Louis Jolliet - Later Years

Later Years

Jolliet married Claire-Francoise Biscut, who was Canadian. In 1680, he was granted the Island of Anticosti, where he created a fort and maintained soldiers. In 1693 he was appointed "Royal Hydrographer", and on April 30, 1697, he was granted a seigneury southwest of Quebec City which he named Jolliet.

In 1694 he sailed north from the Gulf of St. Lawrence north along the coast of Labrador as far north as Zoar, a voyage of five and a half months. He recorded details of the country, navigation, the Inuit and their customs. His journal (“Journal de Louis Jolliet allant à la descouverte de Labrador, 1694,”) is the earliest known detailed survey of the Labrador coast from the Strait of Belle Isle to Zoar.

In May, 1700, Louis Jolliet left for Anticosti Island and was presumed to have died, although his body was never found, and the place and date of his death are unknown. A mass for his soul was said on September 15, 1700.

Jolliet was one of the first people of European descent born in North America to be remembered for significant discoveries. Though no authentic period portrait is known to exist, Jolliet is often portrayed wearing either typical frontiersman garb consisting of scortums and fur hat or in sharp contrast, ensconced in the European nobleman's accoutrement his personal wealth and prestige would have commanded when living in colonial society.