# Louis Hennepin *Recollect friar and missionary in New France, held captive by a Dakota party in 1680, and namesake of Hennepin County.* Louis Hennepin was a Recollect friar who was held captive by a [[Dakota]] party in what is now [[Minnesota]] in 1680, and whose name [[Hennepin County, Minnesota]] carries.[^1][^2] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]]'s MNopedia dates his life ca. 1640–ca. 1701. Wikipedia gives his birth name as Antoine Hennepin and his dates as 12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704.[^3][^4] His order, the Recollects, was a minor branch of the Franciscans. He worked as a missionary in New France and preached to several Native American peoples.[^5] In February 1680 La Salle sent him ahead of the main expedition. A Dakota party captured him on April 11–12, 1680, and held him near Mille Lacs until late June or early July.[^6] During that captivity he renamed the falls of the [[Mississippi River]] for St. Anthony of Padua.[^7] Hennepin County's history page states that "the final choice was designed to honor Father Hennepin."[^8] MNopedia records three claims in his later books. He described a journey "from Illinois down to the Gulf of Mexico and back before his capture", some three thousand miles in a single month. He inflated the waterfalls. He falsely presented himself as La Salle's most trusted associate.[^9] The 1913 [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], as quoted by Wikipedia, records that Hennepin "has been denounced by many historians and historical critics as an arrant falsifier."[^10] The county's page does not mention either assessment.[^8][^9] ## Who Hennepin was born at Ath in the Spanish Netherlands, in what is now Hainaut, Belgium. He was living in Béthune in 1659 when the army of Louis XIV took the town. Henri Joulet travelled with Hennepin and kept his own journal, and he called Hennepin a Fleming. Ath, however, lies in a Romance-speaking area of present-day Wallonia.[^11] After entering the Franciscans, Hennepin preached in Halles and in Artois. He then ran a hospital at Maestricht and served for a short period as an army chaplain.[^12] Louis XIV asked the Récollets to send missionaries to New France. In May 1675 they dispatched four, Hennepin among them, in company with René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. In 1676 Hennepin went to the Indian mission at Fort Frontenac and from there to the Mohawks.[^13] In 1678 his provincial superior assigned him to La Salle's expedition into the western part of New France. In 1679 the expedition left Quebec City to build the 45-ton barque *Le Griffon*, cross the Great Lakes and explore farther west.[^14] In January 1680 Hennepin was present when La Salle built Fort Crevecoeur, near present-day Peoria, Illinois. The next month La Salle dispatched him and two companions to look for the Mississippi. They descended the Illinois River to its meeting with the Mississippi, and Hennepin was taken captive shortly afterward.[^15] MNopedia dates the capture to April 11–12, 1680, and places his captivity near Mille Lacs until late June or early July.[^6] Wikipedia records that in September 1680 Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, secured canoes for Hennepin and his companions and their leave to depart. They made their way back to Quebec, and Hennepin later returned to France.[^16] ## What Hennepin published three books in French: - *Description de la Louisiane* (Paris, 1683) - *Nouvelle découverte d'un très grand pays situé dans l'Amérique entre le Nouveau-Mexique et la mer glaciale* (Utrecht, 1697) - *Nouveau voyage d'un pays plus grand que l'Europe* (Utrecht, 1698)[^17] An English text, *A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America*, was reissued in two volumes in Chicago in 1903 by A.C. McClurg & Co. This edition was reprinted from the second London issue of 1698 and edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites.[^18] MNopedia identifies the claimed month-long journey of some three thousand miles to the Gulf and back, the inflated waterfalls, and his false presentation as La Salle's most trusted associate.[^9] The American historian Francis Parkman questioned or denied much of Hennepin's account. Parkman has himself been accused of bias.[^19] The 1913 *Catholic Encyclopedia* applied the description "arrant falsifier."[^10] It also noted that some writers had attributed the erroneous statements to interpolations by other persons, and it concluded that "the weight of the evidence is however adverse to such a theory."[^20] MNopedia records that during his captivity he renamed the falls for St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of his order.[^7] ## When - February 1680: sent ahead by La Salle.[^6] - April 11–12, 1680: captured by a Dakota party.[^6] - Late June or early July 1680: end of his captivity near Mille Lacs.[^6] - September 1680: released with canoes through the intervention of Du Lhut, according to Wikipedia.[^16] - 1683–1698: his three French books are published.[^17] - March 6, 1852: the Territorial Legislature establishes Hennepin County, with Minneapolis as county seat.[^8] - 1913: the *Catholic Encyclopedia* publishes its assessment of his books.[^10] ## Where His captivity was spent near Mille Lacs.[^6] Places in Minnesota bearing his name include: - Hennepin County, whose seat is [[Minneapolis]] - Hennepin Avenue and the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge in Minneapolis - Father Hennepin State Park at Isle - Hennepin Creek, a Mississippi tributary in Hubbard and [[Beltrami County, Minnesota]][^21] Champlin holds a Father Hennepin Festival on the second weekend of June, with a reenactment of his crossing. Historians report Champlin as the place where he first crossed the Mississippi in 1680. Hennepin Island, at St. Anthony Falls, is no longer an island. It houses the [[University of Minnesota]]'s Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory and a five-unit hydroelectric plant owned by [[Xcel Energy]].[^22] Outside Minnesota, his name is carried by the city of Hennepin and the Hennepin Canal in Illinois, and by Point Hennepin on Grosse Ile in Michigan.[^23] ## In the at-issue record [[At issue 059 - Hennepin County is named for a man the]] sets the county's statement of its naming beside two records. The first is MNopedia's record of the claims in Hennepin's later books. The second is the 1913 *Catholic Encyclopedia* assessment. The county's statement is that the name "was designed to honor Father Hennepin."[^8][^9][^10] [[At issue 068 - Louis Hennepin was captured by a Dakota party]] records two facts from MNopedia: his capture by a Dakota party in April 1680, and his renaming of the falls during the captivity.[^6][^7] The pack also documents the later treaties that transferred Dakota land in the region. Under the [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]] (July 23, 1851), trader Joseph R. Brown presented a third document after the two official copies had been signed. It directed annuity funds to traders' claimed debts and was neither read aloud nor translated. All but two signers signed it believing it was another copy of the treaty.[^24] Together with the [[Treaty of Mendota]] (August 5, 1851), these treaties opened twenty-four million acres at roughly seven and a half cents an acre.[^25] ## Omissions in official accounts Hennepin County's history page records the following: - the county was established on March 6, 1852; - the original plan was to name it Snelling County; - the final name "was designed to honor Father Hennepin."[^8] The page does not mention what MNopedia records about his later books.[^8][^9] The same county page describes [[Zebulon Pike]] as having "purchased land from the Dakota Indians."[^26] The treaty record for the 1805 Pike Treaty of September 23, 1805, shows the following: - two of seven Dakota leaders signed; - about $200 in gifts and whiskey changed hands, against land Pike valued at $200,000 in his own journal; - the document named no consideration; - the Senate inserted $2,000 years later; - the treaty was never proclaimed by the President. An 1856 Senate committee found no evidence that the Dakota considered the treaty binding.[^27] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Louis Hennepin, a Recollect friar, was captured by a Dakota party in April 1680 and held near Mille Lacs until early summer of that year.[^1][^6] ### Where - Captivity near Mille Lacs, in what is now Minnesota.[^6] - Hennepin County was established by the Territorial Legislature on March 6, 1852, with Minneapolis as county seat.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Hennepin, Louis (ca. 1640–ca. 1701)* — Recollect friar captured by a Dakota party in 1680 and held near Mille Lacs. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/hennepin-louis-ca1640-ca1701 [^2]: Hennepin County, *History of the County* — the county's name chosen to honor Father Hennepin. https://www.hennepincounty.gov/government/about/county-overview/history-county [^3]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Hennepin, Louis (ca. 1640–ca. 1701)* — life dates ca. 1640–ca. 1701. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/hennepin-louis-ca1640-ca1701 [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262, retrieved 2026-10-27) — birth name Antoine; dates 12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262) — Recollects as a minor Franciscan branch; missionary work in New France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^6]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Hennepin, Louis (ca. 1640–ca. 1701)* — sent ahead by La Salle February 1680; captured April 11–12, 1680; held near Mille Lacs until late June/early July. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/hennepin-louis-ca1640-ca1701 [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Hennepin, Louis (ca. 1640–ca. 1701)* — renaming of the falls for St. Anthony of Padua during captivity. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/hennepin-louis-ca1640-ca1701 [^8]: Hennepin County, *History of the County* — established March 6, 1852 by the Territorial Legislature, Minneapolis as seat; original plan Snelling County; "the final choice was designed to honor Father Hennepin." https://www.hennepincounty.gov/government/about/county-overview/history-county [^9]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Hennepin, Louis (ca. 1640–ca. 1701)* — later books' claimed Gulf journey of some three thousand miles in a month; inflated waterfalls; false positioning as La Salle's most trusted associate. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/hennepin-louis-ca1640-ca1701 [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Books by Hennepin" — quotes *Catholic Encyclopedia* (1913): "arrant falsifier." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Biography" — birth at Ath; Béthune 1659; Joulet's description. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Biography" — Franciscans; Halles, Artois; Maestricht hospital; army chaplain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Biography" — May 1675 mission to New France; 1676 Fort Frontenac and the Mohawks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Biography" — 1678 assignment; 1679 departure and *Le Griffon*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^15]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Biography" — Fort Crevecoeur January 1680; February advance party; Illinois River; capture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^16]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Biography" — September 1680 release through Du Lhut; return to Quebec and France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^17]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Books by Hennepin" — titles and imprints, 1683–1698. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^18]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Books by Hennepin" — 1903 Thwaites edition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^19]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Books by Hennepin" — Parkman's challenge; Parkman accused of bias. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^20]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Books by Hennepin" — *Catholic Encyclopedia* on the interpolation theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^21]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Legacy" — Minnesota places named for Hennepin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^22]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Legacy" — Champlin festival; Hennepin Island facilities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^23]: Wikipedia contributors, *Louis Hennepin* (rev. 1370718262), "Legacy" — Illinois and Michigan places. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Hennepin [^24]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, 1851* — July 23, 1851; third document presented after signing, unread and untranslated. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-traverse-des-sioux-1851 [^25]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Treaty of Mendota, 1851* — August 5, 1851; with Traverse des Sioux, twenty-four million acres at about seven and a half cents an acre. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/treaty-mendota-1851 [^26]: Hennepin County, *History of the County* — describes Pike as having "purchased land from the Dakota Indians." https://www.hennepincounty.gov/government/about/county-overview/history-county [^27]: Treaties Matter, *1805 Dakota (Pike) Treaty* — September 23, 1805; two of seven signed; ~$200 against Pike's $200,000 valuation; no consideration named; Senate inserted $2,000; never proclaimed; 1856 Senate committee finding. https://treatiesmatter.org/treaties/land/1805-dakota