Joliet, Louis, born at Quebec in 1645; was educated in the Jesuits' college in that town, but engaged in the Western fur-trade. Commissioned by Frontenac to explore the Mississippi River, he started in 1673 up the Fox River and down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers to a point below the mouth of the Arkansas, returning to Green Bay via the Illinois River. Thence he proceeded alone to Quebec, losing his MSS. on the way; but he prepared a map and narrative of the expedition from memory. He was appointed royal hydrographer, and received the island of Anticosti, of which he was dispossessed by the British. In 1697 the seigniory of Joliet in Canada was granted to him. Died 1700.
