Louis Hennepin 1626 - c. 1705 Born and educated in Belgium, Hennepin was ordained a Recollet (Franciscan) friar in France. He was an adventurer at heart and undertook priestly duties in several European countries before being sent to New France as a missionary in 1675. In 1679-80 he accompanied Cavelier de La Salle on his exploration of the Mississippi River. Back in France, Hennepin published a lively account of his travels, Description de la Louisiane (1683), which enjoyed widespread popularity in Europe. Hennepin provided a striking account of 17th-century North America and his book contains the first recorded description of "the Wonders of that prodigious Cascade", Niagara Falls.