Long before our State Highway 61 (and its predecessor, U.S. 61 until 1991) ran from Duluth to Canada, there were trails made by the First Nations. One was called the Old Road from Chippewa City to Grand Marais, about a mile long, near Lake Superior’s shore. It is now mostly overgrown and much of it turned into lawns and driveways. It was enough of a walk that Jim Wipson and his grandmother would pack a lunch to eat halfway to Grand Marais. Perhaps you have read in this paper about current conflicts of land use in that area.
Because the victors get to write the history, Nishkwakwansing became Chippewa City, an anglicized bastardization of Ojibwe. It has a storied history most of us do not know. Michael Morrison, George’s younger brother, wrote a history of the church and Chippewa City titled “19th Century Town” about 1975. And most readers now have heard of Staci Drouillard’s new book, Walking the Old Road. It is part history and part memoir of her family’s and Nation’s place in Arrowhead history.
Chippewa City was a settlement of the Ojibwe, traditionally known as the Anishinaabe. Wikipedia says that Anishinaabe is the autonym for a group of culturally related indigenous peoples who are resident in what are now Canada and the United States. They historically lived in the Northeast Woodlands and Subarctic. Basil Johnston, an Ojibwe historian, linguist, and author, wrote that the term’s literal translation is “Beings Made Out of Nothing” or “Spontaneous Beings”. Anishinaabe legend has it that the people were created by divine breath. The Anishinaabe came from near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River guided by the great common uncle of the An-ish-in-aub-ag, Nanaboujou.
Carl Gawboy wrote,“Nanaboujou, who is the embodiment of ancestral peoples, went about making the world a safer place for humans.” Elders tell one thousand year old stories and “Nanaboujou is credited with creating Lake Superior, naming the animals, and teaching the Anishinaabe the most important lessons about the natural world, living with others, and being human.”
Chippewa City was home to 100-200 families at its peak. The St. Xavier’s Church cemetery was moved once. Gravesites once marked with wooden crosses, spirit houses or stone markers are lost to memory but the names of those buried there are still in church records. Families included the Morrisons, Kadonces, Caribous, Wishkops, Paros, Drouillards, Fillisons, MacLorens, Frosts, LaPlantes, Newtons, Anakwads, and many more. Chippewa City was home to artist George Morrison, Minnesota educator Ruth Myers, and mail carrier John Beargrease.
All that physically remains of Chippewa City is the St. Xavier’s Church which we all wonder about as we drive northeast out of Grand Marais. It is now cared for by the Cook County Historical Society. The church was built in 1895 on land donated by homesteaders Antoine and Antoinette Fillison. He was a half brother to the Anakwad (“Cloud”) family.
The church was built with basket socials where baskets full of food would be sold, often to the many local lumberjacks. It is 25’ x 30’ and holds about 80 people. The church served Grand Portage and Canadian people at first. It was built of hand-hewn tamarack logs by Ojibwe carpenter Frank Wishkop and survived the forest fires of 1907 and 1908. St. Xavier’s Church eventually closed in 1936.
George Morrison wrote, “…there is something inside that always comes through. Anyone who has traveled far away from home in search of identity, only to discover our true selves, that part that always comes through; we are shaped by the people and places we come from.”
These days we are all expanding our definitions of “we.” That’s good for all of us. As we expand “we,” more of us will want to visit Chippewa City and St. Xavier’s Church.
Call the Cook County Historical Society’s Museum for information regarding visiting opportunities: 218-387-2883.
Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, mediator, and Judge, serving from 1997-2010. He and Myrna moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. He has never officiated at a Skype, Zoom or Google Team wedding. Contact him at stevealdrich41@gmail.com.
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