2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
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2023 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 58
June 29, 2023 - Introduced by Senators PFAFF, CARPENTER, ROYS and COWLES,
cosponsored by Representatives OLDENBURG, OHNSTAD, JOERS, STUBBS,
SUBECK, TRANEL, SHANKLAND, O'CONNOR and BALDEH. Referred to Committee
on Senate Organization.
1 Relating to: proclaiming June 17, 2023, Prairie du Chien Day.
2 Whereas, 350 years ago, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet set out
3 from Michigan to explore the waterways from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi
4 River; and
5 Whereas, Father Marquette was a French-born Jesuit missionary and Joliet
6 was a fur trader and mapmaker; and
7 Whereas, in 1673, Father Marquette and Joliet led an expedition to map the
8 land and waterways in this region of America for the French; and
9 Whereas, Native Americans had lived in the area and traveled these waterways
10 for thousands of years prior to Father Marquette and Joliet, and helped them
11 navigate on their expedition; and
12 Whereas, Father Marquette and Joliet arrived in Prairie du Chien on June 17,
13 1673, where they entered the Mississippi River and traveled south for hundreds of
14 miles; and
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1 Whereas, Father Marquette and Joliet's expedition confirmed for the French
2 that it was possible to travel by water from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico;
3 and
4 Whereas, this confirmation and the information gathered from the expedition
5 led to the establishment of French trading posts across the region, and the settlement
6 of Prairie du Chien and other cities; and
7 Whereas, Prairie du Chien will hold a community festival June 16 through
8 June 18 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of this expedition; now, therefore,
9 be it
10 Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That the Wisconsin
11 Legislature hereby proclaims June 17, 2023, Prairie du Chien Day, in honor of the
12 350th expedition anniversary.
13 (END)