The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1921-08-26
Baraga County in the Eighties
Recolcons Of Baraga Schoolmaster-By the Hon.
H. Begole of Marquette, Michigan.

anu mace arrangements with the rail-
road company to transport them to
Baraga. ] did not tell them that the
railroad was thirty miles from Bara-
ga and that they would have to walk.
] knew they would find that cut soon
enough. telegraphed James By
ers, present postmaster at He,a yhton.
who at that time was conducting a
livery stable at Baraga, to have a
wagon backed up at the station lat
form on the arrival Of the morning
train from Calumet for the purpose Of
taking a load Of be~gage to Sidnaw.
/ jumped off the train as soon as
we reached Baraga, and with Mr.. By
ers' help loaded all of the baggage
into the wagon. with instructions to
the teamster not to stop until he
reached Sturgeon River. In the mean
time / herded my gang of men tc-
gether, got them their dinner, and
sent man with them to show them
the road to Sidnew, intending to camp
them on Silver River that night in
some old Famber camps, distance Of
twelve miles.
! then hired another team, loaded
it with ham, potatoes, bread and but
ter-enough for one hundred men for
their supper and breakfast-and
about four o'clock started alone to
drive through to Silver River. The
team was pretty well worn out, and
after / reached the Sand Hill, six
miles from Baraga, one of the horses
was completely exhausted. / cut the
other horse out Of the harness, mount
ed him, and started for the lumber
camp, with nothing to eat for one
hundred men. One of our teamsters
was stopping there that night on his
way to Baraga, and l sent him back
after my load. Like the contractor
he, too, was a New York man-stran-
ger to country and ways of the coun-
try. In the dark he became confused
as to the right road, lost his way,
was out all night, and returned at
daylight without having accomplished
his mission.
/ then got on one Of his horses and
he On the other. Together we went
back to the place where / had left
my wagon with the store of supplies.
We returned to camp a little after
six o'clock with some pretty hungry
Swedes to feed. We put the potatoes
in big iron kettle and boiled them
without washing, sliced the ham and
told the men to fry it for themselves
over the fire, gave them bread and
butter, and started after breakfast
for Sidnaw.
We reached there that night at
seven o'clock with every man that
left Calumet with me. The secret Of
it was that the mems satchels and
packs had all been sent on ahead. You
can always trust fellow to follow
his turkey to the bitter end. have
no doubt that many Of these men are
now prosperous farmers and citizens
in Baraga county. They did their bit
in the early eighties to construct our
railroads.
During my stay at Baraga it was
my privilege to have enjoyed the
friendship of several more than or
dinary characters. 1t would certain
ly afford me much pleasure to intro
duce you to each and all of them, but
time and space both forbid. There
fore; shall have to confine my por-
traiture to but few. Among them
mention Captain James Bendry, Pc
ter Crebassa and Father Girard Ter
host.
While / was teaching in Baraga,
stayed at the home Of James Bendry
always known as Captain JIM" He
located in the town Of Baraga ir
1850, while Father Baraga was the
mission priest. He assisted in bring
ing the first steam vessel that sailet
on Lake Superior around the $500
rapids on wooden rollers, and wal
the wheelsman who steered her OF
her first trip. This was the "Inde
pendence."
have heard him relate many o.
his experiences, thrilling, touching
some ludicrcus, and all immeisel,
interesting. Many Of the early set
tiers Of Marquette, Houghton and On
tonagon counties, with their house
hold and personal belongings, wer,
safely landed on these shores by Cap
tain Bendry. Fer thirty odd year.
he did q tug business, and the sup
plies Of the iron and copper mines, a
well as for the lumber camps, wer,
carried on scows, towed by one Of hi
tugs.
One Of his greatest feats was tn
bringing Of the Lake Linden Hote
to L'Anse from Lake Linden, loade'