A Jesuit is a member of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order.
A missionary is a person sent on a religious mission, often to promote Christianity in a foreign country.
Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary, arrived in Quebec, New France (present-day Canada), in 1666. He helped found several missions in the Great Lakes region. He learned to speak many of the local tongues, including those of the Huron, Ottawa, and Illinois. Members of the Illinois told him about a “Great River.” He wondered if it flowed all the way to the Pacific Ocean. He asked permission from his superiors to explore for the river.
Meanwhile, Louis Jolliet (also spelled “Joliet”) was born in Quebec in 1645. Educated at a Jesuit school
