Venerable Frederic Baraga, pray for...

Bishop Baraga Associationc/o Diocese of Marquette347 Rock StreetMarquette, MI 49855-4725

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The Baraga Bulletin(ISSN 1047-5044) is published byThe Bishop Baraga Association

347 Rock StreetMarquette, MI 49855 �� 906-227-9117

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347 Rock St. � Marquette, MI 49855 � (906) 227-9117Editor/Associate Director: Lenora McKeenemail: [email protected]

Quarterly Publication of the Bishop Baraga AssociationExecutive Director: Rev. Ben Paris

e-mail: [email protected]. 65, No. 1 � Winter 2013

Inside This Issue:

Director’s Message . . . . . . 2

The Lady Elgin . . . . . . . . 3

Curtis Chambers . . . . . . 6

Association Financial . . . 7

From Yul Yost . . . . . . . . . 8

Baraga Cross . . . . . . . . . 9

Ahead to Duluth . . . . . . 11

Association News . . . . . . 13

Lives Touched by Bishop Baraga

M

photo by Tom B

uchkoe

Thank YouArchbishop-Designate Alexander K. Sample for your dedication & commitmentto the Diocese of Marquette & the Bishop Baraga Association. God Bless You.

Venerable Frederic Baraga, pray for us!”

Michael Finnegan was very close to Bishop Baraga. He frequently traveled with him.In 1858 Bishop Baraga came to Houghton for the first administration of Confirmation.Baraga documented in his diary, "preached English and French and confirmed 12. Iappointed Michael Finnegan as a collector for the new church there, and I myself signedup for $20." Mr. Finnegan collected $630 for the construction of the new church.Groundbreaking was held in the spring of 1859 under the supervision of MichaelFinnegan and Michael Foley. The Bishop dedicated the church on July 31, 1859, the feastof St. Ignatius of Loyola. (Information provided to the Association by Marie Cerroni,

the Great-Great-granddaughter of Michael Finnegan).

1859 Sanctuary - St. Ignatius Church, Portage Lake (now Houghton, MI)

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2 -The Baraga Bulletin — Winter 2013 Winter 2013 — The Baraga Bulletin - 15

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:We are making significant strides towards the building of the new Cathedral Crypt for our saintly Bishop Baraga!

On March 26 of this year we will have the groundbreaking ceremony and sometime this fall it should be completed.This is wonderful for all of us who are involved in the cause of Bishop Baraga because it truly signifies the proverbial“light at the end of a long tunnel.” Did you ever hear or use that phrase? To me it was the culmination of my work(usually studying for a test in the seminary) and this is what is happening for us. The ‘light’ if you will is a result ofmuch work and much prayer. We are gearing up for our Bishop Baraga Days in October. In fact, a group of us willbe heading to Duluth to discuss the fine points in March. Len McKeen is also going to Holiday, Florida this monthto share good news with the folks down there. We’re on the move! Just like Bishop Baraga, we are committed andwork diligently because he was and continues to be our inspiration. God bless you…

Sincerely in Jesus and Mary,

Rev. Benedetto J. J. ParisExecutive Director, Bishop Baraga Association

A Message From Our Executive Director

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Sending support for the cause:For prayer request of

In Thanksgiving for

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HISTORY OF THEDIOCESE OF SAULT STE.MARIE & MARQUETTE

$20.00 (3 volumehardcover)

NEW!! NEW!!BY CROSS & ANCHOR$15.00 (soft cover)

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Send to: Bishop Baraga Association, 347 Rock, Marquette, MI 49855

MerchandiseThe Apostle of the Chippewas (soft cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00Diary of Bishop Baraga (soft cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00Baraga Dictionary of the Ojibway Language (soft cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $24.95Short History of North American Indians by Baraga (soft cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $34.95Life and Labors of Rt. Rev. Baraga by Fr. Verwyst (soft cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22.00T-Shirts 100% Cotton (M, L, XL, XXL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.50Coffee Mugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6.00Marble Based Paperweight (engravable) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00By Cross and Anchor (soft cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15.00History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie & Marquette (3 vol. hard cover) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00Misc. Baraga Notecards, including 1984 USPS Postcard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50Baraga County Beautiful & Blessed License Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $6.50Christmas Ornaments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00

From the Editor…Dear Members,

I hope this Bulletin finds you all doing well. We have almost made it through another winter in the UP. God cer-tainly provided us with many opportunities to reflect on the dedication and devotion of Bishop Baraga. As tempera-tures reached -20 degrees and we all complained about the cold, I often times found myself thinking about BishopBaraga. Wondering what resources he would use to stay warm or was his determination and love of God enough. Aswe know he certainly would not allow the frigid temperatures to stop him from reaching his people. No matter howgreat the challenge, he always persevered. What about you? Have you embraced the challenges that God has hand-ed you with passion and zeal as Baraga did? How can we incorporate the values and devotion in our own life thatGod’s Faithful Servant so valiantly demonstrated?

As Spring is about to dawn in the UP, there are many exciting happenings. Here is a peek at a few things hap-pening at the Association:

• I will be in Florida to celebrate Baraga Days on February 23rd.• We are planning for Baraga Days 2013 which will be hosted in Duluth.• We are in the midst of a membership drive. • A raffle for a 1993 40th Anniversary Corvette is beginning soon.• and last but the most EXCITING….Groundbreaking for the Chapel is March 26th!!

As you can see we are working hard to promote the Cause of our Beloved Bishop Baraga. Which brings me to abit of sad news. As I am sure most of you know by now, our amazing Bishop Alexander K. Sample has been select-ed as the Archbishop of Portland, Oregon. His installation will be April 2nd. Until that time he will continue to admin-istrate the Diocese of Marquette. My heart is heavy with sadness that our Good Shepherd is leaving his flock to tendto others. Archbishop Designate Sample has been such a wonderful leader and teacher to us, like his predecessor,Bishop Baraga, he has given us the tools to grow in our faith and it is time for him to move on to plant those seeds inothers, while we stay and cultivate what we were taught. Baraga knew the importance of passing on the faith to any-one he could touch. So Archbishop Sample will have the opportunity to reach out to the good people of Portland.

We have talked at length about the need to promote Baraga’s cause for canonization on a wider geographic area.We have made an important step forward, as we reach out to the people of Minnesota and educate them about theheroic virtue of Frederic Baraga. Now Archbishop Sample will be able to help us reach an even broader geographicarea by sharing his love of Bishop Baraga with the good people of the west coast. Although we may be a bit sad ofthe loss of Bishop Sample, we know that this too is part of God’s plan in the canonization process of Bishop Baraga.

Please keep these two dedicated, devoted servants in your prayers.God Bless,Len


Association NewsSUPPORT FROM INDIVIDUALSJennie Antloga; Karen Blackmore;Mr. Roger B. Carlson; Mrs. SandraGoudreau; Amalija Klepec; IvankaMatic; Fr. Raymond Moncher (forthe Baraga House); Mr. & Mrs. MattNikkari; Mr. & Mrs. Mario Percic;Dolores Prestay; Anna Plosinjak;Diane Richard; Louise Rose; Mr. &Mrs. Peter Staudohar; Joan Yager

GROUP DONATIONSMinnesota Historical Society;Wisconsin Historical Society;Singing Slovenes (a percentage fromCD sales)

NEW BISHOPBARAGA MEMBERS

EBSCO Industries, INC.; St. JosephParish – Perkins; Yvonne Bafile ;Dale Bemis; Mr. & Mrs. ErnestBeauchamp; Barbara Beaulieu;Mary M. Bender; Mr. P. AndrewBlake; Betty Caron; Marie Cerroni;Mrs. Cecilia Chie; Marian Chron;Mary Lou Clement; Matt & JenniferCretens; William Darnell; BarbaraGA. Dupras; Justin F. Dupras;Nickolas D. Dupras; JacklynnEnders; Kim & Pam Erickson; MaryEllis; Kathy Flagel; Deacon Chuck& Shelley Gervasio; JenevieveGillett; Betty Glanville; SandyHanson; Paul & Kathy Harvey;Richard Haeusler; Paul Healey;Donald & Dorothy Henderson;Diana Hennigar; Charles H.Hinman Jr.; Roger & Nancy Irie;Ken & Nora Izzard; Mr. James Isola;Rev. Michael Jacobus; MichelleJankoviak; Carrol & RosemaryJarvey; Gerald Junak; LarryKempany; Gertrude Koller; MarkKoppana; John & Michelle Kranjc;Stan & Linda Kranjc; Robert &

Linda Kueber; Mr. & Mrs. JackKujala; Robert Lawrence; WilliamLawrence; Andrew & Anie Leroux;Charles T. Lilliquist; Betty Lundin;Most Rev. David J. Malloy; BeatriceMarana; Pauline Marmalick; Jerry &Angie Mazurek; Bev Moe;Catherine Morois; Ann T. Nelson;Tom & Pat Niksich; LynetteOutwater; Heddy Pearson; VirginiaPenokie: Tim & Fae Presley;Christine Printz; Ron Provost; HelenRaspor; Bonnie Revolt; CathySchmidt; Walt & Gertie Servia;Frances Sharland; Frank Stupak;Peggy Susewitz; Daniel & AndreaTisch; Valeda Tomasi; The AntoniaValella Family; Francine Valenti;Rev. Larry VanDamme; William &Leola Wiltzius;

NEW YOUTH MEMBERSAlexa Axtell; LiAnna Baxter; IsaacBeauchaine; Maria Bieberitz;William RR. Dupras; EmmettGillett; Raynee Gillett; SpencerHipke; Mattison Iery; Jada Johnson;Madison Lakosky; Jakob Margetta;Katie Mielke; Ava Beth Outwater;Hunter Penokie; Emily Sandahl;Shawn Sandahl; Erin Schuettpelz;Deanna Shepeck; Joel Sommerfeld;

JOIN THE BISHOP BARAGABIRTHDAY CLUB

Do you or anyone you know sharethe birthday of June 29th withBishop Baraga?

For years, lifetime member, JuneBurich, has promoted the life ofBishop Baraga. Please write to herif you or someone special shares thesame Birthday as our belovedBishop. Contact: June Burich, 243Pewabic St, Laurium, MI 49913-0735.

CRYPT MASSCrypt Mass will be held at 12:10pmon the following Mondays:

April 15thMay 20thJune 17th

Moving? Please let us know sowe can update our records!

We extend a special thank you to allthat have written to inform us ofdeaths and changes of address.Please if we have your name mis-spelled or you know of anyone notreceiving the newsletter that shouldbe receiving it, let us know! A gen-tle reminder - the post office doesnot forward 3rd class mail. If youhave a winter address please let usknow so we can ensure you receiveyour newsletters.

CORRECTION NOTEThe Bishop Baraga Days 2012 pho-tos from the last Fall 2012 issuewere by Tom Buchkoe.

A Saintly Bishop and a Steamship Named for a Lady:Bishop Baraga and the Lady Elgin 1856-1860

In all the annals of Lake Superior and LakeMichigan shipping, no wreck was more horrific andheart tearing than the one which Bishop Baragareferred to in his diary on September 12, 1860 “The‘Lady Elgin’ is lost, more than 300 human lives.” TheLady Elgin had been very special to him. He hadsailed aboard her at least seven times that he recordedin the diary and he had known her captain since hisdays at LaPointe or L’Anse. Four or five days beforeher loss, he had waved goodbye to her after steppingoff her deck in Marquette following an overnight voy-age from the Keweenaw. The news of her lossreached him just three days later—there was no tele-graph; so news like that was borne on other ships dayslater.

He had gotten off on the morning of September4th, and he sent his future Man Friday, Caspar Schulteon to the Sault. Caspar had been aboard with himfrom Eagle Harbor. The Lady was finishing the south-bound part of her regular round trip that she madeevery week or ten days between Chicago and Superior

after stops at most of Baraga’s much visited portswhere he had missions that he visited on his annualEpiscopal visitations. His string of missions was about400 miles; she traveled about 2000 miles on everyround trip.

Her main role was as a passenger vessel, but shealso carried the mail and any freight that could beunloaded or loaded quickly during very short calls inport, like package freight and even cattle, doing sovery reliably on a rigid time schedule, running roundthe clock.

When the Church declared Frederic Baraga vener-able in May, 2012, she was declaring that he had liveda life of heroic virtue.

In Bishop Baraga’s case, the priestly career paththat he chose was unusual because not only did virtueembrace things like holiness, dedication to duty andeloquence, expected of all priests. His career pathrequired that he do a tremendous amount of travelingeither as a simple missionary or later as diocesanBishop. Moreover, much of that career path was not

Detailed model of Lady Elginby John Terras and on displayat the Grosse Point Lighthouse

in Evanston, IL


PRAYER REQUESTSK. Dale & Carolyn Anderson forspecial intentions for the followingfamily members: Kevin Anderson,Marie Anderson, James Anderson,Judy Anderson Greet, JeanieAnderson; Josephine Jurkovic for her health;Mr. & Mrs. Aldo Pedranzan forprayers answered; For John Pryatelyby Margaret Pryately;

IN THANKSGIVINGMary Ann Dominick in honor ofRudi Knez’s 94th Birthday; For theHealth of the Pryately Family; FromMary Yutronich;

IN MEMORYFor memorial anniversary of RoseLuzar by Rose Duh. A ChristmasMemorial for the deceased mem-bers of The Barle & Svete familiesby Martha Svete Springer; In mem-ory of Dec. of Ostoska & thePryately Families; In memory ofKatherine Kramar by DorothyChristian;

CHAPEL PROJECTYoopers for Life; Archdiocese ofCincinnati; Archdiocese of Gaylord;Dr. John & Mary Jane BeaumierFamily; Mr. & Mrs. RichAboussleman; Helen Adkisson; K.Dale Anderson & CarolynAnderson; Charles & BarbaraBeaulieu III; William Beaune; Mrs.LaVerne Bell; Mr. & Mrs. Elwin L.Bell; Mrs. Teresa Belmore; Mrs.Patricia Blake; Mr. & Mrs. JamesBlock; Mr. & Mrs. James Brunelle;Genevieve Buol; Mr. AugustCalabro; Jack & Mary AnnCampbell; Mr. & Mrs. EldonCarlson; Danica Cesnik; Mr. & Mrs.Dave Charland; Mr. & Mrs. Edward

Chartier; Ms. Elaine Christensen;Rev. James E. Connell; Mr. & Mrs.Matthew Cretens; Mrs. KathrynD’Agostino; Louise Demers; Mr. &Mrs. Anthony DePetro Jr.; William& Ellen Dubensky; Mrs. RitaDubord; Miss Joyce A. Dupey; Mr.Robert Dutmer; Mr. & Mrs. KimErickson; Mr. & Mrs. MichaelFassbender; Dorothy Fletcher; Mr.& Mrs. Thomas E. Foye; AlbertGaleazzi, Sr.; Mr. & Mrs. FrankGarczynski; Deacon & Mrs. CharlesGervasio; Maria Glavac; Scott &Renae Godish; Mr. & Mrs. WilfordGonczy; Mr. Franz Gotzel; Rev.Joseph O. Gouin; Deacon & Mrs.Steve Gretzinger; Mr. Victor E.Groos; Mrs. Rosemary Haepers;John Hainrihar; Most Rev. DonaldF. Hanchon; Mr. & Mrs. KennethHantz; Miss Marie C. Hilgers;Joseph V. Hocevar; Dr. & Mrs.Frederick Hoenke; Mr. PatrickHogan; Dr. & Mrs. Scott Jamieson;Mr. & Mrs. Robert Jurkovich; C.Fred & Margaret Kekko; Thomas M.Kelly & Julie A. Kelly; Mr. & Mrs.Larry Kempany; Mr. & Mrs.Marshall Kesler; Mr. & Mrs. RobertKimball; Nina Kirkaldy; Rudolph &Victoria Kolaric; Mr. & Mrs. DavidKoskey; Mr. Donald Koskey; Mrs.Francka Kramar; Karel Kromar; Dr.& Mrs. John Kublin; Ms. KathyKudlaty; Mr. & Mrs. Robert Kueber;Mr. & Mrs. Jack Kujala: PatriciaLabadie; Mr. & Mrs. DonaldLaCosse; Mr. & Mrs. Ross LaCross;Mary Lavoisa; Allen Levine; SlavkaLevstik; Charles & Mary Loncar;Mrs. Noreen MacDonald; Dr. &Mrs. Gordon MacMaster; HisEminence Adam Cardinal Maida;Mrs. Orazem Mary; Paula Mavec;Deacon & Mrs. ThomasMcClelland; Mr. & Mrs. Donald

McDonald; Mrs. Sally Mellon; Mr.& Mrs. Alvin Menard; Mr. & Mrs.Paul Michelin; Rajko Milavec; Ms.Cathy Moffat; Mr. & Mrs. JohnMoll; Mrs. Arlynn Morton; Mrs.Ann Nelson; Rev. Paul Nomellini;Judith Novak; Leonard J. Okoren;Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Pakonen; MissM. Evelyn Pantzar; Stanley J.Pekol; Mr. & Mrs. Steven C. Pelto;Rev. Darryl J. Pepin; Mr. & andMrs. Robert F. Perkins; Mrs.Kathleen Pesola; James and RitaPetak; Mr. & Mrs. Edward Piatti;Mrs. Connie Platske; Mr. JosephPokryfke; Kathy Rendulich; AnnResnik; Miss Carol Rickaby; BrianRoebke; Most Rev. Robert J. Rose;Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Ross;Gruskovnjak Rozina; Mrs.Margaret Rule; Frank Schirtzinger;Mr. & Mrs. Andy Schumer; Mr.Alosia Sever; Matilda Simcic; MostRev. Richard J. Sklba; Mr. & Mrs.Stan Slobodnik; Mrs. Maria Sossi;Mr. & Mrs. Fred St. John; Mrs.Angelo St. Juliana; Mr. & Mrs. JereStafford; Ron Steffel; Mr. & Mrs.Mark Stephens; Mr. & Mrs.Matthew J. Surrell; His EminenceEdmund Cardinal Szoka; Mr. &Mrs. Fred G. Taccolini; TheodoreThompson; Mr. & Mrs. GeorgeThurner; Mr. & Mrs. JosephTibaldo; Mr. & Mrs. George Tinti;Janice Tolfa; Ivanka Torkar; Mr. &Mrs. John Trudeau; Judy Trudell;Stanko Vidmar; William & AnnaVincent; Eileen Vuksan; Mr. &Mrs. Wayne Wachter, Mr. & Mrs.Andrew Wasilewski; Jerry Watson;Mrs. Barbara Weinrick; MaryWiitanen; Mrs. Rita Willour;Robert Wright; Mrs. Charla Younk;Alojzij Zabjek; Kari & Ann Zajec;Rev. Daniel S. Zaloga; AgataZoldos; Rudy Zornik

Association Newson land but on water and demanded virtues that wereout of the ordinary. Like great patience in waiting forlong delayed steamboats or riding aboard very pokeyones, willingness to endure stomach wrenching sea-sickness, and exceptional courage when setting out byboat whether it was by canoe or mackinaw boat or atype of vessel that was just coming into prominence asBaraga’s career blossomed, like the propeller drivenfreight steamers that accepted passengers but ran onschedules based on their freight assignments. TheLady Elgin and the North Star together accounted fornearly thirty of his seventy-plus ship jaunts. Steppingaboard always meant a journey into the unknown andrisk. The Lady Elgin had been wrecked. The espe-cially familiar North Star had burned to the waterlinewhile in layup during the past winter in Cleveland,and that wrecks from storms or collisions or standingswere common even on Lake Superior. During theyears of Baraga’s episcopate there were between fif-teen and twenty wrecks or sinkings.

The Lady Elgin was a stout steamboat less than tenyears old. Like her contemporaries she was woodenhulled and because wooden hulls could sag beneaththe heavy boilers and steam engines amid ships, sheand her peers had unattractive crown arches that arosefrom either end and towered above the upper deck;these stiffened her to prevent sagging. Two boilers fedsteam to a huge one cylinder engine that turned thethirty foot paddlewheels on each side encased in elab-orately decorated paddle boxes (enclosures to controlsplashing).

She was 252 feet long and her main deck was setup for package freight and cattle. Minimum fare pas-sengers were squeezed in there too. For first class pas-sengers, there was a luxurious and spacious lobby onthe upper deck for socializing and dining, and therewere over sixty small staterooms with sleeping berthslining the saloon, as it was called; a gracious stairwayled up to it. The passenger clientele included shortdistance commuters making trips just between neigh-boring ports, which was mainly what the bishop did.There were also leisure travelers on recreational andsightseeing trips who had read or heard about thebeauty of Lake Superior and the marvel of the SooLocks, like the newspaper editor from New Orleanswith his wife, family, and maid, or a British noblemanor aristocrat and his young son—these were freshlyaboard on her final journey out of Chicago.

Her amenities and those of the similar North Star(“palace steamers” they were sometimes called, or

“greyhounds of the Lakes”) were not major influenceson Baraga’s trips aboard these side-wheelers. His pri-ority was reaching his next mission destination aboardthe first available steamboat, luxurious or austere.

Baraga’s overnight trip on September 3rd and 4th,1860 had been his seventh aboard the Lady. His firstwas between Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie inAugust, 1857; he next made that trip in both directionsduring August, 1859, and later that same month hecaught her at LaPointe to reach her next port,Ontonagon.

On November 27 of that year he passed on thenews (he was good at that) that she had been disabledon “Weshki Bay” above the Sault, with a broken“cylinder” as he called it, and the Forrester arrivedwith a new part. The relief boat was the last one downthrough the canal for the year, he added, and thatmeant that the Lady Elgin would “have to stay above”.From other sources we know that the trouble wassome sort of catastrophic failure of the engine or rock-ing beam, that she was towed to Marquette for repairsand that some help came from the shops of the ironore railroad there. Her captain, Jack Wilson, mean-while had to make his way overland south toWisconsin; Wilson was aboard when she was lost thenext autumn.

The year 1860 brought the bishop’s last three tripson her, and the most interesting account of any abouther was his report on his season-opening trip at theend of April, when he was anxious to get a newteacher settled at the mission reached via the Portagelake stop of the ship. He, the teacher and the man’sfamily boarded above the locks the night before.When they awoke there was fresh snow on theground, “a nice white beginning of beautiful spring,”Baraga poetically noted. The next day out though, thevessel encountered dense packed ice and could notget through it till, twenty hours later when it openedup and she could proceed westward.

In August he spent several days at LaPointe andalso made short local visits to Bayfield and present dayOdanah before catching the Lady Elgin to reachPortage Entry the stop for L’Anse, where most majorvessels did not call. Then in early September he andSchulte took her from Eagle Harbor to Marquettewhere Baraga got off while Schulte went on to theSault.

The steamer had sailed on to Milwaukee andChicago, delayed almost a day by fog down the lake.The group from Milwaukee was a restless group of the


flower of Milwaukee’s young Irish men and familieswho were waiting to go on a day-long fun trip toChicago, with the side purpose of raising funds to pur-chase arms for the groups’ role as a militia organiza-tion.

While they partied in Chicago, the dock crew inport unloaded the Lady Elgin’s freight and put aboardnew cargo, including 150 head of cattle pennedaboard the main deck. Her new passengers began toboard and the excursionists began to straggle back,tired but happy, and energetic enough to begin danc-ing in the saloon upstairs. Many of the young men inthe excursion group had to be at work in Milwaukeethe next morning and they pressured Captain JackWilson to set sail even though the skies looked threat-ening. An hour out of Chicago and about even withsome of the Chicago suburbs, like Evanston, the skiesexploded with slashing rain while the winds workedthe surface into a froth, and the skies became evendarker.

In that darkness and rain an overloaded lumberschooner, the Augusta, riding very low in the waterand carrying very little light so that her young captainand the deckhouse crew of the Lady Elgin didn’t spythe other vessel till the schooner sliced right into thesteamboat amidships, right near the paddlewheel.While the schooner sailed blithely on to the safety ofChicago, the huge gash in the steamer’s side allowedwater to gush in, tilting the boat on to a slant, puttingout the fires in the boilers and thus her lights. Herpassengers were now slipping off the deck into thelake or being tossed from a little higher up. Somewere desperately leaping into the water or weretrapped within the hull or upper spaces as she slippedbeneath the surface in mere minutes. Some managedto grab onto debris in the aftermath, but the few whomanaged still to maintain their hold faced even anoth-er risk if they reached shore. The area was mostlybluffs, and many potential survivors were driven intothe bluffs by the waves, causing their death. Morningrevealed some of the aftermath and searching went onfor days for bodies. Milwaukee’s young Irish popula-tion, so promising a few days before, was nearly dec-imated, and funeral masses went on for days.

No other shipwreck on the open waters of LakeMichigan ever took a greater toll in lives than thewreck of the Lady Elgin. Baraga was very close, too,in his mention of 300 deaths. Extensive research inrecent decades examined all the available records andcame up with a total of 302 deaths including passen-

gers and crew, and even listed every single casualtyand survivor (92 of them) by name.

Many of the crew were familiar to Bishop Baraga,probably none more so than Captain Jack Wilson, thevaliant skipper who went down with his charge. Hewas one of the first to sail through the brand new SooLocks on the opening day in June 1855. He had beenthe captain of sailing craft on the lake even beforewhen he and the missionary father had probably got-ten to know each other at LaPointe.

Thus, however, ended the fascinating and up tillnow, apparently un-noted tie between a lovely butdoomed steamship and the venerable and austerepatron/bishop with whom she shared his journeytoward sainthood.

Michael Dunn is a Lifetime member of the BishopBaraga Association living in suburban Milwaukee; heis a retired college teacher.

Leaflets & Prayer CardsAvailable for the Asking

The purpose of the Bishop Baraga Association is topromote the cause for canonizing Bishop FredericBaraga as a Saint and to make the example of his loveof God and service of his neighbor known to all peo-ple. Please pray for his Cause for Sainthood.

Estate PlanningPlease consider including the Bishop

Baraga Association in your will or revocabletrust. For more detailed information on thisplease contact Terri Gadzinski at (906) 227-9108or email:[email protected]

Bishop Baraga ChapelGroundbreaking

On Tuesday, March 26, 2013, Most Rev.

Alexander K. Sample Archbishop-designate of

Portland, Oregon will host a Groundbreaking

Ceremony for the construction of the Bishop Baraga

Chapel in the St. Peter Cathedral Courtyard

Marquette, Michigan

few miles north of what is now Harbor Springs. Fr. Pircwould go on to spend over 12 years ministering in thisarea. He introduced european style farming to the Indians.He bought property for the Indians for religious structuresas well as farming fields. The outlines of these field are stillvisible in the area of Good Hart. You can walk the ceme-tery he began next to the Church in Good Hart and attendmass during summer at the church which stands in thesame place as the original church. At the Church of theDivine Infant Jesus in Harbor Springs which was one of hismission churches, they still have candle holders and aMonstrance that were purchased in Laibach in the early1950's. The Knights of Columbus branch in Harbor Springsis named in his honor. His memory is still honored by theNative Americans who are mostly Ottawa in that area. Inthe middle 1850's, Pirc shifted permanently to Minnesotawith Baraga's permission. He had served there earlier inhis ministry and the area around Harbor Springs, MI. Hewas replaced by another Slovenian priest. Fr. LovrencLavtrzar. Fr. Pirc rejuvenated the Indian missions at Fonddu Lac but then moved to provide a Catholic presence atCrow Village which was a major settlement for theOjibway. He became concerned about the protestantinflux into Minnesota so he joined Baraga in writing inGerman publications both in Cincinnati (which had one ofthe largest settlement of Germans in the USA) as well as inEurope. He also wrote to Slovenian source. In both lan-guages he wrote encouraging settlers and his writingattracted significant numbers of Slovenians to what is nowthe diocese of St. Cloud as well as further north the IronOre range. He instigated the invitation of the BenedicineOrder to send priests from their monastery in Latrobe, PA.So the community of German Benedictine monks whofounded St. John's University and then Benedictine nunswho founded St. Scholastica in Duluth are beholden to hispush to invite these men and women to take over missionshe had started. Joining Pirc in Minnesota were men suchas Trobec who eventually became the bishop of St Cloud,Stariha who eventually became a bishop in North Dakotaand Buh who became the chancellor of Duluth when itwas founded as its own diocese., Pirc himself is consideredthe founder of the diocese of St. Cloud. Fr. Lavtizar fol-lowed Pirc to Minnesota and died walking in the dead ofwinter between the Crow Wing and Red WingReservations. Pirc buried him at Crow Wing and yearslater, Fr. Lavtizar's remains were reburied in a cemetery forpriests in Duluth. Pirc went on to serve in Minnesota untilhe was 90 years old when finally feeling his age, hereturned to Slovenia and lived another four years in failinghealth. He was buried in St. Vincent cemetery inLjubljana. That cemetery was raised in the fighting ofWWII. I heard it is now paved over and serves as a park-ing lot. So perhaps the greatest Slovenian missionary nextto Baraga lies in an unknown grave in Ljubljana. I hope at

some point the church can regain that property and turn itback into a sacred place. Pirc is honored in Minnesotawith a statue outside a Catholic Hospital in St. Cloud andboth a town and a lake named in his honor.

Slovenians continued to pour into Minnesota for thenext fifty years and they concentrated at first in the areaaround Stearns County. Monsignor Oman the long timebeloved pastor of the Slovenian parish of St. Lawrence onthe south side of Cleveland called Newburg is from thatarea and is buried there along with his family members.Monsignor Oman opened his rectory to Bishop Rozmanwhen the Bishop emigrated to the USA in the late 1940'swhen other parishes would not take him. MonsignorOman became a trusted friend of Skof Rozman. There isanother connection between Skof Rozman and Minnesota.When Skof Rozman died, he was buried with the mitre ofBishop Trobec of St. Cloud.

Upper Minnesota has a connection to Slovenian Priestsfrom the Carinthian area (Koroska) in the period afterWorld War I. Many Slovenian clergy in what is nowAustria campaigned for people to vote for annexation toYugloslavija. Skof Rozman was one of them. Many wereforced to leave the newly created Austria. Rozman found apermanent assignment as a professor in the School ofTheology in Ljubljana. Other priests fled to America andwere taken into dioceses such as Duluth and St. Cloudwhich had large numbers of Slovenian immigrants and notenough priests to minister to them. These priests kept theSlovenian communities alive well past World War II.

The Slovenian community in Duluth has alreadyengaged the Diocese and the Bishop Baraga Association inMarquette in preparing for the Bishop Baraga Pilgrimage.One of those who will be active in planning is Fr. PeterMuhich, the rector of the Cathedral of Our Lady of theHoly Rosary who comes from a KSKJ family on the"Range". This is a unique faith community. They have sto-ries in their family about the famous Slovenian missionar-ies who worked among the Ojibway Indians but also min-istered to their Slovenian brothers. The community as awhole is very respectful of Baraga and the missionarieswho ministered in their area. Last year, Bishop Sirba ofDuluth traveled to Cross River to bless a Cross thatreplaced an old monument marking the spot where Baraganearly lost his life on the north shore of Lake Superior. Astory about that event appeared recently in the SUA publi-cation Zarja.

Please join us in Duluth and walk the path of Baraga,Pirc and Buh and any other Slovenians.

Janez P. VidmarPermanent Deacon of the

Slovenian Catholic Mission, Lemont, IL,& President of the Illinois chapter of the Bishop Baraga Association


Curtis Chambers – The U.P. CatholicBy John Fee

Drawing attention to the cause of canonization ofVenerable Frederic Baraga, while highlighting the faith ofNative American people during the Year of Faith, CurtisChambers followed in the footsteps of the SnowshoePriest, walking from Sault Ste. Marie to Marquette in fivedays.

A member of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa andChippewa Indians, and former tribal chairman,Chambers said he is concerned about young peopleleaving the Church, especially Native Americans. Hesaid he hopes the walk not only “demonstrates my loveand faith in my Lord, Jesus Christ,” but encourages oth-ers to draw closer to the Church. By emulating the treksof Venerable Bishop Frederic Baraga, he was also able todemonstrate that the Snowshoe Priest’s cause for canon-ization is, “something I believe in completely.”

Being Native American, highlights of his pilgrimageinclude its beginning on Monday morning, Feb. 4, 2013,with breakfast at the Cultural Center for the Sault Tribe ofChippewa Indians. Additional highlights include, his firststop that day at St. Isaac Jogues Mission in Sault Ste.Marie, where Father John Hascall, OFM, Cap., celebrat-ed Mass, and the conclusion of the first day at St. KateriTekakwitha Mission in Bay Mills, where he was greetedby the pastor, Father Augustine Jacob, and parishioners.

Chambers, 59, estimates he walked 115 of the 175-mile journey across the northeastern portion of theUpper Peninsula. Walking six hours a day – with onegrueling 10-hour day – brought him to Marquette lateFriday afternoon, Feb. 8. Along the way he handed outcrosses made of cedar and sweet grass, along with apoem he wrote about Venerable Baraga. Cedar andsweet grass were chosen materials, Chambers said,because along with sage and tobacco they make up thefour sacred herbs for Native American people.

The avid outdoorsman followed snowmobile trailsand railroad tracks most of the journey. He said he spot-ted fresh wolf tracks, along with bobcat tracks and lotsof coyote tracks. He also saw a lot of deer.

The pilgrimage brought about a “deepening of myown faith,” Chambers said, adding with a touch ofhumor that he “learned how to enjoy the quiet, until asnowmobile blows past!” Overall, the walk was “incred-ibly quiet” and he used the time to concentrate on aprayer list.

“I learned that you are never truly alone,” said

Chambers of his journey communing with nature andwith God.

Preparing for the walk was a challenge, butChambers believes God called him to do it, and he said,“Whatever God asks you to do, he’s going to give youthe tools to do it. Every time I thought there was a prob-lem, there was a solution.” He added that he couldn’thave made the journey without the help of many people.

Chambers visited the diocesan offices in Marquette atthe conclusion of his journey, and ArchbishopAlexander Sample (now archbishop-designate ofPortland in Oregon) told him, “It’s a great witness to thehistory (of the area served by Venerable Baraga), to ourfaith, and to the contributions of Bishop Baraga, and toyour native people, as well. To me, it just ties everythingtogether in the Year of Faith. It’s an incredible pilgrim-age.”

As of press time, Chambers, a parishioner of St.Mary-St. Charles Parish in Cheboygan in the Diocese ofGaylord, planned a similar trip in the Lower Peninsulafrom Monday, Feb. 18 through Friday, Feb. 22. Hisplans were to begin at Cross in the Woods in Indian Riverwith a walk across the lake to visit the Burt Lake Band ofOttawa and Chippewa Indians and a walk to HarborSprings to meet with members of the Little Traverse BayBand of Ottawa Indians. Plans also included a visit withBishop Bernard Hebda, walking to St. Francis SolanusIndian Mission Church in Petoskey, then walking fromTraverse City to St. Kateri Church in Peshawbestown tovisit members of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa andChippewa Indians, and finally, a walk from Copemish toManistee to visit with the Little River Band of OttawaIndians.

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Baraga Days Duluth October 6 & 7Many people are asking why Baraga Days in Duluth

this year in a place so far away? My answer is simple. It isabout time. Over the years, the Bishop Baraga Associationhas tried to schedule the Bishop Baraga Pilgrimage eitherin places that were significant in Baraga's ministry or inplaces where there is a significant number of people ofSlovenian descent. With Duluth, we have the combinationof both. Early in his ministerial career, Baraga spent a sig-nificant amount of time on the western shores of LakeSuperior going as far west as what is now Fond du Lac andgoing completely around the northern shore Lake Superiorto Grand Portage and beyond into Canada ministering tothe Ojibway Indians. His sister spent time with him onMadeleine Island hoping to acclimate herself to the harshweather of the upper midwest without success. Baraga'smissions generated little or no money and for many years,he relied on donations from organizations such as theLeopoldine Society to provide him with enough funds tominister and build simple churches. He wrote in bothGerman and Slovenian. His writing in both languages

attracted German and Slovenian priests and seminarians tofollow him into ministry. St. John Nepomucene Neuman,the Czech American who became the Bishop ofPhiladelphia, read Baraga's letters and decided to followhim to America to minister to the Indians. He did. He com-pleted his seminary training in the USA and was assignedto work among the Indians of upstate New York andPennsylvania. In fact, he almost froze to death travelingbetween Indian missions in northern NY but fortunatelywas found by Indians and nursed back to health. He wenton to become one of the great Church leaders of the 19thcentury. Reading Fr. Baraga's reports from America atabout the same time as John Nepomucene Neumann wasa priest already in his 40's, Fr. Franc Pirc (often spelled byAmericans as Pierz) who was the pastor in Pod Brexje,Slovenia. Fr. Pirc was the first of 19 Slovenian men whoeventually followed Frederick Baraga and served as mis-sionaries across the UP of Michigan, the upper part ofWisconsin and the Ojibway missions of eastern Minnesota.Baraga put Pirc at first in Arbre Croche, Michigan just a


Journey Towards Sainthood, a Timeline…

Thanks to the generosity of our incredible BishopBaraga supporters, the Association has a strong finan-cial foundation. This strength comes from the incred-ible gifts of our members and the constant monitor-ing and cutting of costs where appropriate.Following are some of the essential financial numbersfor 2012:

Association Revenue $111,514Including investments, bequests & donations,Memberships, and merchandise sales.

Program Expenses $ 69,829Including payroll, bulletin publications,Mailings, promotional & educational material,Crypt maintenance and Rome expenses.

Net Income $41,685

One of our largest expenditures is the printing and

mailing of the Bulletin. The Association’s expensesrun about $15,000 a year to produce and deliver thispublication.

The Bulletin serves as an invaluable educationaland promotional tool. We do not want to sacrificequality to reduce this cost, so we look for more effec-tive cost savings means such as emailing bulletins tomembers.

It is the Associations intent and commitment topromote Bishop Baraga’s cause for Sainthood withthe same zeal and fervor that Baraga used to teachothers about Jesus Christ.

We appreciate the commitment that each of ourmembers has made to share with others, the love andheroic virtues of God’s Faithful Servant, VenerableFrederic Baraga.

God Bless all of you,Lenora McKeen

Financial Health of the Associationdiffers from most other accounts which state that the yearwas 1846. The reason for this discrepancy is not clear.Possibly Whittlesey's date (1843) in the 1856 newspaperarticle is a typesetting error, or Whittlesey may have mis-taken a "3" for what was actually a "6," as he does say thatthe penciled inscription was "scarcely readable."

On the other hand, the original source for the gener-ally accepted 1846 date appears to be Father Verwyst'sLife and Labors of the Rt. Rev. Frederic Baraga (1900). Inthat work, Verwyst states that it was "highly probable"that the trip was made in the fall of 1846. That wordingsuggests that Father Verwyst himself was not entirely con-fident of the date, but based his conclusion on a trip thatFather Baraga is known to have made that year to GrandPortage. Since Whittlesey did not record the cross inscrip-tion until 1848, either year—1843 or 1846—may possi-bly be correct until one or the other receives conclusivesupporting evidence. This matter of conflicting dates is aninteresting problem for scholars and provides an oppor-tunity to further research this time-honored event inBishop Baraga's missionary work on Lake Superior.

In the same article Whittlesey provides additionalinformation concerning the lake journey or traverse itself:"The next time I saw Father Baraga I spoke of this inscrip-tion and the wooden cross. He said the danger was notvery great until they attempted to land, when his Indiansbecame alarmed at the sight of the shore lashed by foam-ing seas, through which they could discover no quietnooks or even a beach of sand. They toiled along thecoast to discover a less hazardous landing, without suc-cess; and knowing that night must soon envelop them,they steered to look for a small creek. It was here the crossstood, and in my memoranda I called it Baraga's river."

The plural reference to "Indians" in this passage sug-gests that more than one mixed blood or metis personmay have accompanied Father Baraga during the lakecrossing. If correct, this could resolve an otherwise puz-zling contradiction found in the two most detailed writ-ten accounts of the trip in which two different voyageursor boatmen are named. In Kitchi-Gami, Life Among theLake Superior Ojibway (1860), author Johann GeorgKohl states that the missionary's companion was a manby the name of Dubois, while Father Verwyst (1896 &1900), names him as Louis Gaudin. Whittlesey's use ofthe plural form raises the possibility that both of theseaccounts may be correct, and that two men may haveaccompanied Father Baraga during this lake journey. Sequence of Crosses & Souvenir Pieces

In his article, Yul Yost wondered when the originalwooden cross was taken down and if any souvenir piecesmay still exist. Here too a few more details can be addedto the subject.

When Kohl visited Lake Superior in September of1855, he observed that a larger and more substantialcross had been erected by a merchant fur trader "on ahigher rock" than the original cross. This suggests that thecross Whittlesey saw in 1848 was located on a lower ele-vation site and possibly closer to the actual place of land-ing. From Kohl one might also conclude that the originalcross stood only for a few years before being replaced by1855.

As to memento pieces of the cross, Father Verwyststates in his 1896 biographical essay on Bishop Baraga(Michigan Pioneer Collections vol. 26), that Vincent Royof Superior, Wisconsin, had given him a "fragment" of theoriginal cross a "few" years earlier. Possibly that fragmentonce in the possession of Father Verwyst remains to befound in some collection or archive. For it seems unlike-ly that such an important relic would have been lost ordiscarded by a fellow priest, especially one who was alsoa major biographer of Bishop Baraga.

In 1932 when the present granite cross was dedicat-ed, the Duluth News-Tribune (April 7, 1932), reportedthat: "For many years the Christian Chippewas kept awooden cross on the same site to honor the memory ofFather Baraga." That same year an Associated Press arti-cle (Helena, Montana, Independent, September 10,1932), added that the first "crude wooden cross" stooduntil it was blown down in a storm. This, however, mayhave been a confusion with a later wooden cross and notthe original one. In her 1944 book Lake Superior, histo-rian Grace Lee Nute states that "many" wooden crossesfollowed the first one. This seems likely considering thelong time span involved (1840s-1932), the site's expo-sure to the elements, and a history of memento piecesbeing removed from the cross.

From the sparse documentation available, it appearsthat Bishop Baraga himself did not seek to publicize orexalt this event in his missionary work on Lake Superior.That was left for others to do years or decades later, andwhich may help explain the varying details found in theselater accounts. Such a modest approach to hazards con-fronted and endured was only natural for this self-effac-ing and tireless priest. It may also have given him a spe-cial mystique among the native people who were thefocus of his missionary work. Traditional tribal belief heldthat Lake Superior was both a source of great danger butalso possessed characteristics of a divinity. The theologi-cal implications of this aspect of Bishop Baraga's missionto the Indians is something I hope to further research andexplore.

Herbert Wagner is a historian and writer from Minong,Wisconsin. His maternal great-grandfather, Phillip Zirbes,was a founder of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Racine, WI.


Slovenians in Minnesota make efforts to keep thename of the Slovenian missionary Frederic Baragafrom oblivion. To this effect the Branch 109 of theSlovenian Union of America (SUA) in September,2012, held a gathering at the newly landscaped FatherBaraga Cross site on the North Shore of Lake Superior-the Baraga Cross Rendezvous, see below pictures. TheRendezvous was concluded by a quartette singing inOjibwe a hymn known with French title: "Bel astre quej'adore". It is one of 68 hymns published by FredericBaraga in 1837 in the Ojibwe prayer book titled:Otchipwe Anamie-Masinaigan. Baraga normallywrote suitable lyrics in Ojibwe to known popularFrench melodies. Another event in USA in honor ofBaraga is Baraga Days. It is a two-day event that hasbeen staged yearly for decades, most often in Michiganand Wisconsin, but will be celebrated in 2013 for thefirst time in Minnesota (in Duluth in September). TheFather Baraga Cross is a well-known land mark alongthe Lake Superior, as is his name. The Cross com-memorates Father Baraga's survival of his crossing ofLake Superior in a small boat during a storm inOctober, 1846. He had crisscrossed the Great Lakeswilderness, an area ten times the size of Slovenia fornigh 40 years by canoe but mostly on foot or in winteron snowshoes. He was also called the SnowshoePriest. The epicenter of his activity was the KeweenawPeninsula (shown above #5 site on the belowBaragaland postcard) that gets yearly an average of 20feet of snow.

Frederic Baraga was aSlovenian Catholic missionary. Hewas a linguistic genius who wrotewell in seven languages. In fact,soon after he came to USA in1830, he learned the OjibweIndian language, and then by1853 he published the Ojibwegrammar and the Ojibwe-Englishdictionary, thereby making thespoken Ojibwe a writable lan-guage. The two books are agigantic feat. They were reprinted,thus are still in use; more atwww.bishopbaraga.org.

In Slovenia, after May 1945during Tito's dictatorship, FatherFrederic Baraga was an "unper-

son" to borrow the term as used in George OrwellianNewspeak. Frederic Baraga was the greatest mind thatleft Slovenian lands. So, the Slovenian historianscould portray him either as a Catholic missionary orelse in secular terms as a linguistic genius. But toooften neither has happened. The ideologue of thewretched, ungodly Tito's regime, Slovenian EdwardKardelj simply does not mention Frederic Baraga in his1957 treatise on Slovenia. (see Baragov Simpozij vRimu, 1999,p.213; Rome). In Ljubljana there is abuilding from before WWII that is still known asBaragovo Semenisce, Baraga's Seminary. After thewar it was used as student housing. In 1950 I livedthere as a student. Mind you, I was not to become apriest but hopefully a faithful communist; I was a com-plete failure at that. It was hoped that after theSlovenian independence in 1991 Frederic Baraga'sname would be revived there. There is a recent attemptto showcase the Baraga's Seminary, but alas, not tohonor the missionary/linguist Frederic Baraga, but togive deserved credit to the eminent Slovenian architectof the building, Joze Plecnik who conceived othergreat works. This is evident from the newsletter thatwas published by the Muzeum of Architechture inLjubljana on Dec. 20, 2012. Therein pictured Baraga'sSeminary is ostensibly named after skof (Bishop) AntonBaraga, see below copy from newsletter from theMuseum's website: www.mao.si/dogodek I stillbelieve the seminary was named after Frederic Baraga,the missionary.

Remembering Bishop BaragaBy Yul Yost

From my own research files gathered over the years,please allow me to contribute more to Yul Yost's excellentarticle, "Chronicle of the Father Baraga Cross on theShores of Lake Superior" (Spring 2012). This informationincludes a first-hand description of Father Baraga's crossand the message of thanks inscribed upon it as observedby a visitor in the year 1848. This simple cross wasimprovised at the mouth of Cross River near modernSchroeder, Minnesota, to commemorate a safe landingafter Father Baraga's hazardous journey from the ApostleIslands to the North Shore. A safe arrival made in spite ofheavy surf, oncoming darkness, and a steep, rocky coast-line.

The cross description and message is found in an arti-cle published in the Superior Chronicle newspaper(Superior, Wisconsin, November 4, 1856, page 2), andis titled, "Two Weeks on the North Shore in 1848." Thisarticle has not been generally recognized by historians,nor is it listed in Ceglar's Baragiana Collection--Bibliography (vol. 2, 1992). Charles Whittlesey's Account of 1848

The Superior Chronicle article does not include anauthor's name, but instead is attributed to the"Unpublished Leaves from the Notes of an EminentGeologist." This seems to be a reference to CharlesWhittlesey, the well-known scientist, writer, and CivilWar veteran from Cleveland, Ohio. From Whittlesey'sknown professional duties during the year 1848, alongwith the article's style and contents, he is almost certain-ly the author.

In the summer of 1848, Charles Whittlesey led agroup or sub-corps sent to examine the North Shore areaof Minnesota as part of a federal geological survey of theChippewa Land District under the supervision of Dr.David Dale Owen. That July, in company with four othermen, Whittlesey left "Fond du Lac Superior" (modernSuperior-Duluth area) and traveled 75 miles down thecoast to Two Island River. From a campsite there, themen observed an isolated "mountain" farther down theshore that the next day they climbed and that Whittleseynamed "Carlton's Peak" in honor of another member ofthe party, Rueben B. Carlton. From the summit theyobtained a splendid view of the lake of which Whittleseywrote: "Such is the purity of the atmosphere that I couldrecognize points on the Porcupine Mountains, whichlook down upon the mouth of the Ontonagon. TheMontreal river and the Pewabic ranges, fifty miles distantacross the lake, were distinct; but the low islands of the

Apostle group, lying between us and the south coast,appeared dimly as hazy spots on the surface of thewater." Cross Inscription

It was from those "hazy spots" across western LakeSuperior that Father Baraga and his guide(s) had come ina small boat. This was a journey of great hazard to whichCharles Whittlesey would now attest. For after carvingtheir names and the date (July 15, 1848) upon a pine treein order to mark their visit, the geologist and his mendescended the mountain to the lake shore. At that pointin the 1856 article Whittlesey observes: "On our wayback to the coast I saw a board nailed to the stump of atree in the form of a cross, at the mouth of a small creek.The board had an inscription in pencil which wasscarcely readable, but I made out the following words:'In commemoration of the goodness of Almighty God ingranting to Rev. F.R. Baraga, missionary, a safe passagefrom La Pointe to this shore, August, 1843.'"

In that manner Charles Whittlesey described FatherBaraga's cross and inscription as he saw them in 1848.This appears to be the earliest known description of theoriginal cross yet found. The details about a "board" being"nailed" to a tree "stump" in the form of a cross verifiesinformation contained in Father Chrysotom Verwyst'sbiographies of Baraga (1896 & 1900), where he states thata small tree was lopped off at the top as high as could bereached and a crosspiece then nailed to it. Whittlesey'sreference to this crosspiece as a "board" suggests that itwas either a piece of sawn lumber carried with them inthe boat (as were the nails), or some part of a tree hewnupon the spot to serve the purpose of a board.

The flat surface of a board was necessary so thatFather Baraga could express his heart-felt thanks upon thecross for their safe arrival on the North Shore. Whittlesey(a trained observer) specifically remarks that the messageor inscription was made in pencil. In addition to describ-ing these things in the 1856 article, Whittlesey also statesthat he recorded the information in his field notebook or"memoranda" for 1848. Possibly this field notebook stillexists. If so, it may contain additional details not given inthe 1856 newspaper article quoted above, including,perhaps, more specific information about where the orig-inal cross actually stood. Discrepancy of Dates

Baraga scholars may note a point of discrepancy inWhittlesey's account concerning the date of the lakecrossing taken from the inscription ("August, 1843"). This

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