On June 14, 1673, Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet started the 1.28-mile portage from here to the Wisconsin River, which led to their discovery of the Upper Mississippi on June 17, 1673 at Prairie du Chien. Traveling in two birch bark canoes, the expedition went south to the mouth of the Arkansas River and returned to St. Ignace, a journey of nearly 3000 miles. This opened a new era of exploration, settlement, and commerce for the Great Lakes region, the Mississippi Valley, and the Far West, followed by stabilization of the fur trade and the organization of numerous Indian tribes under French rule. Marquette, a talented Jesuit missionary, dedicated his life and energy to ministering to the Indians; born June 1, 1637 in Laon, France, he died near Ludington, Michigan on May 18, 1675.