why do we still remember Jacques Marquet and Louis Joliet today?

Answer 1

As you know, there's a Marquette, Michigan and a Joliet, Illinois. I grew up in Michigan, and learned about Marquette and Joliet in elementary school. Have read more about them since then.

The exploits of this pair are sort of in the same category as the journeys of La Salle, Coronado, Lewis & Clark, Daniel Boone, and the early overland Spanish explorers of Alta California.

Your question is do we still remember them today?

The answer, of course, has to do with history, and more specifically, how the United States was put together, piece by piece. The Spanish were the first in Florida, the lower Mississippi, the Southwest, and in California. The British settled the eastern seaboard, east of the Appalachians. And it was the French who first explored the St. Lawrence valley, the upper Great Lakes region, and the upper Mississippi valley.

Later, the British threw the French out of North America, the American colonists threw the British out, and then the United States threw the Spanish and Mexicans out.

Marquette and Joliet had a role in all this. Operating from their base at Sault Sainte Marie and Mackinac in northern Michigan (and reporting to Quebec, which was the French North American capital), they extended the French area beyond the Great Lakes basin by crossing the Mississippi watershed west of Green Bay, traveling down the Mississippi until they encountered Spanish territory at the Arkansas or Red River, and made it back via the Illinois and Chicago Rivers, although Marquette died at St. Joseph, Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shore on the return trip. Joliet made it all the way back.

St. Louis, Missouri, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, was originally established by the French, following the Marquette & Joliet expedition.

So in order to undestand how the United States was put together, the Marquette & Joliet expedition is a part of that story. I guess that ought to answer your question.

Oh, by the way, the Louisiana Purchase is one step removed from Marquette & Joliet. Their journey established the French claim to the upper Mississippi, including the Missouri, but after 1763 (the French & Indian War), the Louisiana Territory passed to Spain. Just before the Purchase, Napoleon got it back, and immediately sold it to the Americans. That's why we bought it from France. (The Spanish didn't want Louisiana to go to the Americans, but Napoleon didn't ask for their permission to sell.)

Answer 2

Because their discovery of the Mississippi River open the pathway for the French in the New World and eventually through their discovery of it not only did it open a river to create business on but it also would one day expand the US by the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase. It helped spark the new frontier spirit and created the identity for the US as a power to be reckoned with on a large scale. There was also more territory full of natural resources that we could utilize for the benefit of our country.

Answer 3

Yea I Remember it Well.. " I used to be desperately Trying to bear in mind what I used to be doing the Year earlier than on Today's Date... Coz Some Bird used to be Chasing Me For three Months ' Paternity ' MONEY !! So " MYOB ! "

Answer 4

Because of their inventions or deeds in the past. You can never know who you are until you know who or where you came from. You can never understand what your local customs are until you know what your ancestors did. We learn history to understand why we are the way we are today... and maybe to try not to repeat what was done wrong in the past, hopefully...