Father Louis Hennepin's Exploration in 1680
N 45° 11.881 W 093° 23.444
15T E 469310 N 5005022
Account of explorations of Father Louis Hennepin, and his capture by Dakota and subsequent rescue.
Waymark Code: WM9B4B
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 07/25/2010
Views: 30
Father Louis Hennepin's Exploration in 1680
Father Louis Hennepoin, Belgian Recolletct missionary accompanying Sieur de la Salle's expedition to the Mississippi River region, left Fort Crevecoeur, Illinois, on Feb ruary 29, 1680, for an exploration of the upper Mississippi River. On April 11, he and his two French companions were captures by a Dakota (Sioux) war party. Leaving the river near present-day St. Paul, the Indians took their captives on the grueling five-day march to their encampment ont he shores of Mille Lacs Lake.
In early July Father Hennepin accompanied a Dakota hunting part down the St. Francis (Rum) River. On the fourth day the group camped on the west bank of the Mississippi just opposite the mouth of the Rum River in present-day Champlin. A day or so later Father Hennepin viewed the falls to which he gave the name St. Anthony of Padua.
On July 25, some miles below Lake Pepin, Father Hennepin and his two companions were rescued by five Frenchmen led by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Du Luth, who had come from Lake Superior by way of the Brule and St. Croix rivers. The Indians and Frenchmen now returned to Mille Lacs Lake.
Late in September Father Hennepin and Sieur Du Luth set out on their homeward voyage. They wintered at Mackinac and reached Quebec in the spring of 1681. Father Hennepin returned to France, where, in 1683, he published his widely-read Description of Louisiana.
Erected in the Tricentennial Year 1980 by the Anoka Senior Citizens Club.
(#1 in Minnesota History Along the Highways)