In the park at NE corner of Broadway and George Sts., De Pere, Brown County 

Here in June 1673, an expedition headed by Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette and his companion Louis Jolliet departed from St. Francis Xavier Mission to find and explore the upper Mississippi River. In September they returned here to record their discoveries in their journals. The next spring Jolliet left for Quebec but the ail­ing Marquette remained at the mission until October. The mission stood on the bank of Fox River directly west of this spot.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]