St. Ignace Mission (#S92)! - The Bill Beaver Project

Sign Text for Michigan Landmark #S92:

In 1671 the mission of St. Ignace was established so that the Christian message could be brought to several thousand Indians living on this shore. The founder was Father Jacques Marquette, the Jesuit missionary. In 1673 he left on his great journey to the Mississippi Valley. He never returned to his mission before he died in 1675. Two years later his bones were reburied here beneath the chapel altar. In 1706, after French troops had abandoned the fort, the chapel was destroyed.

More about St. Ignace Mission:

Just over 200 years after Father Marquette was reburied at the St. Ignace Mission, Reverend Edward Jacker began digging for evidence of the original mission, which was burned when the Jesuits abandoned the town. Discovering the outline of walls alongside human bones, he asserted that he’d rediscovered the original site of the mission! The largest of these bones, he donated to Marquette College, which keeps them archived, and the rest were reburied here. In 1954, to commemorate the find, the second mission chapel built in St. Ignace (circa 1837), then fallen to disrepair, was moved from its original location a mile away and restored at the site of the first mission! Since the 1980s, this 19th Century church building has served as the Museum of Ojibwa Culture, featuring artifacts and an active long house that tell the stories of the Huron and Odawa people whose lives and cultures surrounded the mission’s history!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
Volunteer with the Michigan History Center!
Donate to the Museum of Ojibwa Culture!
Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!