Marquette was first sent to the mission of Saint Michel at
Sillery. Because this mission served peaceful and friendly indigenous people from different tribes, it was considered an ideal place for training new missionaries. Marquette studied the languages and customs of the
Algonquin,
Abenaki, and
Iroquois people that he often tended to at Sillery. From there, he was assigned to
Trois-Rivières on the
Saint Lawrence River, where he assisted
Gabriel Druillettes. This mission was located in a river town that had permanent shops and taverns. A large number of French soldiers were stationed in the town, as there were frequent attacks from the Five Nations. During his two years at this mission, Marquette devoted himself to the study of the local languages and became fluent in six different dialects. The missionaries planted crops, then built a chapel and barns. They established friendly relationships with the
Ottawa and
Chippewa that were inhabiting that area, and were allowed to baptize most of the infants and people who were dying. Marquette noted that the Chippewa were great businessmen and exceptionally skilled at catching whitefish from the rapids in the
St. Marys River. People from many tribes would travel to purchase the whitefish. Marquette and the other missionaries would explain their faith to the visiting
Sioux,
Cree,
Miami,
Potawatomi,
Illinois, and
Menominee. They hoped that these visitors would be interested in getting their own Jesuit missionary, or "Black Robe," as they were called by the indigenous people. In 1669, Marquette was assigned to replace Allouez at the
La Pointe du Saint Esprit mission. Father
Claude Dablon arrived to continue and expand the missionary work at Sault Ste. Marie. Marquette began the journey to his new assignment in August, travelling by
canoe along the south shore of
Lake Superior. The party soon encountered wintry conditions on the lake and were often unable to light a fire when they went ashore at night. The party reached their destination on September 13, and were greeted by the Petun Huron. Excited to have a Black Robe again, they quickly assembled a banquet. In addition to the Petun Huron, Marquette was tasked with missionary work for three bands of Ottawa: the Keinouche, Sinagaux, and Kiskakon. Marquette visited and attended to all four settlements. Since he felt the Kiskakon were the most ready to accept Christianity, he spent more time working with them and even lived with the families in their village. During his time at La Pointe, Marquette encountered members of the
Illinois tribes, who told him about the important trading route of the Mississippi River. They invited him to come to their village and teach their people, whose settlements were mostly farther south. Marquette was eager to explore this river and asked for permission to take a leave from missionary work, but he first had to attend to an urgent matter. The
Hurons and Ottawa at La Pointe had begun fighting with the neighboring
Lakota people. Because he feared an attack by the Lakota, Marquette felt it was necessary to find a new place for the mission. Dablon agreed that a new mission was necessary and offered to find a location. Some of the men wanted to stay and fight. Marquette attempted to discourage the imminent war, but most of the men maintained their position. He promised those who wanted to avoid the war that he would take them to a new mission and told them to prepare to move east. In the spring of 1671, Marquette and his party began their journey to the new
St. Ignace Mission. The canoes were loaded with men, women, children, animals, and personal belongings. They travelled through Lake Superior and down to the
Straits of Mackinac The mission that Dablon had established for them was located on
Mackinac Island. The group would be welcomed by a small group of Ottawa who already inhabited the island. Shortly after the new residents arrived on the island, they became worried about the possibility of winter starvation. They had noticed that game was scarce and no corn had grown. A group of elders approached Marquette with these concerns, and Marquette agreed. In the fall, the mission was moved to the mainland at
St. Ignace, Michigan. ==Explorations==