Father Garraghan and "The Jolliet-Marquette Expedition, 1673"

Published in 1929, this work represents a significant contribution to the historical debate surrounding the exploration of the Mississippi River. Francis Borgia Steck, a Franciscan historian and professor, wrote this critique to challenge the prevailing academic reliance on the Jesuit-authored narrative of the Jolliet-Marquette expedition. He questioned the authenticity of the journals attributed to Father Jacques Marquette, aiming to restore historical prominence to Louis Jolliet and address what he viewed as pro-Jesuit bias in previous historical scholarship.

The book serves as a scholarly intervention in the historiography of the American Midwest. Steck’s work was received as a provocative and controversial analysis, as it directly confronted long-held institutional narratives regarding the 1673 voyage. His methodology emphasized the importance of rigorous primary source verification, sparking a lengthy scholarly discourse that persisted for decades regarding the veracity of colonial-era missionary accounts.