Voting Station

Jacques Marquette

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Explorer

The Resume

    (June 10, 1637-May 18, 1675)
    Born in Laon, France
    French Jesuit missionary and explorer
    Founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie (1668), and St. Ignace, Michigan (1671)
    Along with Louis Jolliet, traveled to and mapped northern portions of the Mississippi River in 1673 (the first Europeans to do so)
    Journey known as the Marquette-Jolliet Expedition
    Died at age 37 in Ludington, MI
    United States one cent (1898) and six cent (1968) commemorative postage stamps printed in his honor

Why he might be annoying:

    He sometimes went by the name Père Marquette.
    Though they were equal exploring partners, he got top billing and more credit than his traveling companion Jolliet.
    When the team reached Arkansas, 435 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, they turned back, fearing encounters with Spanish colonists (cowards).
    He died in the woods of complications from dysentery, which is a crappy way to go.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Before embarking, he studied the various languages of the Native Americans he would encounter, greatly aiding his ability to befriend them.
    He established several missions in the Great Lakes region for future generations of American colonists.
    Other bodies of water he helped chart were the Bay of Green Bay and Wisconsin River in Wisconsin, and the Illinois, Fox and Des Plaines Rivers in Illinois.
    While Jolliet retuned to Quebec, he and other party members wintered (1674-75) in what is now present day Chicago (the first Europeans to do so).
    Native Americans found and returned his remains, and he was interred in 1677 at St. Ignace, the mission and town he founded.
    Marquette University in Milwaukee is named after him, as well as the towns of Marquette, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.
    He also has two counties, two state parks, a river, a state forest, a state beach and an island in Lake Huron named after him in the Great Lakes region.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 41.18% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 157 Votes: 65.61% Annoying