Jolliet and Marquette: A New History of the 1673 Expedition by Mark Walczynski

Often viewed in isolation, the Jolliet and Marquette expedition in fact took place against a sprawling backdrop that encompassed everything from ancient Native American cities to French colonial machinations. Mark Walczynski draws on a wealth of original research to place the explorers and their journey within seventeenth-century North America. His account takes readers among the region’s diverse Native American peoples and into a vanished natural world of treacherous waterways and native flora and fauna. Walczynski also charts the little-known exploits of the French-Canadian officials, explorers, traders, soldiers, and missionaries who created the political and religious environment that formed Jolliet and Marquette and shaped European colonization of the heartland.

A multifaceted voyage into the past, Jolliet and Marquette expands and updates the oft-told story of a pivotal event in American history.

About the Author

Mark Walczynski is a retired faculty member at Illinois Valley Community College and the Park Historian for the Starved Rock Foundation. He is the author of The History of Starved Rock.

Product Specifications

Published by 3 Fields Books, 2023. Paperback, 304 pages.