Jesuits

Jesuits are members of the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534.

From the earliest days of the French presence in the New World, Jesuit missionaries lived among the Native Americans, teaching them Catholicism, and paving the way for the fur trade.

Noted Jesuits of the late 1600's include:

• Father Claudius Dablon, one-time superior of all missions in the west, co-founder of Sault Ste. Marie (the oldest non-Native settlement in present day Michigan), and compiler of the Jesuit Relations from 1672 to 1679.
• Father Claude Allouez, held council at the Ojibwa village in 1665, where he learned of a river in the west called Me-sa-sip-pi.

In 1679, Father Louis Hennepin reported seeing evidence of previous Jesuits in the Detroit area. Both a Jesuit and a Recollet priest accompanied Cadillac on his journey to the Detroit area in 1701.

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Father Louis Hennepin