catholicism in this region dates from the days of jacques marquette, who rested at the native american village of peoria on his voyage up the illinois river in 1673. opposite the present site of the episcopal city, robert de la salle and henri de tonti in 1680 built fort crèvecoeur, in which mass was celebrated and the gospel preached by the recollect fathers, gabriel ribourdi, zenobius membre, and louis hennepin. with some breaks in the succession, the line of missionaries extends to within a short period of the founding of modern peoria. in 1839 father reho, an italian, visited peoria, remaining long enough to build the old stone church in kickapoo, a small town twelve miles distant. st. mary's, the first catholic church in the city proper, was erected by father john a. drew in 1846. among his successors was the poet, rev. abram j. ryan.