Hennepin and Duluth
By Brother Anthony Baker, OSB

Once in Canada , Father Hennepin began his missionary work at such places as Three Rivers , Saint Anne, The Isle of St. Laurent and so on.  In the winter he would walk on snowshoes while a dog would haul his belongings on a sled.  During the summers, he would use a canoe to get to these and other places to minister the sacraments.[i]

Hennepin went to Fort Frontenac with De la Salle who was going to continue building the fort which Count de Frontenac had stopped.  De la Salle had received the Count’s permission as well as funding from him before he began this task.[ii]  Hennepin, along with Father Lake Buisset and De la Salle, built a house so that he and the Recollects could teach the Iroquois children from the small Iroquois village near the fort.  Thus, from 1675 to 1678, Father Hennepin ministered to the Iroquois.  During this time Hennepin writes of de la Salle, “[he] has trained his men so well to manage canoes… …that they are now the most skillful canoemen in America .”

In 1678 the explorer Louis Joliet arrived at the fort and reported that he had discovered the location of the Mississippi River .  With this news, De la Salle went back to France to receive a grant to return to the Mississippi and locate its mouth.  He argued that the whole purpose of Fort Frontenac was to continue this type of discovery.  He received his grant from Monsieur Colbert[iii] and returned to Canada bring with him two men, Sieurs la Motte and Chevalier de Henry de Tonty, the cousin of Daniel Greyselon Sieur du Luth.[iv]  He also brought back an order from Bishop Germain Allart of Vence which stated that Hennepin should accompany De la Salle on his expedition.  Upon receiving this order Hennepin went to Quebec to get a sanction to join De la Salle from Bishop Francis de la Valle.[v]

In the fall of 1678, once De la Salle, Hennepin, Sieurs la Motte, Chevalier de Tonty and all others who were to go on this expedition were at Fort Frontenac , they set out.  From Fort Frontenac they headed to the Niagara River which they reached on December 7, 1678 .  They planned to stop here to begin building a ship called the Le Griffin that would be used on the expedition through the great lakes. 

Hennepin spent most of his time where the Le Griffin was being built and on August 7, 1679 the expedition was ready to sail with 32 people and 3 Recollect Fathers.  Their destination was Lake Michigan , where a series of rivers would lead them to the Mississippi River .  When they reached present day Green Bay they stopped and came in contact with some French trappers who were loaded with furs.  De la Salle decided that it was best to send the

[i] Source “A Description of Louisiana” by Father Hennepin translated by John Gilmore Shea, which can be found in the “March of America Facsimile Series” volume 30, page 20-22.

[ii] Source “A Description of Louisiana” by Father Hennepin translated by John Gilmore Shea, which can be found in the “March of America Facsimile Series” volume 30, page 51-59.  Fort Frontenac was one in a series of forts extending southwest from Montreal in order to maintain peace with the Iroquois.  The fort was located on Lake Frontenac .  Count de Frontenac maintained this fort for ten years while he was governor of  Canada .

[iii] According to Wikpedia, Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) was born on the 6th of September and served as the French minister of finance, for 22 years.

[iv] Source: Belgan Theodore C., “The Land Lies Open”, page 41, Henry de Tonty was de la Salle’s chief engineer.

[v] Source “A Description of Louisiana” by Father Hennepin translated by John Gilmore Shea, which can be found in the “March of America Facsimile Series” volume 30, page 62,  At this time Hennepin also met Count Frontanac and promised to make a report of the recollects endeavors.

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