Isaac Jogues became well known in France when he returned after escaping from slavery among the Mohawks in Canada with his hands badly mutilated from torture.
Despite his sufferings, he returned to the missions where he was eventually martyred. Jogues was born in Orleans, France on Jan. Two months after celebrating his first Mass Feb. He wrote his mother of his great joy when he landed in Quebec and saw native Americans waiting on shore. After only a month and a half, he set out on his first mission to the Hurons, traveling the miles to Ihonatiria by water.
The party spent 19 days paddling and carrying the flotilla of canoes around obstacles. During the voyage, the Hurons gave Jogues the name ""Ondessonk"" ""bird of prey"". The first problem arose when a smallpox epidemic broke out in the settlement and people blamed the missionaries for bringing the disease.
A group of Chippewas who had come to Sainte-Marie admired the prosperous settlement and invited the Jesuits to establish a mission among them. Jogues visited them in September and found them eager to hear about God, but the small number of Jesuits made it impossible to expand to new tribes at that time. During the winter and spring of , Jogues prepared neophytes at Sainte-Marie for baptism on Holy Saturday; one of the adult converts was Ahtsistari, the tribe's greatest war chief.
Although the French missionary felt contented that Christianity was beginning to take root, he wanted to convert the whole Huron nation and offered himself in prayer as a sacrifice to make that happen. The voyage was hazardous because the Iroquois were at war with the French. Jogues tried to get more Jesuit priests for the mission, but none were available. Jogues, Goupil and the Hurons set out Aug.
