploration, both initially and long term. Walczynski writes that the Indigenous nations in the central US were sophisticated and vast, addressing the people among them who the explorers encountered and placing them in wider context. He makes use of bioarchaeology to flesh these communities out and to clear up the errors made by the original explorers. Modern GIS tools are also utilized to calculate distances and establish the particulars of the expedition’s routes.
But in addition to this historical information, the book is exciting, treating Jolliet and Marquette’s travels as an adventure. They moved through unknown territory, and this was at times harrowing work. Drawing on their journals and letters, the book includes intriguing interludes, as with the men’s encounter with the Peoria tribe, whose elders warned them of unknown dangers ahead. Maps and illustrations are present to flesh their travels out further.
Jolliet and Marquette is an engrossing history book that covers an early European expedition into lands unfamiliar to its explorers; it is respectful in analyzing the not yet colonized cultures they encountered.
Reviewed by
Matt Benzing
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
