USA > Michigan > Marquette County > Marquette > History Of The Diocese Of Sault Ste, Marie And Marquette; Containing A Full And Accurate Account Of The Development Of The Catholic Church In Upper Michigan, With Portraits Of Bishops, Priests And Illustrations Of Churches Old And New, Volume 1 > Part 14
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The spring of 1859 was late. All during March and April snow storms raged as if to avenge themselves for the mild preceding winter. During this winter, Baraga's health weakened for the first time. In March he was laid up with rheumatism and was unable to say Mass for several days. May 3rd the first boats arrived in the Sault, and twelve days later Baraga, though not completely restored
to health, started out on his season's visi- tations through the diocese. The interest- ing account of these trips written by him- self to the Leopoldine Society under date of June 23rd, we give in full, supplement- ing it by extracts from his diary.
"A few days ago I returned from a missionary visitation and I hasten to send a short account thereof. I came back from this journey half sick and ex- hausted, for this trip through all our Ot- tawa missions is full of hardships. On these missions one has to go either on foot from station to station or travel in a small canoe on the stormy Lake Michi- gan. Such canoe voyages would be still more dangerous were it not that the In- dians are so skillful in the management of their canoes. On these journeys one must sometimes pass the night on the shore of the lake, and the nights this spring were very cold.
"This spring I departed at the earliest opportunity I could find for Mackinac and St. Ignace 6 in order to begin my visi- tation. This opportunity, however, did not present itself before the 15th of May, because the ice remained in our St. Mary's river very late. When I arrived at those two mission stations, the people there, who depend principally upon fish- ing for their living, were already gone to their spring fishing. These poor people are employed by the whites. Their em- ployers furnish them with empty fish- kegs, nets, and salt and pay them from four to five dollars for every keg of fish they fill and salt down. Among fishermen are many adults, who have not yet been confirmed, because they are never at hand when the bishop comes. The mission-
" On Str. Lady Elgin.
6 Moore.
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aries, therefore, told me that I should come in winter in order to find them at home. Hence I shall be obliged to make a journey on foot, with snow-shoes, from Sault Ste. Marie to Mackinac and St. Ignace in the first days of February, 1860.
"These winter journeys I find some- what difficult now, for in the first place I am become unaccustomed to them, and secondly on account of my age, for by next February, if I live, I shall be in my sixty-third year. At that age, especially if one has in former years suffered hard- ships, he is already a little stiff and feels the cold. Walking during the day goes tolerably well, but when obliged to camp out in the open air at night in the woods, is extremely uncomfortable in this north- ern climate. Tiresome walking on snow- shoes over hills and through valleys causes perspiration, notwithstanding the cold. In the evening I soon feel cold and begin to tremble as if I had the fever. If I could arrive at some house every evening on these winter journeys, traveling would not be so hard, but in this desolate country a man has often to walk several days before seeing a single house. Such is the lot of a missionary bishop, although I do not find it so hard, as I have been a missionary in this country for so many years. The only thing that weighs on me is my advanced age.
"From the mission St. Ignace I went in a birch-canoe to the Indian village, Cross Village, where a noble German missionary of the Third Order of St. Francis, Rev. Seraphin Zorn, labors zeal- ously among the Indians for the honor of God and their salvation. He has learned the Indian language in a comparatively short time. Mackinac and St. Ignace are
mixed missions. In these two places there are Indians, half-breeds, Canadian French, and Irish, but in Cross-Village all are Indians.
"As soon as they saw the canoe coming from afar, they rang the church bell and all assembled. The schoolmaster, who is a Brother of the Third Order, came at the head of his school-children, who carried two banners, the Indians follow- ing behind. They came down to the beach to receive their Bishop. Then they all knelt down to receive the episcopal blessing, whereupon they accompanied me amidst the firing of guns and ringing of bells to the mission church, where, after a short address, I again gave them my blessing. That is in general the way the Indians everywhere receive their Bishop. I always had consolation in this mission, for the poor Indians there are good and very assiduous in attending church and their missionary in exemplary and zeal- ous.
"From there I sailed to the Beaver Islands, which are situated in the middle of Lake Michigan. Two of these islands are inhabited, one by Indians, the other by whites, who are for the most part Irish. When I first came to these missions only Indians lived on the islands, but some years ago the whites began to settle on large Beaver Island, and the very worst kind of whites, namely. the Turkishly in- clined Mormons with their countless wives. In a short time there were over three hundred families of these horrible people there, and they carried on things in such a high-handed manner all over the beautiful island that no others could settle there. Besides their Mohammedan polygamy, they were a kind of pirates and
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and gone often to holy Communion, came and entreated me earnestly to receive her in the Ursuline Convent at Sault Ste. Marie. I wondered at such request from an Indian, because this nation only wishes for and respects the matrimonial state as the Hebrews and other nations of ancient times. In order to act with certainty, I sent for her parents and questioned them in regard to their daughter. They stated that several young men had asked her to marry, but that she had not accepted any such proposal and that she intended to live single all her life. I asked her then repeatedly whether she really wanted to leave all and enter a convent, and she de- clared that such was her sole wish. I took her to our Ursuline Convent where she was received as a novice. I wonder whether she will persevere.7
"At Little Traverse Rev. Louis Siffe- rath is stationed as missionary. He is a conscientious, zealous, and pious priest, who in a short time has learned the In- dian language tolerably well and daily perfects himself in it. After I had visited two small Indian mission stations & with Rev. Sifferath and preached to the In- dians, I arrived, on the 9th of June. at Grand Traverse. This is a mission of Rev. Father Mrak, who has worked for many years as a zealous and enlightened missionary among the Indians. I was very agreeably surprised when I saw how
7 On the 17th of June she was brought to the Ursuline Convent in the Sault, grew homesick in a few days and was sent home on the 26th. The bishop makes in his journal the following re- mark: "One should never try to make a priest of an Indian man nor a Sister of an Indian woman."
" Sheboygan and Bear River. In this last place Baraga said Mass in Mr. Trottrechand's house. This gentleman gave him an acre of land on which a new church was to be erected-30x20x12.
Father Mrak had repaired and beautified his church both interiorly and exteriorly.
"On our return from Grand Traverse we were obliged to go ashore at night, which was stormy and cold. I had no blanket with me, but, fortunately, had my cloak. I lay down on the cold sand and passed the night shivering with cold. Next morning I could scarcely speak and could hardly stand up; I had contracted a severe cold.
"On the 17th of June I again arrived at Sault Ste. Marie, to my great joy and that of others. I shall remain here a couple of weeks and then undertake a missionary journey to Lake Superior, which will last two months.9
True to his intention, Baraga sailed in the Propeller Montgomery for the Ke- weenaw Bay. He left the Sault on the 29th of June, his sixty second birthday. The boat tied up at the Entry and the Bishop remained there with the Edger- tons for two days, whereupon he walked to L'Anse. Not finding Father Jacker at home he remained at the mission over Sunday, July 3d. He was much consoled at the flourishing condition of that Indian mission, always so dear to his heart. It had grown to such an extent that the church was too small to hold all the peo- ple on Sundays. He was still more con- soled when he was assured by some pag- ans from Lac Vieux Desert (Gete-Kiti- gan) that they themselves and many of their relatives and acquaintances would come next summer to L'Anse and em - brace the Catholic religion. The good Bishop in the joy of his heart promised to come next year at an earlier date. He said he would stay with them longer to
" Verwyst, pp. 302-308.
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A hurried visit was next paid to Onto- nagon from where the Bishop went to Marquette on his favorite steamer, the North Star. He arrived early in the morning, Saturday, July 21st, and found that Father Duroc was in a bout with his polyglot congregation, on account of his apathy towards his own French parish- ioners. To allay the ruffled feelings, the Bishop considered it imperative to remain over Sunday, as the people could not be drummed together on a week day. This lay-off of a day likewise suited another purpose. He had long ago planned the es- tablishing of a mission in Negaunee, where many people were being employed in the iron mines. And, for the first time in his diocese, Baraga rode, on this day, on a railway from Marquette to the Pion- eer Iron Mine, as Negaunee was then called. Lots were secured from Mr. John Charles Mackenzie, in the block No. 2 of the present city plot, and arrangement made for the building of a chapel. Re- turning to Marquette the Bishop took the confessional for the evening, and the fol- lowing morning at Mass he addressed the people in English, French and German instructing them in Christian forbearance. The trouble was dispelled. He remained five days longer in Marquette. At one o'clock in the morning of June 29th, the Iron City left the port with the Bish- op on board ticketed for Portage Lake. In his journal he mentions Portage Lake as Houghton for the first time. Fathers Thiele and O'Neil met him at the wharf; they all found hospitable quarters at Mr. Finnegan's in the house which still stands in the same place, only a few rods from the old church. The church was com- pleted with the exception of glazing the
sash which was done the next two days. July 31st, the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola was a solemn day for Houghton. The first church was dedicated to the worship of God in the name of the saint whose feast was being celebrated. The Bishop sang Pontifical High Mass assisted by Revs. Thiele, Jacker, and O'Neil. The church was packed with people of all na- tionalities and creeds. As customary the Bishop addressed them in English, French and German. The collection netted three hundred and four dollars. The question of the first pastor was being agitated even while the church was being built and reached the climax in a petition to the Bishop. "Upon a strong petition, says Baraga, I have left Father O'Neil in charge of the congregation, but only in petto for one year. If he does well, he may stay longer. Dissatisfaction of the German and French was at once appar- ent. It is however not an easy matter to obtain priests who speak English, Ger- man and French." 11
August 3d Bishop Baraga returned to the Sault on the North Star, to attend to his mail-matters, even before he could complete his church visitations on Lake Superior. Besides something else drew him home. Patrick Smith, a resident of Mackinac had a law-suit in the justice court of the village and the bishop was summoned to appear on the 11th day of August as a witness. He reached the Island on Tuesday, the 9th and returned to the Sault for Sunday. Only physical indisposition prevented him from going immediately to Lake Superior to con- tinue the interrupted visitations. A week later he felt sufficiently recovered to take
11 Baraga's Diary.
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up the work. On his way up he briefly visited Marquette, La Pointe, and Onto- nagon. On the 3Ist of August he arrived at the Minnesota Mine where prepara- tions were at their height for the impend- ing dedication of the new church. The celebration should eclipse all previous occasions. The church, as Baraga says, was the largest and the finest in the dio- cese. A pipe organ, the first and only one in whole Upper Peninsula, brought from Buffalo at a cost of nine hundred dollars, was to be heard on that day. Father Fox even secured Mr. Weismueller, a cele- brated musician of Green Bay, to play the instrument. At last, on the 4th of Sep- tember the church was dedicated to the holy Name of Mary with all possible splendor and pomp. The sermon by the bishop was in English, German and French. And at the conclusion fourteen persons were confirmed.
This practically concluded Baraga's episcopal visitations for the year. He re- turned to the Sault.12
September 2Ist, he makes the follow- ing entry in his journal. "The thirty sixth anniversary of my ordination. Deo gratias !- The eighteenth anniversary of my meditative morning prayer. Deo gra- tias infinitas!" This morning meditation, Bishop Baraga continued to the last day of his life. Even if he had not casually remarked it in his diary, those who have lived with him-and some are still alive -have more than once told us of this inner life of the Bishop. Sic Jacker, Bourion, Terhorst, Cebul Vertin, Mur- ray, Burns, Dwyer.
12 While it does not belong to our History, yet it may be of interest to know that on the 14th of September the first snow fell at the Soo in 1859.
About this time Bishop Baraga ex- pected, from Carniolia, his native land, two priests. He had cut short his stay at the Minnesota Mine because he thought that they might have arrived during his absence. His disappointment was keen when, upon his return to the Sault, he learned that they had not yet come. He repeatedly laments about it in his journal. On October second he dedicated the Cliff church but immediately returned home, as though he could miss them. On the 6th he writes in his diary. "Sad because neither Mr. Haller nor the two priests from Krain have come." Mr. Haller was only a student, while of the two priests, Father Čebul was one, we surmise that Father Andolschek was the other. Father John Čebul actually arrived on the 13th of October-his 27th birthday. We can imagine the Bishop's pleasure after so much anxious waiting. Who would blame him if he had detained this priest- a countryman-a week or two, or the whole winter, pleasantly chatting with him in their leisure hours of friends and home and happenings in the old father- land! No, he was needed elsewhere. There were people without holy Mass on Sunday! Next day he sends Father Če- bul to the Minnesota Mine, that he may there, under the experienced Father Fox, acquaint himself with this country's mis- sionary life, and learn English and French. "He left on the "Mineral Rock" for his destination," coldly enters the Bishop into his journal. Here it was on this occasion while going to the Steamer that the Bishop carried the satchels of Father Čebul, as Verwyst relates. "Never mind, you must spare yourself; I am old and used to these things. I am your
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heavily on his soul. His enfeebled con- dition hardly permitted undertaking the journey and much less as it had to be done mostly on foot. Considering it a duty, however, at his request, Father Piret sent two guides, who arrived in the Sault the day after Candlemas. Unfor- tunately it was a Friday, hence too late to undertake the journey that week, be- cause the Bishop would not be on the road on Sunday. Early Monday morning February 6th, he started out with his guides. He rode three miles on a carri- ole, then walked on snow-shoes a long distance and when these also became too heavy, he took them off and walked with his bare moccasins. After walking twen- ty miles they reached the empty hut of an Indian chief. There they put up for the night. "I passed the night very comfor- tably in this hut, thanks to my double blanket and the care of my guides." 13
Next morning they started out at seven o'clock and marched all day. In the afternoon the mail-carrier Miron over- took them and they kept his company for the remainder of the journey. Tired out by the long tramp, the Bishop told his guides to prepare a camp, five miles from the Pine River, after the standard fash- ion. By means of the snow-shoes, snow was shoveled away as much as possible. A tent-like structure of poles and branches was erected and the Bishop domiciled in it for the night. In the morning the Bishop found out to his surprise that they had camped not far from the lake. "Had I known this, I would have forced our march to the lake shore." As they step- ed on the ice a joyous convoy of over twenty carrioles greeted the travelers.
Half-breeds and Indians from Mackinac and St. Ignace had come out to receive their chief pastor and conduct him in triumph to the last named village, where they arrived at one o'clock.
Between St. Ignace and Mackinac the Bishop spent profitably two weeks, offici- ating in each parish one Sunday. Febru- ary 12th he confirmed ninety persons in St. Ignace and the following Sunday eighty-two on the Island. This was a goodly number for these two localities and for those times. Besides he visited Indians and whites in their homes; he heard confessions and stirred them up to fervor. No wonder that "today-Febru- ary 18th-Father Murray was nearly ten hours in the confessional." 1+
On the return trip, February 23d, Louis Rabeska and George Bourassa ac- companied him to the Sault. Leaving St. Ignace at five o'clock in the morning, they marched until three in the afternoon when they reached a large burning and were forced to camp there because they could not traverse it before nightfall. "In this encampment I spent a miserable night." 15
Next day they came to within twelve miles of the Sault. "Here I spent a fair night because I bedded myself better than the foregoing night." 16
In the morning of the third day they broke camp at six o'clock arriving four hours later in the Sault 'to the great sat- isfaction' of the Bishop.
During that Lenten season, which com- menced the day after his return home, Bishop Baraga devoted much time to or- dinary pastoral duties, visiting the sick,
13 Diary.
14 Diary.
15 Diary.
10 Ibid.
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the lukewarm, holding devotions, and giving instructions. Literarily he was busy with the second edition of the cele- brated diocesan statutes of which he sent one copy to Rome for approval, another to the Archbishop of Cincinnati. Holy Thursday he consecrated the oils with the assistance of one priest.
With the opening of the navigation- May 14-Bishop Baraga made the first trip to Portage Lake. Mr. Montferrat. the new school teacher of L'Anse, and Mr. Buettner, a student, accompanied him. After a short stop in L'Anse he proceeded to Houghton where the rela- tions between the pastor and flock were not of a most agreeable nature. The Bishop, always inflexible in such matters, soon made his authority felt. On both sides the ranters were routed and the peaceful Father Jacker once more placed in charge of the mission. We are told that Houghton had always more or less breeze, and that ever since the above oc- currence the bishops, even when they slept, kept an eye open on Houghton!
Bendry's scow was the best accommo- dation the Bishop could get to the Entry. Waiting there two days the Mineral Rock relieved him and brought him to the Sault. Perhaps the one thousand four hundred and fifty dollar check, from the Leopoldine Society, which he found in his mail, was at least of some consola- tion upon the exciting occurrences of the past ten days. Nay! Even this check had to tag some disagreeableness. While the amount as correctly written: £297 Sterling the words were: Deux cent quatre vingt sept instead of quatre vingt dix sept. Ten pounds Sterling was a con- sideration and the good Bishop had to
wait patiently till a duplicate order ar- rived from the Austrian capital.
Baraga's second trip was again up the Lake Superior but this time to La Pointe and principally to Superior. This last mission was bereft of all spiritual care since fall. Father Angelus Van Paemel, who attends to its spiritual wants was, through sickness, forced to abandon his labors and to return to his native Bel- gium. Wherefore, when the Bishop ar- rived he found a chaotic condition of things. He heard confession, baptized. blessed marriages, gave instructions, and confirmed. Fully ten days he busied him- self with this common pastoral work. In Bear River, a small out-station, he found a surprisingly neat chapel located in the upper story of Nanadjiwanons' house. It pleased him so much that he at once pur- chased the upper section of the house for the sum of forty dollars and paid the In- dian cash for it. To enlarge the chapel he contracted with Joseph Rice for an addition to Nawadjiwanons' ( Little Cur- rent ) house. When he went to his carpet bag to advance ten dollars on his con- tract he found that his money, about six- ty-five dollars, was stolen. The culprit was however soon located, apprehended and held to the circuit court .- For an example of his activity we quote from his journal: "June 10th Sunday. Extraor- dinary day for work! From four o'clock this morning till ten o'clock this evening I worked incessantly; remarkably many confessions; five sermons; twenty three baptisms and three confirmations. The church was filled to its utmost capacity."
On the 16th of June the Bishop arrived in Ontonagon. This mission was still at- tended from the Minnesota Mine alter-
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Bishop followed him to complete the re- pairs already under way. The carpenter had about finished his work and-on the 27th of June-the Bishop himself ar- ranged the scanty furniture and para- phernalia in the sacristy, church and house, working at it all day. Before re- turning to the Sault, he visited once more Bear River to see how the enlarging of his newly acquired chapel was progress- ing. In La Pointe he took the North Star homeward bound; and in Ontona- gon Patrick Flannigan joined him, on his way to the Seminary in Cincinnati.
Having attended to his correspondence the Bishop waited for a chance to go to Mackinac. As no boat came in five days, he set out-July 5th-with two men in a small sail boat. The weather being ex- ceptionally warm and calm the men took to the oars and rowed all day. At eight in the evening they reached Detour; he and his pilots found hospitable lodgings for the night at Mr. Gaffiney's. At five o'clock next morning, there still being no boat in sight, the little craft left the shore under the strokes of the oars ( for Macki- nac). A favorable wind caught the sails towards ten o'clock and they arrived on the Island at 2 p. m. where they spent Sunday with Father Murray. Monday morning, despite the rough weather, the Bishop urged his boat out, but after a short battling with the waves had to abandon the trip till the following morn- ing. He visited, in their turn, Cross Vil- lage, Garden Island, Beaver Harbor, Middle Village, Agaming, Sheboygen, Little and Grand Traverse and finally came to Eagletown. This whole trip was only a successive chain of evidence of the terrible ravages of drunkenness among
the red skins. Since the mixing up of the whites this vice had taken such potent roots that all the efforts of the zealous missionaries were not much more than in vain. This condition infinitely saddened the Bishop. He vehemently denounced the scandalous liquor traffic and impas- sionately appealed to the Indians to shun the inebriating liquid. Discussing the ex- isting evil with his Vicar General Mrak, at Eagletown, all kinds of remedies were hit upon and recommended.
In Beaver Harbor the contract for the building of a small church was given to Mr. Guilbeault for two hundred dollars.
But to heighten the intensity of the Bis- hop's sadness a letter from Father Menet contributed not a little. He therein set forth his intention of withdrawing from the Sault. The misunderstanding dated from the previous April. The Bishop had noticed the growing difference between the Indians of his jurisdiction and those scattered throughout the neighboring Canadian country. Thinking that he would render the cause a service, he wrote to Bishop Farrell of Hamilton, to whose diocese the territory belonged, that he might recommend to Father Du Ranquet, the missionary at Garden River, to take a greater interest in the instruction of his charges. The Canadian Bishop did so; but perhaps not as gently and in the same spirit as was intended by Bishop Baraga. By the missionary it was taken up more as a reprimand than an exhortation. Père Menet when apprised of the facts took exception to Bishop Baraga's misgiv- ing letter. Hence their dissension and final withdrawal of the veteran missionary from the Sault. It was only blind, com- passionate pity for the Indian and his
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