Jesuit Father Marquette set up a mission in St. Ignace in 1671.
While the Beaver Wars raged on, Marquette evangelized the Indians, planted a large cross in Cross Village and established a mission in L'Arbre Croche ("Crooked Tree," now known as Harbor Springs).
From May 17, 1673 until Marquette's death near Ludington on May 18, 1675, Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored and mapped Lake Michigan and the northern portion of the Mississippi River.
In 1679, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Father Louis Hennepin set out on Le Griffon to find the Northwest Passage; it was the first known sailing ship to sail in Northern Michigan.
They sailed across Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan through uncharted waters, which previously only men in canoes had explored.
 After Marquette's death, the mission was taken over by Father Phillip Pierson, and then Father Nouvel.

Father Henri Nouvel was "superior of the Ottowa mission", Nouvel served in this position from 1672 to 1680 (with a two-year break in 1678–1679), and again from 1688 to 1695.
 Under Nouvel, a new chapel was built in approximately 1674.
By 1683 the mission was so successful and prosperous that three priests, Fathers Nicholas Potier, Enjalran, and Pierre Bailloquet, were assigned there.
 The establishment of a French garrison at St. Ignace in 1679 disrupted relations between the French and the local population, as the soldiers were less educated and amiable than the missionaries.
Jesuit Father Marquette set up a mission in St. Ignace in 1671. While the Beaver Wars raged on, Marquette evangelized the Indians, planted a large cross in Cross Village and established a mission in L'Arbre Croche ("Crooked Tree," now known as Harbor Springs). From May 17, 1673 until Marquette's death near Ludington on May 18, 1675, Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored and mapped Lake Michigan and the northern portion of the Mississippi River. In 1679, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Father Louis Hennepin set out on Le Griffon to find the Northwest Passage; it was the first known sailing ship to sail in Northern Michigan. They sailed across Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan through uncharted waters, which previously only men in canoes had explored.  After Marquette's death, the mission was taken over by Father Phillip Pierson, and then Father Nouvel.
Father Henri Nouvel was "superior of the Ottowa mission", Nouvel served in this position from 1672 to 1680 (with a two-year break in 1678–1679), and again from 1688 to 1695.  Under Nouvel, a new chapel was built in approximately 1674. By 1683 the mission was so successful and prosperous that three priests, Fathers Nicholas Potier, Enjalran, and Pierre Bailloquet, were assigned there.  The establishment of a French garrison at St. Ignace in 1679 disrupted relations between the French and the local population, as the soldiers were less educated and amiable than the missionaries.
Northern Michigan