Origins of the Superior Diocese: An early
history of Catholicism in northern Wisconsin
Editor's note: This is the second of a four-part series on the origins of the Superior Diocese. The series is an excerpt from the upcoming book, "Our Journey Through Faith: A History of the Diocese of Superior," written by former Catholic Herald editor Sam Lucero. The history book, written to commemorate the centennial of the diocese, will be available in parishes later this year.
Fr. Allouez establishes Holy Ghost mission
Four years after Fr. Rene Menard set foot in northern Wisconsin, becoming the first Catholic priest to celebrate Mass here, another French Jesuit, Fr. Claude Allouez, arrived. Making the trip from Three Rivers with six French traders and some 400 Indians on Aug. 8, 1665, Allouez disembarked on the shores of Chequamegon Bay in early October. The priest kept a diary of his travels, which were recorded in the Jesuit journal of that period, the Jesuit Relations.
"After coasting a hundred and eighty leagues along the southern shore of Lake Tracy (Superior), where it was our Lord's will often to test our patience by storms, famine, and weariness by day and night, finally, on the first day of October, we arrived at Chagouamigong, whither our ardent desires had been so long directed," wrote Allouez and published in the Jesuit Relations of 1666-67. "It is a beautiful Bay, at the head of which is situated the great Village (where the natives) cultivate fields of Indian corn and lead a settled life. They number eight hundred men bearing arms, but are gathered together from seven different nations, living in peace, mingled one with another. This large population made us prefer this place to all others for our usual abode, that we might apply ourselves most advantageously to the instruction of these infidels, build a chapel, and enter upon the functions of the Christian religion."
With these words, Allouez laid the foundation for the Mission of the Holy Ghost, whose exact location has been a mystery. Some historians have speculated the mission was stationed at La Pointe, while others believe it was near Washburn. "Tradition, topography, and the (Jesuit) Relations all converged toward the conclusion that the Ottawa village lay somewhere near the confluence to Metabikiligweiag Creek and Fish Creek, one and one-fourth miles southwest of the city of Ashland," stated Fr. Joseph La Boule, author of "Claude Jean Allouez, the Apostle of the Ottawas," published June 8, 1897.
The priest labored among the Hurons, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Outogamies, Illinois, Ojibways and the Sioux, successfully converting the natives to Catholicism. Allouez spent four years at the mission on Chequamegon Bay. While there, he traveled by canoe with Indian guides to communities along Lake Superior.
(C.H.) Crownhart, in his series, ("North Wisconsin in History and Romance) that appeared in the Superior Telegram, said about Allouez: "Without doubt he traversed the familiar Indian route up the Brule and portaged into Lake St. Croix where the Indians frequently camped on Forest Island in that beautiful lake or on the present site of Solon Springs. There they would hunt, fish and gather the wild rice."
Fr. Marquette is successful missionary
In November of 1669, Allouez was asked to begin a new mission in the Fox River Valley, which he called the Mission of St. Francis Xavier. Waiting in the wings to take over for him was a young French missionary whose name has become synonymous with Catholicism in the Midwest, Fr. Jacques Marquette.
Marquette arrived in Quebec from France in 1666 to undertake missionary duties. He spent his first two years studying the Indian customs and languages and was then assigned to the mission in Sault Ste. Marie. Upon arriving in northern Wisconsin in September 1669, Marquette found success in his work among the native people. "Here he labored with great success, baptizing over 1,000 Indian converts," wrote historian and Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sam S. Fifield in an article published Feb. 26, 1902, in the Ashland Daily Press.
The success Marquette enjoyed evangelizing, which was made possible by Allouez, Menard and others, would unravel in 1671 when war broke out between the Sioux and the Algonquin tribes that inhabited the Upper Midwest. The Sioux drove the Algonquins from the shores of Lake Superior, forever changing the area's native population. Along with the Algonquin tribes -- the Hurons, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Outogamies and Illinois -- the Jesuit missionaries abandoned Holy Ghost Mission.
"Marquette joined the Hurons in their flight, and the Mission of the Holy Spirit was not to have another Catholic priest for more than 160 years," wrote Crownhart. "French traders and their retinues would come and go, but the French Jesuit missionaries had abandoned the place forever."
Organizational structure evolves
Following Marquette's departure from northern Wisconsin in 1671, the church's organizational structure began to evolve. At first, the Wisconsin territory was overseen by French Catholic leaders in Quebec, which became a diocese in 1674, encompassing all of North America east of the Mississippi River. In 1789 Pope Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the newly formed United States, and the Wisconsin territory was formally transferred to the Baltimore jurisdiction in 1791. In 1805, the first diocese west of the Appalachians was created at Bardstown, Ky., and the Northwest territory, including Wisconsin became part of this diocese. In 1821, the Wisconsin territory joined the present states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana to form the Diocese of Cincinnati. Twelve years later the Holy See detached Michigan and Wisconsin to form the Diocese of Detroit.
Finally, in 1843, Pope Gregory XVI established the Diocese of Milwaukee, which consisted of the entire state of Wisconsin and a small section of Minnesota. Catholics in northern Wisconsin remained part of the Milwaukee Diocese until 1868, when the Diocese of La Crosse was established, consisting of all Wisconsin land between the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. Diocesan boundaries would remain the same until a new northern diocese was created in the early 20th century.
Next week: A new era of missionary activity begins.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2005