The Indians, Jesuit Black Robes and the Fur Traders of Michigan

     Most people do not realize the amazing array of history and prehistory, which lies beneath our feet as we walk the city sidewalks, woodlands and river banks of Michigan.  Michigan today is a varied landscape with large cities in the south such as Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids.  To the north are tantalizing tourist areas, and in between and all around, are rustic and rural settings.

            Setting the Stage:

     It is difficult, if not impossible, to picture what the state looked like when the first Europeans arrived.  Early arrivals included the fur traders and the Black Robes, or, Jesuit missionaries, who strove among the Natives to bring the message of salvation in Christ Jesus.             Much of Michigan was swampland infested with mosquitoes.  The red man seemed to have adapted, but it was nothing less than hellish torture to the new European arrivals. There were massive stands of virgin forests.  There were multitudes of lakes and streams which provided food abundantly for the Indian.  The waterways gave routes of transportation for them.  Their dug out and birch bark canoes coursed down rivers and streams and across lakes. 
      It is not uncommon to find ancient artifacts in Michigan.  Personally I have found stone tools dating back as many as 2,500 years.  However, to find artifacts of the early contact period between Europeans and the Indians is somewhat rare.  They do surface from time to time though, most often where they have lain among tangled roots for many centuries.  One such relic was recently brought to me by its discoverer, Barry “Gil” Alburg.
     Gil, as he prefers to be called, is of the unique breed that not only loves the past, but enjoys going out and finding the discards of history first hand.  He avidly metal detects, hunting for relics where most others would not think to look.  The finds that he makes in the Saginaw area never cease to amaze me.  One day this past summer, he produced a relic which quite literally took my breath away.
     “Have you seen one of these before?”  Gill asked pulling a brass cross from his pocket.  There before my excited eyes were the remains of a very nice trade era crucifix.  Indeed, I had seen a few before, but not outside of a museum. The cross was actually in good condition for the well over a century, or three, it had spent in the ground.  I placed its date at approximately 1675 to 1830.
     Gill had been metal detecting where some clearing of trees and brush was being done.  The crucifix was at a depth of eight to ten inches.  As you can see in the photographs, a portion of the bottom of the cross had been broken off and has not been found.
     The crucifix measures 6 inches across and, if intact, would have been about 7 ½ inches long.  Most trade era crosses I have seen were made of silver.  This one is bronze.  What would bring such a crucifix to the Saginaw, Michigan area at such an early date?           

Placing the Alburg Crucifix in Saginaw:

     During the trade era, Michigan had a great many fur traders and Jesuit missionaries working as far north as Sault Ste. Marie, and as far south as Detroit.  The traders were, of course, trying to find a steady supply of beaver fur, while the Jesuits were after a constant supply of lost souls.  There was no lack on either account.
     The Jesuits, a Catholic order, had well established missions at Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignore and Detroit.  An early chronicler of events whose last name is Miller revealed, “In 1864 a large body of farmers and artisans came from France and a portion of these were sent to Saginaw country and with them were five Jesuit Fathers.”  This information came from “Early French Missions of the Saginaw River,” being part of the, “Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections,” by Fred Carlisle (1899).
     Explorer, Samuel D. Champlain had described the harbor afforded by the Saginaw River from the stormy waters of a bay (Saginaw Bay) which formed a part of a great inland body of water (Lake Huron).
     The point is, according to reliable historic sources, Jesuit missions were established in the Saginaw area early on, which I would say with 95% certainty, accounts for the Alburg Crucifix being found there.
     There is also another historical event that this cross may tie into.  A distance of only about a mile is all that separates where the cross was found, and the site where the very first Mass was held on the banks of the Saginaw River in 1675.
     The site is on Ojibwa Island, a well known recreational park for residents of Saginaw.  A large stone monument stands there which announces, “Dedicated to the memory of Henri Nouvel SJ - the first white man in the Saginaw Valley - Offered mass on the banks of this river - December 3, 1675.”
     While I cannot say that the Alburg Crucifix is from that particular event, I have well established that the Jesuit order, going back to the early 1600s, had not only passed through the Saginaw Valley, but had actually established missions there.  I am claiming that the crucifix is associated with the mission work of that era.  

 How the Coming Jesuits Changed Things:

     At the coming of the white man, the Native Americans were living a settled life in the virgin pine forests and along the lakes and streams.  What they needed to sustain life was abundantly provided by our loving Creator.  They were masters at crafting what there was around them into usable items for daily life.  They took local clay to make, sometimes very ornate, pots.  They used stone imported from great distance to make arrowheads, knives, spears and celts.  They were expert hunters, fishermen and farmers.
     As the fur traders and Jesuits came, the Indians became less efficient at using those things around them.  Rather than making fragile clay pots, the traders gave them durable metal pots and pans.  Guns replaced arrows and spears, so the talent of working stone went to the way side.
     Then a not so great thing came along with the traders and Jesuits, the dreaded small pox.  This was a disease the Indians had no tolerance for and it decimated entire villages.  A pandemic like one never before experienced by the natives became a horrible nightmare of widespread death.
     I am not saying that all the changes which came with the Europeans were bad ones, indeed many were good and changed life for the better.  Even so, an era, a cultural tradition thousands of years in the making, began to crumble the very first day the white man set foot in the Michigan woodlands.
     History will show the Jesuit missions used their work for the advancement of “other” causes.  I can only believe they truly wanted to bring Jesus to the Natives, however, even a quick glance at history will show that their purpose was also to bring more control, power and wealth to the church in Rome.  This can be understood since it was their belief (and still is) that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.
     There are so many stories to tell of Michigan’s history and prehistory.  Every artifact uncovered is like a book waiting to be opened to reveal its tale.  I have had the good fortune to uncover thousands of artifacts and relics over the years.  As you find these bits and pieces of the past, you can interpret and place them into their correct context in history.  They tell you their story, and each is a unique story of days so long ago.

Dan Collins