Father Pierre Gibault

Father Pierre Gibault, born in Montreal, Quebec in 1737, had joined the Catholic priesthood at age 31. He was immediately sent to be a missionary priest in the West, watching over the spiritual well being of all French people living west of the Appalachian Mountains, east of the Mississippi River, south of the Great Lakes and north of New Orleans. Gibault used the French town of Kaskaskia as his headquarters, traveling hundreds of miles by canoe, on foot or by horse to visit his constituents. Since his arrival in the West, the areas where Gibault traveled had been controlled by the British and there was relative peace. When Clark met him, Gibault was serving as the Roman Catholic vicar general of the Illinois Country. He quickly become one of Clark’s biggest allies and a great asset in winning the support of French villagers in the area.