USA > Michigan > Marquette County > Beard's directory and history of Marquette County with sketches of the early history of Lake Superior, its mines, furnaces, etc., etc > Part 7
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155
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
Flicke, Chas. Frisk, A. P. Forrest, P. Fowle, J. C. cash. Michi. mine. Franks, A. Furlong, R. -
G
Gillis, John.
Gillis, Neil.
Glafland, Isaac. Glass, F.
Gleason, M. boarding house.
Godfrey, F. A.
Goe, J. W.
Gokay, A.
Gongo, Jas.
Gongo, Lewis.
Gort, Chas.
Gouchie, C.
Gould, John.
Green, John.
Greenbery, Fred.
Gulby, C.
Gullin, E.
Gustafsen, C.
H
Hackett, Richard. Haley, M.
Hamlin, Jas. Hamon, Thos.
Hall, E. D. & Co., dry goods Hanahan, Thos. boarding house. groceries and drugs. Hanston, Robt. Harrington, John. Harrington, T. J. Harris, G. Harvey, Samuel. Hall, John. Halversen, Louis. Halverson, R. Halyon, A.
Finnegan, John. Finnegan, Thos. Fish, A. J. Fish, E. Fisher, Wm. Fitzgerald, John. Flannery, M.
Gabrie, O. Garberg, L. Gardner, Robert. Gardner, S.
Garrett, A.
Garvin, Simon. Garanson, A.
Geary, R. Genberg, John. Gendron, A. Geran, Ely.
Gibbs, Wm.
Gibbs, Fred.
Gilbertson, K.
Gillen, A. Gilles, John.
Gillis, Alex. Gillis, Donald. Gillis, Duncan.
156
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
Hathaway, J. D.
Halm, John.
Haulaby, A. A.
Holmes, J. J.
Hayden, J. J.
Hooper, John.
Hays, John.
Hooper, Thos.
Haysler, John.
Hooven, A.
Henderson, Chas.
Hopkins, Martin.
Herrin, Morris.
Hopkins, Peter.
Hickley, John.
Houglin, Chas.
Hindle, Walter.
Houghton, Jacob, sup't. Michi- gammi Mine.
Hitchcock, E.
Hoalden, N.
Howe, Thos.
Holland, D.
Harley, D.
Holland & Scott, hardware.
I
Idell, A. G. Isaacs, Peter.
Isaacson, E.
J
Jacobson, J.
Johnson, Andrew.
Jacobson, M.
Johnson, A. L. boarding house.
Jack, Thomas,
Johnson, A. W.
Jackson, John.
Johnson, C.
Jackson, L.
Johnson, Chas. boarding house. Johnson, E. S.
Jant, Charles.
Johnson, Henry.
Jenkins, F. G.
Johnson, John.
Jercan, Isaac.
Johnson, L. Johnson, Ole.
Jewell, Henry, engineer. Jewsberg, A. Johannasen, A.
Johnson, Swan.
Johnston, Joseph.
Jolder, E.
Jones, P.
K
Kelly, E. Kelly, M.
Kennefick, J. Kennefick, P.
James, H. C.
Jerenson, C.
Johnson, Peter.
Johns, Wm. blacksmith. Johnson, A.
157
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
Kerr, John. Kindstrand, C. King, A. King, Joseph.
King, Mark. King, O. King, Lamb. Kinney, S.
L
Ladue, P. E.
Lawson, John. Limburger. Joseph.
Lagreen, A. T.
Lally, James, boaring house and saloon.
Lincour Arcale. Lindahl, O. P.
Lamb, Henry.
Lindenstreth, G.
Lamb, John.
Linn, John.
Lambert, Charles.
Lockhart, J.
Lamene, Peter.
Lombake, T.
Lapimere, L.
Longreen, John. Lovejoy, H. B.
Larne, C.
Lavene, Frank, board'g house.
Lawson, Andrew.
Lawson, C.
Lynch, Frank.
Lawson, E.
Lynch, George. Lynch, J. L.
M
Magean, Jos.
Mayham, F. K.
Magnosen, John.
McAllister, Wm.
Malmberg, L.
McCrimmon, John.
Malone, John.
McCuin, Geo.
Maloney, J. S.
McCumber, G. H.
Maloney, D.
McCumber, J. R.
Malvern, Norris.
McDonald, A.
Malvy, Austin.
McDonald, D.
Marsh, H. P.
McGraw, Jas.
Marshall, Thos.
McGregor, Henry.
McKennon, A.
Martin, Jos. Maxon, Geo.
Mckenzie, H.
Mayham, E. C.
McLean, Wm.
Ludwick, John. Lundberg, S.
Lawson, E. G.
158
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
McLean, W. H.
Morris, John.
McMahon, J.
Morrisey, M.
McPhee, John.
Morrow, Morris.
McTige, Jas.
Mower, H. E.
Meekin, James.
Mulbar, E.
Melene, Peter.
Mullen, B.
Merry, Jos.
Munck, A.
Mikner, Wm.
Murphy, John.
Miller, A. W.
Murphy, Henry.
Mills, D.
Murphy, Hugh.
Mitchel, A.
Murrey, John.
Mitchel, J. S.
Murrey, S. T.
Monahan, M.
Murrey, W. J.
Monahan, P.
Myers, A,
Moore, Hugh. Morin, J.
Myers, E.
Myers, J.
N
Neddo, Peter.
Nilson, A.
Neice, Lew.
Nolen, H. O.
Nekle, F.
Nord, John.
Nelson, Fred.
Nord, S.
Nelson, Henry.
Norman, N. T.
Nelson, Peter.
Nostrum, G.
Neunent, Max.
Numan, John.
Obie, D.
Olsen, Martin.
Obirg, C. E.
Olsen, N.
Okestrom, H.
Olsen, Ole. .
Olsen, S.
Olsen, A. Olsen, Andrew.
Ollrick, William.
Olsen, Charles.
O'Neil, James.
Olsen, H.
Olsen, J.
Osmensen, P. Oullette, H. J.
9
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
P
Parkis, W. G.
Peterson, John.
Peterson, M.
Peterson, Nils.
Peterson, A.
Pierce, P.
Peterson, Andrew.
Pierce, Richard.
Peterson, Anton.
Pinzie, Leon.
Peterson, Ans.
Pippin, P. saloon and b. house.
Peterson, C.
Piquette, J.
Peterson, C. F.
Plock, Geo. saloon.
Peterson, E.
Pollack, D. W.
Peterson, G.
Porter Frank.
Peterson, Gust.
Pouliat, O.
Peterson, J.
Powers, John.
Peterson, Jas.
Prout, Jas.
Q
Quilty, A.
Quirk, James.
Quilty, Michael.
R
Randell, David.
Roberts, A. W.
Ready, E.
Roberts, Jos.
Reed, M.
Rock, Henry.
Reid, B. F.
Rock, J. W.
Rexter, Ole.
Rogers, John.
Reynolds, Jas.
Rondguest, M.
Richards, E.
Rosengreen, T.
Richardson, B. W.
Ross, John. Ross, P.
Richster, Chas. Riley, John.
Ringwood, John. Riopel, Dennis. Riopel, G.
Ross, R.
Ryan, P.
Ryan, Thos.
15
Perry, S. Peters, D.
160
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
S
Saleberry, Fred.
Sales, John.
Sandstrom, Fritz.
Smith, John. Smith, Richard. Smith, Samuel.
Sanquest, A.
Soderberg, S. E.
Sanquest, J.
Southcombe, Wm.
Santhang, Samuel.
Sprutley, G.
Santg, Philip.
Standenmaier, J. boots & shoes.
Sanstorf, J.
Stevens, E. P.
Sawyer, Chas.
Stevens, H. C. Justice of Peace.
Sawyer & Snavely, proprietors St. Amene, R. Adams House.
Scanlan, Jas.
Stoddard, F. S.
Schafer, F.
Stonlone, Eli.
Scheizer, Louis.
Siout, Ed.
Scully, Michael.
Strait, J.
Senthany & Neddo, jewelry, Stremberg, J. liquors and cigars.
Settler, Jas.
Sullivan, M. T. hotel and saloon.
Seymour, Chas.
Sullivan, T.
Seymour, J. J.
Sullivan, Wm.
Shaffer, Jacob.
Sundberg, Frank.
Shea, C.
Sutherland, J. A.
Shea, John.
Swallen, John.
Stepham, M.
Swan, John.
Shields, John.
Swanson, A. M.
Sheron, John.
Swanson, C.
Shoulderbach, S. E. Simner, Henry.
Swavely, G. A.
Simon, Perval.
Swellin, B.
Simons, N.
Swenderson, P.
Sinclair, Robt.
Swerenson, C.
Smith, Jas.
Swerenson, J.
Taylor, F. Tersmach, Charles.
T
Theber, Adnrew. Tibbitts, J. boarding house.
St. German, Peter. .
Strombach, John, saloon.
Swanson, G.
161
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
Tibbitts, H. L. Tillson, Stephen. Todd, William. Trelean, E. Trudo, Isaac.
Ure, A.
Vandervelt, J. Vanson. E. Varney, C. J. Vellum, Ole.
Verestrom, Fred. Vodden, Robert. Vogtlin, A. Vogtlin & Weber, butchers.
W
Wade, J. E.
Walden, Jos.
Walden, Peter.
Walker, G. W.
Wallman, Jno. Walstein, A.
West, Hayden & Co., clothing, and groceries.
Weterstrom, Jas.
White, Chas.
White, D. W.
White, Jos.
White, S.
Wicklander, A.
Wilander, A.
Wilson, E.
Wilson, Gust.
Wilson, Peter. Wise, Chas.
Word, Eugene.
Wyley, Jas.
Y
Young, P. A.
Zimner, M.
Trudo, Jerry. Trudo, Joseph. Turcott, Frank. Tuttle, D.
U V
Z
Watson, Frank. Washaren, J.
Weber, R.
Webster, S. Week, Chas. Wekeland, W. Welander, P. J.
Welander, P. S.
Welander, W. S. Wertemberg, A.
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BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
CHERRY CREEK.
Barns, Edward, teamster.
Barns, Henry, carpenter.
Bishop, O. D. sawyer, Fraser's mills.
Bergham, Charles, farmer.
Cundy, Charles, farmer.
Conol, William, carpenter.
Ewing, George E. farmer.
Ford, William, farmer.
Ford, John, sawyer, Frazer's mills.
Garvey, Thomas, farmer. Garvey, Peter, farmer. .
Goodman, Barney, contractor.
Griffin, James, foreman, Fraser mills.
Howland, James, Fraser mills.
Johnson, Angus, contractor and farmer.
King, Allen, farmer.
King, Frank, carpenter.
Kipp, Daniel, farmer.
Knox, William, farmer.
LaPete, Jack, farmer.
Lemarr, Antoine, farmer.
Mahaffa, R. J., Fraser mills.
Mahaffa, John, Fraser mills.
Mahaffa, Andrew, Fraser mills.
Mahaffa, William, teamster. McCullom, Murray, farmer, Fraser mills.
McCoombs, John, teamster, Fraser mills.
Mclaughlin, Duncan, teamster, Fraser mills. Moore, James, Fraser mills.
Preb, Fred., farmer. Preb, William, farmer.
Richards, R. N., farmer.
Roberts, W. B., farmer.
Saunders, James, laborer, Fraser mills.
163
BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
Suds, Addison, farmer. White, Cyrus B., farmer. White, Jerome, contractor. Zerbel, S., farmer.
HARVEY.
Alment, C. F. Harvey, L. D. sup't Northern Iron Company.
Borgham, Chas.
Bradley, Alonzo.
Johnson, A.
Christmas, Oliver.
Kunde, Carl.
Ewing, Geo. A.
Kopp, Louis.
Frazer, E. & Co.
Ludd, May.
Farrell, Patrick.
Preit, Wm.
Ford, Wm.
Preebe, Fred.
Harvey, C. T. president Ulrich, Carl. Northern Iron Company. White, J. N.
HUMBOLT.
Allen, J. F. & Co., druggists.
Brodier, L. physician.
LaBarre, N., barber.
Larmsere, F., veterinary surgeon.
Merryweather & Co .. general store.
Merryweather & Sanford, meat market.
Sherman, E. T., silversmith. St. Clair, E. G., banker.
Swartz, John L., boot and shoe maker.
Trotter, Miss, dressmaker.
Wallis, Thomas, hotel proprietor.
Washington Iron Co., general store.
Washington Iron Mine. Zeiller, William, boot and shoe maker.
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BEARD'S DIRECTORY OF MARQUETTE COUNTY.
CHAMPION.
Champion Mining Company. Champion Furnace Company. Doty, L. H., Postmaster.
CLARKSBURG.
Amerman, A. S., physician.
Colwell, H. J., superintendent Michigan Iron Company.
Dulong, E., general store.
Ferray, John, druggist.
Kaiser, John, jeweler.
GREENWOOD.
Michigan Iron Co., manufacture pig iron, and general store.
EARLY HISTORY
-OF-
LAKE SUPERIOR.
SKETCH OF THE EARLY EXPLORATIONS, WITH A NOTICE OF THE MISSIONARIES AND THEIR LABORS.
BY C. I. WALKER.
It is now more than two centuries since civilized men penetrated the vast solitudes of the region of Lake Superior.
The history of the early explorations, missions, and settle- ments in this region is full of deep, romantic, and sometimes tragic interest. The particular site on which has sprung up the city of Marquette was not early brought into prominence. There were here no trading posts, missions, stations, or settle- ments, but Marquette has outstripped its elder sisters, and is now the metropolis of Lake Superior. In population, wealth, and business, and in its means of communication, it is far in advance of any other point upon the lake; and in a work devoted to this particular locality, it is eminently appropriate that there should be a reference to the early'history of the whole region of which it is now the metropolis and principal city, and a reverent tribute to the men who here first planted the cross and especially to Father Marquette from whom it derived its name.
From the time when the footsteps of the white man first penetrated the forests of our commonwealth, until the power of France on our continent was terminated by the victory of Wolf on the plains of Abraham, the entire territory of Michigan was under the undisputed dominion of France. And virtually it remained a part of Canada until 1796, when, under the pro-
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EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
visions of Jay's treaty, it was surrendered to the United States.
From France we received our first laws, our original social polity, our early religious character. And although the wave of Anglo-Saxon immigration has, within a half of a century, rolled in upon us a population of more than a million, it has not obliterated, and it is to be hoped it never will obliterate, the clear and distinct influence upon our social character, of the era of French dominion.
We may not forget, we should ever be proud to remember, that, for the first century of its existence, the metropolis of our State, the "City of the Straits," was essentially French in all its characteristics.
MISSIONS.
We should never forget that the pioneers of civilization and christianity, along the shores of the noble rivers and mighty lakes that form the boundaries of our State, were the French Jesuits.
These men, with a firm step and intrepid mien, in the face of dangers, toils, sacrifices and sufferings, which no language can portray, and no imagination adequately conceive, bore aloft the torch of christian truth, amidst the moral darkness and desola- tion that here reigned in terrible and savage grandeur. And, sustained by a mental and moral discipline, known to few save the followers of Loyalla, and by that unfaltering trust in God, which, thank heaven, is confined to no creed, and to no sect, they met, nay, even welcomed, torture and death with a calm joyousness that finds few parallels in the annals of mankind.
The memory of those early Jesuit Missionaries to the Indians has been embalmed in the glowing pages of Bancroft.
It may not be inappropriate or uninteresting to enter some- what more into detail in relation to their labors upon the shores of Lake Superior.
Quebec was founded by Champlain in 1608. In 1615 the first priests (Recollects) arrived. They were reinforced in 1620, and in 1625 some Jesuits arrived. But these all returned to France in 1629 on the capture of Quebec by the English. But in 1633, when Champlain returned to his government he brought with him Brebeuf and another priest.
-
167
EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
Before this period (1633) but little progress had been made in the conversion of the Indians. The Hurons were the first nation that cordially opened their hearts to the reception of Christian truth.
They occupied a somewhat anomalous position in relation to the two great divisions, into which the Indians, bordering on the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, were divided-the Algonquins and the Iroquois.
When Jaques Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence in 1534, he found its banks inhabited by tribes of the great Algonquin race, and at Hocelaga or Montreal he found a very populous Indian town.
When Champlain in 1608 first raised the banner of France on the rock of St. Louis, the Algonquins gathered around him to give him a welcome.
He found them the hereditary enemies of their neighbors, the Iroquis, a race with similar habits, but with a radically different language, fewer in numbers and occupying a far less extent of territory. But these disadvantages were more than compensated by their compactness ; by their admirable system of govern- ment ; by their superior prowess, and by their haughty ambition.
Occupying a territory but little larger than the State of New York, they arrogantly aspired to become the Romans of this western world ; the arbiters of peace and war, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, from the great lakes to the everglades of Florida. Their tomahawks carried terror and destruction into the villages of the peaceful Illinois on the broad prairies of the west, and the fiendlike yells of their war parties were echoed back by the rocks that ranged themselves along the shores of the mighty lake of the north.
THE HURONS.
The Hurons, or Wyandottes, were of the same lingual stock of the Iroquis, and occupied for a time a kind of neutral posi- tion between the great contestants for aboriginal dominion. They were the intellectual superiors of the Iroquis, without their love of war, or their lust of power.
They had gathered in large numbers about Georgian Bay
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EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
and Lake Simcoe, where they sustained themselves by hunting, fishing, and a better system of agriculture than generally pre- vailed among the Indians.
The year of the settlement of Quebec, Champlain joined an expedition of the Algonquins of the St. Lawrence into the country of the Iroquis, by way of the beautiful lake that bears his name. From him, in that expedition, those fierce warriors first learned the terrible power of firearms.
From that moment they became the bitter enemies of the French, who had thus espoused the cause of their hereditary foes, and at frequent intervals, for a century and a half, the French colonies suffered from their vindictive and cruel wrath.
The Hurons, at a very early day, became the fast friends of the French. As early as 1615, father Carron visited them, on an embassy of peace and love. And from 1622 to 1625, the Recollects had a mission among them.
On the arrival of the Jesuits, they commenced their labors among the Hurons,-labors that were to have so tragic an end.
Brebeuf acquired a knowledge of their language and man- ners, and was adopted into their nation.
By the conquest of Canada, 1629, the mission was broken up. But on the restoration of the French power, in 1633, it was renewed with increased zeal and numbers. Then villages were reached by the circuitous, laborious and dangerous route of the Ottawa river, the more direct route being through a country where the Iroquois were found upon the war path.
The journey was replete with difficulties, hardships and dan- gers,-reaching for 300 leagues through dense forests. The rivers were full of rocks and waterfalls, and the missionaries were compelled to ply the paddle, to draw the canoe over rapids, and to carry heavy burdens over roughest portages.
Food was scarce, and the Indians unfriendly. But after severe toil and intense suffering, the sacred envoys, Brebeuf and Daniel, reach the heart of the Huron wilderness, and commence their labors, soon to be followed by the gentle Lallemant, and many others.
Here, for fifteen years, with calm, impassive courage, and
169
EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
wearied patience, the Jesuits continued their self-denying labors, in the midst of privations, peril, suffering, insult, contumely and dangers the most imminent, the details of which would make a volume of thrilling interest.
The arm of French power had not yet taught the savages the sacred character of the " Black Coats," as the Jesuits were called, to distinguish them from the Recollects, or " Grey Coats."
The medicine men of the Indians, feeling that their craft was in danger, spared no opportunity to arouse against the missiona- ries savage hate. Misfortune, sickness and death were all charged upon them, as the fruit of their prayers and ceremonies, and the baptism of a dying infant was sometimes a source of imminent danger.
To avoid this they often resorted to stratagem. Father Pigart, being rudely repulsed from a cabin, whose inmates re- fused to have a dying infant baptised, offers to the little sufferer a piece of sugar, and unperceived, though watched, pressed from a wet cloth a drop of holy water upon its fevered brow.
But ultimately the patience and loving perseverance of the Missionaries overcame all opposition, and the Huron nation received the truth. But the hour of their destruction was at hand. The terrible Iroquis came down upon them like a wolf upon the fold.
In July, 1648, at early dawn, while the men were mostly absent on a hunting expedition, the populous town of Te-an-an- sta-que was aroused by the fearful war cry of the Iroquois. The few defenders rally at the feeble palisades, encouraged by the Godly father Daniel. Hastily, as if the salvation of souls hung on each flying moment, he confesses, baptizes by aspersion, pronounces a general absolution, and flies to the chapel where many of his flock have gathered for safety. He does the same there, exhorts them to flee from the rear of the building, while he bodly opens the front door and faces the approaching foe, to give a moment's time to his flying flock.
They recoil at the brave man's presence; but soon they rally ; his body is pierced with arrows, a fatal bullet finishes the work.
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EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
He falls,-breathing the name of Jesus, and his body is cast into the fire made by his burning chapel.
The following year, in March, other towns fell. The brave and noble Brebeuf and the gentle and loving Gabriel Lallemant met death by tortures, that only demons could invent or demons inflict.
The whole annals of martyrdom scarcely afford a parallel, either in the ingenious cruelty of the tormentors, or in the wonderful fortitude and heroism of the victims.
The Huron nation was destroyed. Many perished by the hand of the enemy ; others submitted and became incorporated into their tribes. Another portion settled near Quebec, and a small fraction, consisting of 600 or 800 fled, first to the Mana- toulin Islands, thence to Mackinaw, and from thence to Bay de Noquet. And when the mission at La Point was established in 1665, they gathered around the standard of the cross, erected by Father Alloney. Driven thence by the Dacotahs, they were established at Mackinaw by Marquette, in 1671.
When Detroit was founded in 1701, they removed to this point. In 1751 they mostly removed to Sandusky, and subse- quently, by the name of Wyandottes, took an active and con- spicuous part, on the side of the British in the war of the Revolution. They have been, since their dispersion, wanderers without territory of their own, depending for a home, upon the hospitality of other nations.
FIRST VISIT TO LAKE SUPERIOR.
It was from the Huron mission, that the first Missionary explorers were sent forth to examine the moral desolation of our own territory. At a feast of the dead, held in Huronia, in early summer 1641, there were in attendance a delegation from the Chippewas of Sault St. Marie.
The Missionaries, with that skill which was peculiar to them, soon ingratiated themselves into their favor and were cordially invited to return with them to their homes, on the confines of the "great lake," the charms of which they depicted in glowing colors.
171
EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
The Missionaries, ever anxious to extend the dominion of the cross, joyfully accepted the invitation.
Charles Raymbault, a father, thoroughly versed in the Algonquin language and customs, and Isaac Joques, equally familiar with the Huron, were selected. These men were the first who planted the cross within the limits of our State.
On the 17th of June, 1641, they started upon their adven- turous voyage. For seventeen days, they plied the paddle on the clear waters of the Northern lakes, and through the channel of the St. Mary's River gemmed by a thousand beautiful islands.
They were kindly and hospitably received by the Chippewas at the Sault, who urged them to remain with them, that they might profit by their words. They told them of the "Great Lake," of the fierce Dacotahs, and of numerous other tribes, of whom the fathers had never before heard.
But they were compelled to return, and after planting the cross, they left, hoping soon to be able to establish a mission at this promising point among the docile Chippewas.
Raymbault died with consumption the following year, and Jaques met a martyr's death among the Iroquois.
No further attempt was made to send the gospel to the great Northwest, until 1656. After the destruction of the Hurons, the Iroquois ranged in proud and haughty triumph, from Lake Erie to Lake Superior.
Upper Canada was desolation, and even the route by the Ottawa river was not safe from the war parties of these bold marauders.
During this year, some Ottawas made their way to the St. Lawrence. Two missionaries left to return with them, one, the celebrated and devoted Dreuilletts. They were attacked by the Iroquois. Father Garreau was mortally wounded, and Dreu- illettes brutally abandoned.
Another company of Ottawas and other Algonquins, appeared at Quebec in 1660, and asked for a missionary. Missions had now received a fresh impulse from the pious Levalle, the first bishop of Quebec, who came out in 1659.
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EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.
FATHER MESNARD.
Father Mesnard was selected as the first ambassador of the cross on the shores of "Gitchie Gumee," the " Big Sea Water." The choice was a fit one. He had been a compeer of those noble men who had enriched Huronia's soil with their blood.
He had experienced every vicissitude of missionary service and suffering. He had rejoiced in baptizing many a convert on the banks of the beautiful Cayuga, and his seamed face attested the wounds he had received in the cause of truth. The frosts of many winters adorned his brow, and severity of toil and suffer- ing had somewhat broken his frame, yet his spirit was still strong, and he was ready for the sacrifice.
Although not buoyed up by the enthusiasm of youth, or in- experience, he not only did not recoil from the labor, peril, suffering and death, which he felt awaited him, but he cheer- fully looked forward, as the truest happiness, to a death of misery, in the service of God.
Alone, in August, 1660, he leaves the haunts of civilization, and puts himself into the hands of savage strangers, who treated the aged priest with coarse brutality. From morning till night, in a cramped position, they compel him to ply the unwelcome paddle ; and over sharp rocks to drag the canoe up the foaming rapids; and at portages, to carry heavy burdens.
He is subjected to every form of drudgery ; to every phase of insult and contempt. Want, absolute and terrible comes in to enhance the horrors of the voyage. Berries and edible moss are exhausted ; and the moose skin of their dresses is made to yield its scanty and disgusting nutriment.
Finally, with his breviary contemptuously cast into the water; barefooted, wounded by sharp stones, exhausted from toil, hunger, and brutal treatment; without food, or the means of procuring any, he is abandoned, upon the desolate shores of Lake Superior to die.
But even savage cruelty relents. After a few days, during which time he supports life with pounded bones, his Indian companions return, and convey him to their winter rendezvous, which they reach October 15th, St. Theresa Day. From that
EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 173
circumstance he called it "St. Theresa Bay," probably Keweenaw Bay.
Here, amidst every discouragement and privation, with no white brethren nearer than Montreal, he began a mission and said " Mass," which he says, " repaid me with usury, for all my past hardships."
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