The Meeting of the
Great Rivers Byway
home page

Marquette Monument
Pere Marquette State Park

In 1929, John D. McAdams, business manager of the Alton Telegraph, made the suggestion to create a monument commemorating Jacques Marquette as the first European to land in Illinois. This suggestion was made to H. H. Ferguson, a local landowner, who had the monument designed. The monument was erected where Ferguson believed the mouth of the Illinois River was likely to have been located at the time of Marquette’s expedition.

Cut from a solid piece of dolomite, the monument is seven feet six inches high. It is situated on a ledge of a bluff that overlooks the Illinois River. Two flights of dolomite stairs lead from the Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail up to the cross. The monument is located 4 1/2 miles east of the main Park entrance on the Great River Road (Route 100.)

Parking is available