Pierre-Jean De Smet was born on 30th January 1801 in Dendermonde, Belgium, and he died on 23rd May 1873 (aged 72 years) in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States. Pierre-Jean was a Belgian Catholic priest and is known for his extensive travels as a missionary in Western and Mid-western North America as well as western Canada in the mid-19th century. He produced the first detailed map of the Missouri river valley. It shows the locations of the native Villages and other cultural features along with the physical features of the area. He undertook the Canadian Rockies Expedition which was the longest explorations that he undertook.
Do you know: Pierre-Jean remained active in missionary work till his death and raised money for several missions.
