What two people sailed down part of the Mississippi exploring for France?

Answer 1

In the late 1600s European explorers began paddling up and down the Mississippi River, passing along Iowa's eastern border. The first two major expeditions were by Frenchmen. In 1673 Louis Jolliet led a crew down the Fox River from Lake Michigan. They crossed over to the Wisconsin River and sailed southwest into uncharted territory. Father Marquette, a Catholic priest who accompanied the expedition, kept a diary. On June 17 he recorded that the group reached the mouth of the Wisconsin River where it flows into the Mississippi. Across the river were high bluffs covered with heavy forests. Today that site includes Pike's Peak State Park near the town of McGregor.

The Marquette and Joliet expedition were the first Europeans to visit Iowa. They came ashore on the west bank of the Mississippi farther downstream and met some Illinois Indians. The men continued down the Mississippi until they were certain that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and not the Pacific Ocean. Fearing conflicts with the Spanish, the expedition turned around and returned to Canada to report their findings.