1. Louis Jolliet was born in 1645 in Beaupre, a French settlement near Quebec City, to Jean Louis Jolliet and Marie D'Abancourt.
14 Facts About Louis Jolliet
1. 2.
Louis Jolliet's stepfather owned land on the Ile d'Orleans, an island in the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec that was home to First Nations.
3.
Louis Jolliet spent much time on Ile d'Orleans, so he likely began speaking Indigenous languages of the Americas at a young age.
4.
The Natives were part of daily life in Quebec, and Louis Jolliet grew up knowing much about them.
5.
Louis Jolliet entered a Jesuit school in Quebec as a child and focused on philosophical and religious studies, aiming for the priesthood.
6.
Louis Jolliet studied music, becoming a skilled harpsichordist and church organist.
7.
Louis Jolliet received Holy Orders in 1662 but abandoned his plans to become a priest, leaving the seminary in 1667 to pursue fur trading instead.
8.
Louis Jolliet returned to Quebec to relate the news of their discoveries.
9.
On his way through the Lachine Rapids, Louis Jolliet's canoe overturned and his records were lost.
10.
Louis Jolliet recorded details of the country, navigation, the Inuit and their customs.
11.
Louis Jolliet's journal is the earliest known detailed survey of the Labrador coast from the Strait of Belle Isle to Zoar.
12.
The several variations in the spelling of the name "Louis Jolliet" reflect spelling that occurred at times when illiteracy or poor literacy was common and spelling was unstandardized.
13.
The Louis Jolliet rose, developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named in his honor.
14.
Louis Jolliet appears with Jacques Marquette on a 1968 United States postage stamp honoring their exploratory voyage.