How Baraga County got its name: the Snowshoe Priest

Baraga County is named for a person — Frederic Baraga, a Catholic missionary remembered across the Upper Peninsula as the “Snowshoe Priest.” Born into a well-off family in Slovenia and ordained there, Baraga came to America in 1830 and, in 1843, settled at L’Anse to work among the Ojibwe of Keweenaw Bay. He spent the next fifteen years here, and the county, several towns, and a Marquette street all carry his name today.

The nickname came from how he got around. To reach the scattered communities of his enormous, roadless territory through the deep northern winters, Baraga traveled on snowshoes — sometimes covering hundreds of miles on foot in a season, occasionally sleeping out without a tent. What sets him apart from many missionaries of his era is that he learned the Ojibwe language thoroughly and put it into writing, producing a grammar and a dictionary of Ojibwe that remain landmarks of the language. He also pushed back against efforts to force the Native people he served off their land. In 1853 he became the first Catholic bishop of the new Diocese of Marquette.

You can’t miss his memorial. On a bluff above US-41 between L’Anse and Baraga stands the Shrine of the Snowshoe Priest — a 35-foot brass statue of Baraga holding a cross and snowshoes, raised on a base representing his five wilderness missions, looking out over Keweenaw Bay since 1972. It’s free, open year-round, and worth the stop for the view alone. Baraga is now formally on the path toward sainthood in the Catholic Church.