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New York 14609 USA ^= (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax ^ To MINCBNT STARRBTT for that he, toe, was once young and given to dreams of high emprise, unwitting the slogging ambuscades of destiny that mock the head held high... This Relic of past playtimes is proffered ^y him that plays no more, at >)asticcio or monograph or what you will — a curiosity authored by Ics^""^---*-^ L'ARBRE CROCHE MISSION A MemorabU Relation Briefl)^ Setting Fortfi Hh* Historical Facts And Eschewing All Fable & Legend, As Erected B^ Untutored Minds , Touching Upon Ofhe Justlj^ Famed Mission Of ^TKe Crooked Tr *\ B9 H. BEDFORD -JONES. Esquire Printed Bo OKe Same At > tKe Au4»or, & dis- tributed pri\atel>T . Inscrlbafil to Kim wKom comprakcnsivc IcnowUdge of tK« old northwest m««ti wi^ more recognition abroad than at horn* ; mf friend HENRY McCONNELL PREFACE The material contained Herein Kas been compilea from original sources h^ one Henr? McConnell, who can trul^? sajJ of nortKem Michigan annals, "Magna pars fui." nitis volume is not controversial. Its in- tent is to give concisely the actual stor? of a famous mission. A great deal of trash has been written about I'Arbre Croche b^ lazjl or honestl)^ ignorant dabblers; and this book is not copyrighted in hope that others ma>) find profitable instruction therein. H. Bedford-Jones Santa Barbara, Calif. J God made a little crooked tree And set it on tKe shore , A thing of v»ondrous sancti^i^ To paynim folk . But presently) Came men who hailed the myster? And preached a fai^h of chari^j) All up and down the shore . t'l The]? built a church upon the shore Benea4\ the crooked tree, And taught the pa^rnim to abhor TTie gods by which his fathers swore; It proved a simple labor , for ^^e Cross the)) gathered to adore Was but a Crooked Tree! gl'ARBRE fQlROCHE 1 S S I O Nj f H. Bedford-Jones & H. McConnell, M«mb«r« Michigan & Wisconsin Hift . Sod«ti«$ . Etc . L Arbre CrocKe, tKe crooked tree, was a prominent landmark of earlj) voyageurs on Lake Michigan; the hooked top of the great pine was "Visible for miles. It occupied a point near what is no^ Middle Village, between Little Traverse and Waugoshance, its Indian name being War- gun-uk-ke-zee , or the bent tree. It was sacred. The tree was in place until the earl^ years 1' lA m j9 m 4t CA<9ci^«tf of the last centur? , wKen certain bickering red :;.en cut it down. Wi^ the fall of this the s>;mbol of their greatness and life-pulse, thej) too fell ; and the mould of I'arbre creche lined their graves . After all, often we jind that God has a purpose in altering the natural shapes of men and things. Sometimes He speaks thru such a man or thing — perhapc a burning bush . ^The High Cross was but a crooked tree . In 1740 the Ottawas about Fort Michilli- mackinac were dissatisfied wifli their unproduct- ive lands , and thej? sent forth parties to seek ne-sJ fields . Qhis alarmed the French , fiercel)' struggling to retain their fur trade. De Blainville, second in command at the post, spent that winter widi tne Ottawas and fetched them back in the spring . Commandant de Celeron took the chiefs to Quebec to hold a council wim the Marquis de Beauharnois . 'Tne Governor submits new locations , offers to light a fire at the spot chosen , and promises 10 Kis ^endsKip and a great flag of France. In tK* following summer we find tKe chiefs back in Montreal witfi word that thejl had settled at 1 Arbre Croche . "Ma5> your hearts ," says Beau- harnois, "be as white as the great flag I have caused to be hoisted in your village!" Hlius it is settled. Meantime the old Jesuit mission of Saint Ignace de Michillimackinac , holding the bones of Marquette, had been abandoned and burned. Above the signature of de Ligner5> I ^, q^ find what others have missed — that Mooted L>.ta he moved the post in 1720 to what N«»»> S«tl«d is now Old Mackinaw. Hlie nussion followed : thence witfi the Ottawas and Jesuits to I'Arbre Croche in 1741 . Henry locates I'Arbre Croche twenfp miles west of the fort. Puthoff's census of i8ig gives it as ten towns wi^ a population of 1500. In the first gazeteer of Michigan it is placed ten miles sou^west of MackinaW. Farmer's map of 1846 places it at Harbor Springs . Andrews , in 1853 ■ puts it twenfi?-five miles sou^west of Mack- 'm»yi . WKere w a « T Arlare Croche ? Puzzling as tKese varied locations have been to Kistor- ians, it will be sKown tbat all -were correct. Beauhamois kept fai(h wiiK tbe red settlers, sending the French from Mackinaw to aid them. B]? degrees the entire shore-line down to Little Traverse Ba]? was cleared for tillage and dotted wt4i villages. ^TKe whole was blanketed under the generic term of TArbre Croche. In 1742 came Joseph Ainse, "a master car- penter." He built a church near the principal village and \r^ the crooked tree, where Cross Village noW is. Here the abstract became the concrete name, and here was located "Le Reg- istre de Wouveau Mackinac."' nhe mission, its farms and lands, was the nucleus and center of all . Meither seats nor floor had the log church; since it did not last so ver? long, perhaps it was not well builded . niie French Jesuits were so eager to save souls that the^J neglected to glorif>> God, in the sense la R*z«k. Vol. II p. „, jM 3 > > 3 • ^ of building greatly as did their brethren in the Cahfomias. Further, Master Ainse was newl3> wedded, and the first person to be buried in the nn^ church was his child. ^Therefore let us love him foi* his shortcomings ! Benea^ the kindly French rule our Otta> was increased and multiplied; their lands were rich and t\\e^ prospered. Pere du Jauna^' was among them . From a letter written Irp de la Richardie at Detroit in 1741 , addressed to du Jauna^ at the river louchetanon ," it has been supposed that du Jauna<> was then in Indiana, this l, address being mistaken for a variant of fi^j^ Found Ouiatanon. 'Tlie statement of 'TKwaite In Error and others that du Jauna>> was app- ointed to I'Arbre Cioche in 1744, is entirely wrong . louchetanon is the Ottawa term for Grand River , is rightlp spelled , and means "far-flung water. ^Thus Pere du Jauna^^ was wintering wi^h his Ottawas at Grand River , as was customar^i^ . '3 t- m n Jf n ' and spirit. Assisting du Jauna>) at various times were Coquart, who came west wifh Verendrye and 14 J» a .* ;» 3 (• jl died at tK« Saguena:? misfion in '65; Morinie, wKo stayed tw«lv« years; and le Franc, wKo stayed nine. Du Jauna>l mentions a "dear bro- ther Nicolas Demers" of whom we kno^ naught. Through all the flaming years the central figure is that of du Jauna:?. He it was whom the Indians revered, whose name thej^ cherished and whose pa&s and walks thej^ pointed out to their children. After his going the crooked tree bare no good fruit. LArbre Croche mission was abandoned be- nea(h British rule. TKe registers, particularly that of baptisms, tell the result: "child of a savage woman", "father wintering on Grand ri- ver", "natural son of -" and so fortf\. Yet these Ottawas of I'Arbre Croche were men among men. The]? were witft Denonville and signed peace wi{h the Iroquois in 1701; the:9 followed Langlade to Fort ^^'" ^""* Du Quesne and sle^ Braddock's men ; ^°'^ °"' tUeS were at the Plains of Abraham "^ and the subsequent battles, afterward signing a 15 tr««6? wJlK bir Wm. JoHnton «t Detroit . mnals and pra^^er books in the Ottawa tongue were brought from Montreal. When, in 1827, Jean Dejean came from the Huron as the first stationar:9 priest, he found a hundred and fjf^ Christians. No^ the old tree budded ane^ , A town , church, village, school and manse were built; TK. Pint ""* ®* *^* °^*^ «"*«. l>ut where no^ T«np«nc " Harbor Springs. A temperance soc- Sod^ i«6? was formed - the first in Amer- ica, b:? the wa3?. Joseph Latourno taught the French tongue and manners. Dejean compiled and printed a ne^ prayer book for his six hundred converts . L'Arbre Croche was at this time in the diocese of Cincinnati. In 1829 arrived Bishop Fenwick , and took back wifh him Augustin Ham- elin and William Blackbird, who studied under Fenwick and even went on to Rome . Qhe>> did 18 J3S 3 > > 3 4» jB not attain the priesthood, Hamelin returning to Kis tribe and Blackbird dying in Rome. Olie sill]? assertion is still heard that Bleckbird was murdered because he opposed the sale cf Ir.oian lands ! Dejean went his way, and in 1831 came one whose star was to shine high in the after years - Frederick Baraga the Austrian. Baraga was both student and explorer, and the greatest missionary? of his place and time. From the start he made I'Arbre Croche a cen- ter of zealous activi^ . Earl3> in 1832 he carried the work 01. to Beaver Island, then dedicated a church at In- dian Lake, Manistique. Tliis last site is no^ a summer resort; the cemetery) was fenced and preserved b]? Ossawinamakee , son of the former chief. Returning to the islands, Baraga found a chapel erected and a collection of "idolatrous articles" for burning . In June he founded the Cheboygan miss- ion — not at the present town of that name, 19 i'i I a R 25 « ) the same name. On the bluffs the great cross, renewed in 1832, produced Ville la Croix as place-name ; the Cross Village of toda]? . Baraga moved his Beaver Island converts to the mainland , re-founded the mission on Grand 30 River, and made a final tour. Tlien Ke went nor4i to Kis larger work and his bisKopric . Came FatKer Saenderl , but left slight re- cord, save that I'Arbre Croche came wi4tin the nev) diocese of Detroit. He was relieved in the fall of 1835 h^ Francis Pierz, a Pole. Pierz has been termed the father of agri- cultural colleges. He flung himself into the task of making a farming communis? , built a sawmill, taught the Indians ho^ to use the soil . For seventeen years he worked , Fr. Mrak aiding him. But the]? could not prevail egainst the changing times; their schools and in- oculations were not proof against the inrushing settlers. Before the ringing axes fled the last memory* of blackrobe and voy- ageur. Mackina'sS, where the annual pensions were paid , was a hellhole . White fishermen reaped the lake harvest . Place-names altered . He aux Galets became Skilagalee; Waugoshance, Wobbleshanks ; and in place of I'Arbre Croche was Little Traverse . So 'The B«ginning Of ^The EnJ ai ail3A4S Cil4^CI^> and be slain on sou^iern battlefields. John Bernard Weikamp, a superior of the Franciscan order, was involved in serious trouble wi^ Bishop O' Regan of Chicago. He came nortft. Baraga, no^ bishop in charge of the missions, recognized the man's value and gave him harborage . Weikamp arrived in Cross Village NJov. 25, 1855 , followed three days later b^ Baraga , who remained over Christmas and gave minor orders 32 to two of Weikamp's novitiates . 'TKus was the nev7 foundation establishea ; not wi^ut tKe fold of mother church , as is often af}irmed, but wi^h due sanction and au- tKori^ bo^ then and later . Weikamp was well able to discover and to graft the shards of the ancient tree. B3) 1858 he had centralized the other missions upon his Cross Village convent ; he had four brethren and twelve sisters at work; and in June Baraga consecriited the church and cemetery) . A curious structure , this ! In the center , the square church , and on either side cf it , built around patios but forming one cortti luous block , the convent of a hundred bedrooms . It was not onl]p dormitorp , but held schoolrooms , shops , refectories , etc . Sou4i of the convent was a small building wi^ a four-sided , pointed roof. A trap in its floor gave upon a vault, designed to hold the bod]p of the superior. Even novi men defame the dead wi4i tales of hidden weal4i and imrrusralifp — all untrue . as Weikamp kad sKrewdl>) secured enough acreage to suppor'. Kis work, but was not laying up for Kimself anS treasure upon earfK . Olie brethren and sisters lived entirely sep- arate lives, not being allowed so much as to speak each wifh the other. aKe>> had given up the world; and therefore the world, after its fashion, was not slov? to vilify them. During these years Protestant missions were numerous but accomplished little of moment. Slowly) the long years passed and changes came upon the nor^hland . accident. Ohe foundation did not long survive him. ,^ It was controlled hS a stock compan^l ^ and supported b^ the farm; but was pj^ finallSI abandoned in '96. the sisters retiring to Joliet. Illinois. Ten years later, what remained of the buildings was struck hS hght- r\ing and destroyed. OKus perished the last stock of the famed crooked tree, probably nevermore to be revived. L'Arbre Croche was but a backwash from the great flood of histor>) ; its stor? is one of pett? and local endeavors, of continued successes, of repeated failures whereof the csuses were the fauh of no man. Us picturesque features have made appeal to "artistic temperaments" and the as i; 's n\374\ical friend Wawatam , and wKo erect marbles to petft> local redskins, neglecting the red patriots who died in sou^- ern prison-camps or battles. V TKe KitKerto unwritten storp of the crook- ed tree is replete wi > 3 <8» .n wlf; an inspiration wKicK can discover itself onl^? to tkose wkose Hearts will alla«9 entrance. And at I'Arbre CtocKe a Half-witted lajl brotHer keeps tHe burial crypt of Weikamp and tHe crooked tree . L'ENVOI So ends tKe talc of kov9 men lived and died And Ko^ all ruined is the crooked tree; Yet from tKe ancient cliffs a Tree Holds wide Its arms unto tKe sunset's memor:p . And we wKo watcK across tKe "Vagrant years WKere dea^K makes numicrp of Kope — sKall we Not find somewKere wi4\in tKe blood and tears Of men wKo served tKeir God, a myster:?? Men pass ; tKeir tombs decamp , tKeir kingdoms wane , 'TKeir olden fanes fall crumbling to tKe sea; Yet tKougK lost tKings come never back again A Tree Kolds faiA\ in immortali^i) ! p a H • re End OK* Stor^ Of LARBRE CROCHE MISSION Printed B^ nhm Autfior at nhm Sign Of <7K« Cro»Md QuilU Santa Barbara iqi7