CHAPTER V. 1672-1675. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. JOLIET SENT TO FIND THE MISSISSIPPI.--JACQUES MARQUETTE.--DEPARTURE.-- GREEN BAY.--THE WISCONSIN.--THE MISSISSIPPI.--INDIANS.--MANITOUS.-- THE ARKANSAS.--THE ILLINOIS.--JOLIET'S MISFORTUNE.--MARQUETTE AT CHICAGO.--HIS ILLNESS.--HIS DEATH. If Talon had remained in the colony, Frontenac would infallibly have quarrelled with him; but he was too clear-sighted not to approve his plans for the discovery and occupation of the interior. Before sailing for France, Talon recommended Joliet as a suitable agent for the discovery of the Mississippi, and the Governor accepted his counsel. [Footnote: _Lettre de Frontenac au Ministre_, 2 _Nov_. 1672; Ibid 14 _Nov_. 1674. MSS] Louis Joliet was the son of a wagon-maker in the service of the Company of the Hundred Associates, [Footnote: See "Jesuits in North America."] then, owners of Canada. He was born at Quebec in 1645, was educated by the Jesuits; and, when still very young, he resolved to be a priest. He received the tonsure and the minor orders at the age of seventeen. Four years after, he is mentioned with especial honor for the part he bore in the disputes in philosophy, at which the dignitaries of the colony were present, and in which the Intendant himself took part. [Footnote: "Le 2 Juillet (1666) les premieres disputes de philosophie se font dans la congregation avec succes. Toutes les puissances s'y trouvent; M. l'Intendant entr'autres y a argumente tres-bien. M. Jolliet et Pierre Francheville y ont tres-bien repondu de toute la logique."--_Journal des Jesuites_, MS.] Not long after, he renounced his clerical vocation, and turned fur-trader. Talon sent him, with one Pere, to explore the copper- mines of Lake Superior; and it was on his return from this expedition that he met La Salle and the Sulpitians near the head of Lake Ontario. [Footnote: Nothing was known of Joliet till Shea investigated his history. Ferland, in his _Notes sur les Registres de Notre-Dame de Quebec_; Faillon, in his _Colonie Francaise en Canada_; and Margry, in a series of papers in the _Journal General de I'Instruction Publique_,--have thrown much new light on his life. From journals of a voyage made by him at a later period to the coast of Labrador,--given in substance by Margry,--he seems to have been a man of close and intelligent observation. His mathematical acquirements appear to have been very considerable.] In what we know of Joliet, there is nothing that reveals any salient or distinctive trait of character, any especial breadth of view or boldness of design. He appears to have been simply a merchant, intelligent, well educated, courageous, hardy, and enterprising. Though he had renounced the priesthood, he retained his partiality for the Jesuits; and it is more than probable that their influence had aided not a little to determine Talon's choice. One of their number, Jacques Marquette, was chosen to accompany him.