The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1901-11-02

| sugar harvest IN tue spring. Inere
were times when they had food In
abundance; but, as rule, poverty
and wretchedness reigned supreme.
Groups of young and strong men
could be observed at all hours OF the
day, lettering about in the village
in ''dolce far niente," an odious
habit which could not help but be
productive of evil. 1t was not alto
gether laziness, for what was there
to do for these people after they
had returned from the hunt or from
fishing trip. While engaged in
the first named occupation they
often travelled great distances with
heavy packs on their shoulders; and
when out fishing in the fall of the
year they were frequently caught in
storm, and it required their ut
most strength and exertions to
steer their boat safely through the
sea and the breakers on shore.
Yet, miserable as was their lot,
they loved it with perfect equan-
unity. The writer, in this connec-
tion, remembers certain family
that was encamped one winter q
couple of miles north of the Mission.
Whenever he passed their wretched
abode-a mere bark tent-the
younger occupants came running
out in the snow, barefooted and
with nothing on their body but a
ragged shirt. Then they would
stand gazing at the passersby with
a grinning smile; while from within
resounded the lusty voice of the
pater familias and his worthy mate
intonating one OF the songs of their
drunken orgies.
Another Indian of the Mission
he is still living, very aged man,
receiving support from the county
approached the writer one day tell
ing him of his misery. He had not
had food enough to satisfy his hun
ger for ever so long, and for the
last day or two had not eaten a
morsel. His appearance certainly
did not belle his tale; he was lank
and thin, and the ample folds of his
scanty clothing, encircled at the
waist by tightly drawn rope, in
dicated a volume Of emptiness be-
meath. But he did not come to beg
food of me. That was the lesser
trouble. The worst of it was he
had no tobacco-had not had a
smoke for two whole days!
The misery of his flock wrung the
heart of the compassionate mission
ary. To find remedy to better
their condition henceforth formed
the object of his serious thoughts.
Ought he to collect aims among the
whites-for means he himself had
none-to still their wants? That, if
practicable, would furnish only tenn
porary relief, whereas. a radical
cure was needed. The Mission, lie.
its people, must be made self.sup-
porting. If it was in the power of
one man to carry out this hercu.
lean task, which even wise govern
ment hitherto had failed to accom-
plish, Father Terhorst with his
practical ideas, his energetic and
resourceful mind, his stubborn per-
severance, was the man to do it.
When, eighteen years previous,
Baraga established the L'Anse Mis-
sion, he purchased from the govern
ment, at his private expense, a large
tract of land adjoining it. This
land was to be parceled out among
the Mission Indians and to be cult
waited by them. The plan seemed to
be wise one and withal gives proof
of Baraga's fatherly care for his In
dians. But it was never realized
during his and his successor S labors
at the Mission. The land, though
fertile, was hard to cultivate. Being
very rocky, mere scratch with the
hoe had little effect on the refrac-
tory soil. If their pastor plougbed
and dragged it for them, and if they
were furnished the seed, some OF
the more enterprising members of
his flock would undertake to drop
the latter and, maybe, cover it. For
the rest, let Providence take care OF
it. How could they stay at home
and watch the slowly growing crop
which, perchance, an early frost
would kill, and which, if spared,
might not be worth the digging?
While yonder, along the shore, in
smooth, inviting patches, and with
in reach of days journey, the
buckle berries ever ripening and a
crop could be had for the mere gath
ering.
From the beginning Father Ter
horst labored to induce his flock to
move on the land upon the hill and
abandon the old village where they
lived in a sort of irregular COM
munion, life as detrimental to the
progress of the individual as it was
to the prosperity of the community
as whole. AS an encouragement,
Terhorst started to clear a few
acres of ground himself. This land
was covered with second growth
and had never felt the touch OF q
plough-share. Roots and stones,
had to be dug out in endless quan-
titles; and for the latter Father Ter
horst found very good use In after
years. The work, while giving needed
employment to a few, was an OBJ
ject lesson to the many. Yet the
old Sachems shook their heads say