The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924102029489 In compliance with current Copyright law, Cornell University Library produced this replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1992 to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. 2006 Huntington Free Library Native American Collection , '■-'!'[ ■ •' I ' '' '' *>&■■ !. '' ,i,: "',U' ' ■ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 4*******^ my mjroenne. Air — " My Maryland* ('Willi the Compliments of the Author, Rev. Stamley Edwards Uthrop, a. m., Ashland, Wis. Madeline, my Madeline, Here's my heart's devotion ; Oueen of all the Island line In river, lake or ocean ! Fair thou art in summer sheen, In thy robes of evergreen- Fairer isle no eye hath seen, Madeline, my Madeline ! Madeline, Queen Madeline ! Nature's royal glory ( )n thy shores doth far outshine Poet's song and story ! Gitchee-Gumee* marshals round Sparkling billows, jewel-crowned ; Winds and waves with joy resound, Madeline, my Madeline ! Madeline, loved Madeline ! Thy transcendent beauty Girt with waters crystalline Gives me strength for duty ; Sunset splendors rich and rare Glowing through thy balmy air Drive away my sordid care- Madeline, my Madeline ! Madeline, my Madeline ! Strength and peace aboundeth 'Mid thy fragrant forest pine, Where the song-bird, soundeth ; Oh beloved, blessed isle, Charming is thy radiant smile, Let me rest with thee awhile, Madeline, my Madeline I * Indian name for Lake Superior. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE "OLD MISSION," And Its Missionaries to the Ojibway Indians, on MADELINE ISLAND, LAKE SUPERIOR, WISCONSIN. BY REV. STANLEY EDWARDS LATHROP, A. M. MEMBER OF THE PARKMAN CLUB OF MILWAUKEE ; MEMBER OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN. Published and for Sale by the Author at Ashland, Wisconsin. Twenty-Five Cents per copy, postpaid. . Q^r^ ■J TO ALL WHO (BELIEVE IN THE GOOT) OL pc re ;c w c fD a; 1^0 < ss 5£ r o ■-s — T cc e» T. — (B — 5 a l> -i E? r tr 1 M ^ HO — . - a *r« ■-< * CO H 2 c 5, T! o - £ OP K > tfc* 5 ;i :r" ^ - CO to 42 ODANAH MISSION BEGUN. buried according to heathen custom. A kettle of provisions was put in the grave by the head of the departed, on which it was sup- posed his spirit would feed. After the grave was closed the rela- tives feasted on a kettle of boiled pork and "dough boys" that is, pieces of dough boiled with the pork — a rare treat among the wild Indians. They were thus, aa they supposed, feasting with their de- parted brother. They often place tobacco at the head of their graves to serve for the departed. How gloomy such a burial! Is it wonderful that heathen Indians blacken their faces for the dead, and often spend hours of inconsolable grief over the graves of their deceased friends! Their grief is that of frenzy and despair. No Christ, no hope in death /" The Odanah Mission Begun. Mr. Wheeler bplieved that little permanent good could be done for the Indians, until their roaming habits were broken up. The fur- traders had long been the commercial kings of the Great Lakes; but their reign was drawing to a close, and they must soon move on toward the setting sun. The Lake Superior copper mines were by this time being worked, but the miners brought more evil than good to the Ojibways. Whiskey was too plentiful, and in every way it seemed desirable that the Indians should found an agricultural com- munity by themselves, separate from the whites. There was a locality on the mainland, about fifteen miles south- east from La Pointe, where the soil was rich bottom land, the wild rice about the Kau-kau-gon river abundant, the fish numerous, and the hard maple " sugar- bush'' was extensive. It was also remote from white settlements. Here Mr. Wheeler established an agricul- tural settlement, on the Mush-ke-sibi or Bad river. He named it '' Odanah," a word meaning " village" in the Ojibway tongue. He removed to Odanah May 1, 1845. Mr. Hall remained in charge at La Pointe until 1853, removing in that year to Crow Wing, on the Mississippi. A log schoolhouse was built at Odanah, serving for church and school purposes until a chapel was built in 1853. In 1859 a board- ing school was opened. Rev. and Mrs. D. I. Miner (later of Hay- ward, Wis. , now of Seattle, Washington) were the first teachers of GOOD WOEK AT ODANAH. 43 the boarding school. (One of their children is the well-known mis- sionary to China, Miss Luella Miner.) Eev. D. B. Spencer and Miss Khoda Spicer (who later married the oldest son of the Wheel- ers, born in the Old Mission House) were for some years assistant teachers. For many years this continued the best school that the Wisconsin Ojibways had, receiving governmental aid. Mr. Wheeler was a very busy man. He had charge of all the pro- perty of the Mission Board, had oversight of all the Indians' farm- ing, gave out their seed, looked after their plowing, was doctor for Odanah and La Pointe, became Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners (after La Pointe County was organized in 1846) was pioneer preacher to the early white settlers of Ashland and Bayfield, besides preaching to his own people and in the pioneer lumbering camps. He also invented a windmill, which later he developed into the famous Eclipse Windmill, now used all over the land. After a quarter-century of faithful service his health failed. He removed with his family in 1866 to Beloit, dying there Feb, 22, 1872. Mrs. Wheeler died in Ashland, Aug. 12, 1894, at the residence of her son Rev. E. P. Wheeler. Hers was a rare and saintly soul, a noble and beautiful life, as the writer knows from personal acquaintance. In 1870 the American Board transferred the Odanah mission to the Presbyterian Board. Rev. Isaac Baird was in charge for a time. Later a part of the property was fold. Still later it came in possession of the Catholics, who have a large boarding-school there. Rev, Henry Blatchford, the native Indian preacher who aided Mr. Hall in translating the Scriptures, 1835— '45, kept the little mission church together until his death in 1901. Professor Emerson's Visit to Madeline Island in I840. In I8y9, the writer knowing that his beloved old teacher, Profes- sor Joseph Emerson, the grand " Olympic veteran" of Beloit Col- lege, had visited Madeline Island fifty years before, wrote and asked him for a description of that voyage, to print in his little paper, the Helping Hand. The following is his characteristic reply : Beloit, July 8, 1899. My Dear Friend Lathrop : " I wish exceedingly that I could go again to Madeline Island in 44 PEOF. EMEBSOn's VISIT TO MADELINE, 1849. person. It would bring again the restoration and refreshment that I found at your great Lake, after the exhaustion of those foundation years. That exhaustion was a splendid preparation for the restora- tion. We ought to be thankful for weariness, as well as for night and winter and hunger, as our preparation for the other half of the covenant — day, and summer, and Lake Superior whitefish and rest with you. "I went with that appetite for vacation — weary enough toca^toff all care for the future. In July 1849, I took Frink & Walker's stage to Milwaukee — no railroad in Wisconsin then ; that evening took the new steamer "Empire. State" for Mackinaw. A great storm took the steamer the same evening. But it rocked^ me to sleep and to ideal dreams of gathering roses among Arctic isles, until my upper berth, did not bear the storm so well, and broke down, and discharged the occupant upon the floor. The dream was broken, but the aroma still remains. The next retreat -was to a lounge in the long interior hall of the steamer, until the shivered glass from the cornice windows came raining on the face. But a book roofed the eyes as well as fed them. Next came a chambermaid summoning us all to go below and pump, for the steamer was leaking. Then a forenoon of work, until we were able to put the craft ashore on the beach, under the " Sleeping Bear. " Some of us went ashore and slept, under and upon the hemlock branches. "The next day a little passing steamer took off some of ue. We were told that a man on board was dying with yellow fever, but that did not matter for one who had cast off all care. We stopped at the Manitou Island, and the dead was left to his rest, and we went on to Mackinaw. Here was a new terror. All the region was appalled by a sudden visitation of the Asiatic cholera, especially at the Soo. Still we went on. Contiaiy winds kept us from going up Lake Superior from the Soo until Sunday, but I did not like to go then, so the steamer " Napo- leon" left me to take the "Independence" on Wednesday. A row-boat took off some passengers off Marquette, to go to the new iron mines. I landed at Eagle River to see the " Whiff," pbof. emeeson's recuperation at Madeline. 45 which at that time was the leading copper mine on the Lake. "The "Napoleon" came in time to bring us to La Pointe on Sunday forenoon. But Mr. Livermore — if I remember rightly the name of the kind Indian Agent — piloted me to the Mission church. There the Missionaries leceived me tcott kindly, even giving the privilege of preaching. It was the time of the an- nual Indian Payment, and some 3,000 Ojibways were gathered in their birch canoes and wigwams and blankets and feathers and paint I was very kindly entertained at the Misbion House — where Mr. Hall then lived ; but the Wheeler family from Bad River (Odanah) were theie, from which dates a most deli glitful and fruitful life-long acquaintance and attachment. " The most characteristic feature of the visit was a night of service on the special police, whose duty it was to find and to break whiskey bottles among the wigwams, and do such other service as might best preserve the peace. I had a missionary for companion who was able to fill in the intervals of our offi- cial duties with stories of Indian folk-lore, or of contemporary medicine miracles, while the glowing, flashing A.urora Borealis and the frisky thunder storms entered very genially into thu festivities of our midsummer night. " I wish I could go and get the present companion picture — but I am glad my friends can have it- May they all geir such benefit as brought me back to perhaps the best year of the work of my life. Very sincerely yours, Joseph Emerson. ^V ^^ ^t- ^L- -Books perish, buildings decay, generations disappear ; but the history of "The Old Mission and its Missionaries' is indelibly engraved upon the indestructible record of the Recording Angel. \mww : ''4 'f : f 1 § ' ' m-' '■ ' mmmM^i mm 3 1924 102 029 489