History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 238

In 1907 he was selected by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt as Chairman and Chief
Engineer of the Isthmian Canal Commission (two predecessors had resigned). The
following January he took complete charge of construction work and government in
the Canal Zone. When the Panama Canal was opened to commercial traffic in August
1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson appointed Goethals the first governor of the Canal Zone.
On March 4, 1915 he was made a major-general in the United States Army by a
special act of Congress. During World War I he served as acting quartermaster
general. In 1918 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal of conspicuous
service in reorganizing the army's quartermaster department.
From 1919 to 1928 he was president of the engineering firm of George W. Goethals
and Company. He served as consultant to many important engineering organizations,
including the Port of New York Authority. He retired to Vineyard Haven, Mass, which
he had considered his home since 1894, after marrying Effie Rodman of New
Bedford, MA. January 21, 1928 he died of cancer.

Antoine Hennepin, born May 12, 1626 at Ath, Hainaut, entered the Franciscan
monastery in Bethune (French Flanders) at age 17 and took the religious name
Louis. Ordained a priest, he visited various monasteries of his Order in Italy and
Germany, joined the French troops, as chaplain, during the Spanish war, until his
superior appointed him at Halle. One year later he went to the coastal towns of
Duinkerke, Calais, etc. where he became fascinated by the strange tales of the
sailors. In 1672 he resumed his military ministry in the Low Countries until the Battle
of Seneffe in 1674, -at one time in 1673 at Maastricht, ministering to over 3000
wounded soldiers.
When King Louis XIV asked the Franciscans to send some men to accompany Bishop
Francois de Laval, of Quebec, the choice fell on Fr. Hennepin and four other friars.
They sailed from La Rochelle on July 14, 1675 to New France, landing at Quebec at
the end of September.
After three years of ministry, Fr. Hennepin was invited by Cavelier de La Salle to join
him in his explorations westward. As they journeyed up the Niagara River Gorge, on
December 8, 1678, they discovered the Niagara Falls. Fr. Hennepin was the first
European to describe the falls from actual view. Continuing their voyage through Lake
Erie on the "Griffon", they navigated the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, named by La
Salle, on the feast of St. Clare, August 12, 1679. Hennepin and his companions left
La Salle near Lake Peoria, and continued toward the Mississippi River. On April 12,
1680 they were taken prisoner by the Aced Sioux and obliged to accompany them in
their wanderings. On one of these journeys, they stopped at a cataract in the
Mississippi, which Hennepin named St. Anthony Falls. By the end of September 1680
they were released, and after a long and difficult journey reached Quebec.

238