He was a Recollect priest and believed to be the first European to write and draw Niagara Falls when he visited the area in 1678.Hennipen accompanied French explorer Robert Cavelier,Sieur de la Salle on his exploration of Niagara.

Father Hennipen’s book, “New Discovery (first French edition, 1697) offers an account of his visit with an exaggerated description of the falls estimating its height as over 201 metres (600 feet).

The actual height is more like 57 metres (188 feet).