Did You Know?

The first recorded European contact with the Osage people occurred during a southward expedition of the Mississippi River led by French missionary and explorer Fr. Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet. Marquette and Jolliet’s journey began on May 17, 1673, in what is present day St. Ignace, Michigan. Their voyage took them across Lake Michigan. Upon reaching land again they headed west until they ran into the mighty Mississippi River. Once the expedition party had found the river they began their excursion south which led them right through the heart of Osage country: modern day Kansas, Missouri, northeastern Oklahoma, and northwestern Arkansas. Marquette and Jolliet’s party made it as far south as the Arkansas River before turning back north, for fear of encountering Spanish explorers and colonist. They returned to Michigan from their voyage in late September of 1673. The expedition fell only 435 miles short of the Gulf of Mexico. Louis Jolliet Fr. Jacque Marquette.