What Is Father Marquette National Memorial?
This small pavilion tells the story of Father Jacques Marquette and the thousands of miles he traveled up and down what is now the United States!
What Makes It Beautiful?
Father Jacques Marquette was a French Jesuit missionary with a gift for languages! In only two years from his arrival on the North American continent September 20, 1666 to his transfer to the budding mission at Sault Ste. Marie in 1688, he learned six different Native American dialects! These, he put to use, first in starting his own mission at St. Ignace in 1671 then in accompanying Louis Jolliet on an epic adventure across Lakes Huron and Michigan, down the Mississippi River to the edge of Spanish Louisiana and back! Setting off on May 17, 1673, they made this 3,000-mile journey in just under two years! Sadly, Father Marquette did not make it home, dying of dysentery near what is now Ludington, Michigan on May 18, 1675. The map made by this expedition was the first of its kind and the most accurate of its time!
Since 1976, this beautiful spot overlooking the Strait of Mackinac has been the site of a memorial to Father Marquette! It’s a humble pavilion, made humbler when its accompanying museum burned down in 2000, but its floor features a lovely topographic map of Father Marquette’s grand adventure! Today, though, the memorial has become a place where Native tribes like the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi (collectively Anishinaabe) can energize their cultures through annual pow-wows. Starting in 2017, this park has been undergoing an extensive makeover under a project called Gchi Mshiiken Deh Minising (Heart of the Great Turtle Island), which is meant to put in more permanent learning and ceremonial structures that tell the story of Michigan’s Native tribes alongside that of Father Marquette’s!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources!
- Become a member of the Michigan History Center!
- Be a responsible visitor! Remember the old adages: Pack out what you pack in! Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!
How Do I Get There?
N 548 Boulevard Dr
St. Ignace, MI 49781
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit the Park?
Between the end of May and start of September, the memorial is open daily from 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM!
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