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. Its 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.