Mission of the Guardian Angel
Encyclopedia
The Mission of the Guardian Angel was a 17th century Jesuit
mission
in the vicinity of what is now Chicago
, Illinois. It was established in 1696 by Father François Pinet, a French Jesuit priest. The mission was abandoned by 1700; its exact location remains unknown.
, including the Mascouten
and Miami tribes, who had migrated into northern Illinois and Wisconsin as a result of the Beaver Wars
. Jesuit missionaries exploring the Great Lakes region had first encountered these tribes in the 1650s. The Miami had established some villages on the Des Plaines and Chicago River
s in the mid-17th century, but these were abandoned in the 1650s as they moved west of the Mississippi and then to Wisconsin. Father Jacques Marquette
on his first encounter with the Miami at a large village near what is now Portage, Wisconsin
during his expedition with Louis Jolliet
to the Mississippi River
in 1673 described them as "the most civil, the most liberal, and the most shapely [of the three nations that occupied the village]." In the 1690s the Miami returned to the Chicago area, establishing two villages; one at the mouth of the Chicago River, and another about 3 miles (4.8 km) upstream on the north branch of the river.
in France on November 11, 1660, and entered the Jesuit novitiate
at Bordeaux in 1682. He travelled to Canada in 1694, arriving first in Quebec
then travelling to Montreal
, Ville-Marie, and Michillimackinac. In 1696 Pinet established the Mission of the Guardian Angel at Chicago, but he was soon forced to abandon the mission by Louis de Buade de Frontenac
, the Governor General of New France. An appeal was made to François de Laval
, bishop of New France, and the mission was re-established in 1698. Sometime after 1700, the Miamis started to move to the Maumee
and Wabash
valleys in Indiana, and the mission was permanently abandoned. After the closing of the Mission of the Guardian Angel at Chicago, Pinet moved to work amongst the Illiniwek tribes living at Cahokia
. He then moved with the Illiniwek to join the Kaskaskia
tribe on the north bank of the River des Peres
in what is now St. Louis, Missouri
. A letter by Father Bergier dated March 1, 1703 states that Pinet died at River des Peres on August 1, 1702.
to François de Laval in which he relates a visit to the mission. John Gilmary Shea published an English translation of the letter in 1861; however, Chicago historian Milton Milo Quaife, writing in 1913, noted that Shea's translation "frequently departs from the original manuscript" and that differences in translation may account for some of the different sites proposed.
Describing his visit to the Mission of the Guardian Angel, St. Cosme wrote:
In 1907 Frank Reed Grover, used Shea's translation to propose that the mission had not actually been located at Chicago, but rather further north on the north branch of the Chicago River, near Skokie, Illinois
. Quaife, working from a duplicate of the original manuscript concluded that the mission was built on the banks of the main stem of the Chicago River, somewhere between the forks
and its mouth in what is now downtown Chicago. Other locations proposed include Lake Calumet
and a location near Goose Island
.
Other locations suggested have been Evanston by the Evanston Historical Society, Lake Calumet by Hurlbut, Churchill Woods by V. P. Web, Winnetka by the Saints Faith Hope and Charity Parish Winnetka, the Merchandise Mart by Swenson, Highland Park by Bower and Dooley, the area around LUMA (a Loyola University campus) by Loyola University Chicago, Gross Point by Grover, and Wilmette.
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
mission
Jesuit missions in North America
Jesuit missions in North America started during the 17th century and faltered at the beginning of the 18th. The missions were established as part of the colonial drive of France and Spain during the period, the "conquest of the souls" being an integral part of the constitution of Nouvelle-France...
in the vicinity of what is now Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois. It was established in 1696 by Father François Pinet, a French Jesuit priest. The mission was abandoned by 1700; its exact location remains unknown.
Background
In the 17th century the Chicago area was inhabited by a number of Algonquian peoplesAlgonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
, including the Mascouten
Mascouten
The Mascouten were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking native Americans who are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River adjacent to the present-day Wisconsin-Illinois border....
and Miami tribes, who had migrated into northern Illinois and Wisconsin as a result of the Beaver Wars
Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars, also sometimes called the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars, commonly refers to a series of conflicts fought in the mid-17th century in eastern North America...
. Jesuit missionaries exploring the Great Lakes region had first encountered these tribes in the 1650s. The Miami had established some villages on the Des Plaines and Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
s in the mid-17th century, but these were abandoned in the 1650s as they moved west of the Mississippi and then to Wisconsin. Father Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
on his first encounter with the Miami at a large village near what is now Portage, Wisconsin
Portage, Wisconsin
Portage is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,662 at the 2010 census making it the largest city in Columbia County...
during his expedition with Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet
Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...
to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in 1673 described them as "the most civil, the most liberal, and the most shapely [of the three nations that occupied the village]." In the 1690s the Miami returned to the Chicago area, establishing two villages; one at the mouth of the Chicago River, and another about 3 miles (4.8 km) upstream on the north branch of the river.
Pinet's Mission
Pierre François Pinet was born at PérigueuxPérigueux
Périgueux is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.Périgueux is the prefecture of the department and the capital of the region...
in France on November 11, 1660, and entered the Jesuit novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
at Bordeaux in 1682. He travelled to Canada in 1694, arriving first in Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
then travelling to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Ville-Marie, and Michillimackinac. In 1696 Pinet established the Mission of the Guardian Angel at Chicago, but he was soon forced to abandon the mission by Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade de Frontenac
Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...
, the Governor General of New France. An appeal was made to François de Laval
François de Laval
This article is in part a sermon and generally comes close to hagiography.Blessed François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec and was one of the most influential men of his day. He was appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. He was a member...
, bishop of New France, and the mission was re-established in 1698. Sometime after 1700, the Miamis started to move to the Maumee
Maumee River
The Maumee River is a river in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana in the United States. It is formed at Fort Wayne, Indiana by the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, and meanders northeastwardly for through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the...
and Wabash
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
valleys in Indiana, and the mission was permanently abandoned. After the closing of the Mission of the Guardian Angel at Chicago, Pinet moved to work amongst the Illiniwek tribes living at Cahokia
Cahokia
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the area of an ancient indigenous city located in the American Bottom floodplain, between East Saint Louis and Collinsville in south-western Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The site included 120 human-built earthwork mounds...
. He then moved with the Illiniwek to join the Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
tribe on the north bank of the River des Peres
River des Peres
The River des Peres is a metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backbone of sanitary and stormwater systems in the city of St. Louis and portions of St. Louis County...
in what is now St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. A letter by Father Bergier dated March 1, 1703 states that Pinet died at River des Peres on August 1, 1702.
Location
The exact location of the Mission of the Guardian Angel in unknown but various historians have proposed a number of sites in the Chicago area. The only contemporary source that gives any clues as to the location is a letter, dated January 2, 1699, from Jean-François Buisson de Saint-CosmeJean-François Buisson de Saint-Cosme
Jean-François Buisson de Saint-Cosme was a Canadian missionary, born in Quebec, ordained in 1690, and murdered while on a missionary trip.Jean-François came from a family with a high level of devotion to the Catholic Church...
to François de Laval in which he relates a visit to the mission. John Gilmary Shea published an English translation of the letter in 1861; however, Chicago historian Milton Milo Quaife, writing in 1913, noted that Shea's translation "frequently departs from the original manuscript" and that differences in translation may account for some of the different sites proposed.
Describing his visit to the Mission of the Guardian Angel, St. Cosme wrote:
In 1907 Frank Reed Grover, used Shea's translation to propose that the mission had not actually been located at Chicago, but rather further north on the north branch of the Chicago River, near Skokie, Illinois
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
. Quaife, working from a duplicate of the original manuscript concluded that the mission was built on the banks of the main stem of the Chicago River, somewhere between the forks
Wolf Point, Chicago
Wolf Point is the location at the confluence of the North, South and Main Branches of the Chicago River in the present day Near North Side, Loop, and Near West Side community areas of Chicago. This fork in the river is historically important in the development of early Chicago...
and its mouth in what is now downtown Chicago. Other locations proposed include Lake Calumet
Lake Calumet
Lake Calumet is the largest body of water within the city of Chicago. Formerly a shallow, postglacial lake draining into Lake Michigan, it has been changed beyond recognition by industrial redevelopment and decay...
and a location near Goose Island
Goose Island (Chicago)
Goose Island is the only island on the Chicago River in Illinois. It is an artificial island, formed by the North Branch of the Chicago River on the west and the North Branch Canal on the east...
.
Other locations suggested have been Evanston by the Evanston Historical Society, Lake Calumet by Hurlbut, Churchill Woods by V. P. Web, Winnetka by the Saints Faith Hope and Charity Parish Winnetka, the Merchandise Mart by Swenson, Highland Park by Bower and Dooley, the area around LUMA (a Loyola University campus) by Loyola University Chicago, Gross Point by Grover, and Wilmette.