Pierre Gibault

Father Pierre Gibault (7 April 1737 – 16 August 1802) was a Jesuit missionary and priest in the Northwest Territory in the 18th century, and an American Patriot during the American Revolution.

Gibault was born 7 April 1737 at Montreal, the son of Pierre Gibault and Marie Saint-Jean, and was baptised the same day. He was educated as a missionary and ordained as priest at Quebec on 19 March 1768, and was quickly appointed Vicar General of the Archbishop of Quebec for the Illinois country.

When France lost the Northwest Territory to Great Britain in 1763, Jesuit priests were expelled. Catholic communities had to rely on local laity to lead their congregations. Fr. Gibault arrived in Kaskaskia on 8 September 1768, where he served Catholics of French and Indian ethnicity, as well as members of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment who were stationed there. He first arrived in Vincennes in 1769, where a crowd greeted him with cries of "Save us, Father; we are nearly in Hell!"

Father Gibault oversaw a circuit of parishes, including Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Ste Genevieve, and Cahokia. He also visited settlements as far as Ouiatenon, Peoria, and St. Joseph. The territory was still considered dangerous frontier, and Gibault carried a gun and two pistols.

Father Gibault was in Kaskaskia in 1778 when George Rogers Clark arrived. According to Clark, Fr. Gibault stated that he supported the Americans, but was concerned for his Catholic congregation. Clark assured him that by the laws of Virginia, they would be free to worship as they wished. Clark also informed Gibault of the newly signed treaty between the United States and France.

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