Bishop Baraga Shrine – L'Anse, Michigan - Atlas Obscura
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Bishop Baraga Shrine

L'Anse, Michigan

This missionary's legacy looms large over the Upper Peninsula of Michigan—literally.  

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Bishop Baraga Shrine Thomas Harper
Bishop Baraga Shrine Thomas Harper
Statue of the Snowshoe Priest Thomas Harper
Shrine caught on fire in May 1972 during installation Bishop Baraga Shrine Museum (Public Domain)
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Bishop Frederic Baraga looms large over the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, both figuratively with his 37-year legacy of missionary work with the Ottawa and Ojibwe tribes and immigrant miners, and literally with a 35-foot high brass statue at a roadside shrine.

Earning the nickname “The Snowshoe Priest” by traveling throughout the Upper Peninsula and along Lake Superior in brutal winters well into his 60s to minister to his flock, Father Frederic Baraga was named Bishop of the new Diocese of Marquette in 1853, and died in 1868. Near a trail that he and the Ojibwe used, the shrine features a statue 35 feet tall on 5 beams, sculpted by Jack E. Anderson. The shrine also has a Catholic gift shop with homemade ice cream Monday through Saturday.

 

religion sacred spaces statues
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Say Yah to da U.P., eh!

Truly a world apart from the Lower Peninsula, on this list are the quirky, comedic, strange, and obscure locations of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I came here to drive up soggy logging roads to the top of Mount Arvon and discovered many great places along the way.
Thomas Harper January 23, 2017
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