Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet traveled on which river?

• A. Mississippi River
• B. Missouri River
• C. Colorado River
• D. Ohio River

Answer: (A)

They traveled along the Mississippi River. Marquette, a missionary, and Joliet, a fur trader, pitched their voyage to learn about interior waterways and to look for a westward passage, so they followed the big river that runs from the Great Lakes down toward the Gulf. Their journey helped map the upper Mississippi and show how it connected lands from the interior to the coast, which was a big deal for future exploration and trade. The other rivers listed are real, but they aren’t the ones they used on this voyage: the Missouri joins the Mississippi later, the Ohio is another major tributary that meets the Mississippi, and the Colorado is well to the west and not part of their expedition.