December 4, 1674 - Jacques Marquette Founds Chicago as Missions Post

People often forget the primary motivation for many of those who explored and settled in the New World was to spread the Gospel. Places like St. Augustine, Florida, and San Francisco, California, were originally founded as Christian mission posts. In similar fashion, on December 4, 1674, Jacques Marquette began building a small log cabin at the site that would become modern-day Chicago, Illinois. He mastered speaking the Algonquin Indian language and managed to begin several missionary posts before he settled near Lake Michigan.