408 GENERAL HISTORY. 



BARAGA COUNTY. 



This county was taken from the easterly portion of Houghton, and was 

 constituted a separate county in pursuance of the provisions of an act of the 

 Legislature, approved February 19th, 1875. " Section 2 of said act located 

 the county seat at the village of L'Anse. 



In pursuance of the provisions of said act, the organization of the county 

 was completed by the election of the proper officers on the first Monday in 

 April, 1875. 



L'Anse was so named by the French explorers, meaning ''the bay." 



A letter written to the Detroit Gazette, in July, 1822, says: "Mr. Holli- 

 day, who lives at L'Anse, which is Keweenaw bay. on Lake Superior, has 

 heretofore, and will this season, raise at that place Indian corn, peas and 

 garden vegetables, all of which flourish well, and there is a tract of rich soil 

 in that vicinity which is well adapted for an agricultural settlement." 



C. D. Lawton has seen, at L'Anse, fine apples of Fameuse, some of the 

 Eussian and other hardy varieties, also plums, pears, morello cherries, cur- 

 rants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, huckleberries, etc. 



The following is a nearly full transcript of a valuable letter from Abel 

 Hall, of L'Anse, under the date of September 20th, 1886: — 



''When I came to what is now Baraga county, forty-one years ago this sum- 

 mer (1845), there were three settlements; one by the North American Fur 

 Company, one Methodist Episcopal mission and one Catholic mission. There 

 were, at that time, only two or three apple trees, and three or four wild plum 

 trees growing in what is now Baraga county, at the North American Fur 

 Company's station. 



" In 1846 Rev. J. H. Pitzel introduced the first currant bushes, at the Meth- 

 odist mission, in this county. At this time a lumber company commenced 

 work, at the head of the bay, on Fall river, where the village of L'Anse now 

 stands. 



" In the fall of 1846 a Mr. Simons planted some apple seeds, near Fall river, 

 the first planted since those at the fur company's station. In 1853 or '54 

 Eev. D. A. Curtis planted apple seeds at the Methodist mission. The trees 

 grown from these seeds are yet yielding some fruit. 



'' In 1862 Eev. P. 0. Johnson brought here and planted three or four hun- 

 dred fruit trees, which, from lack of hardiness, nearly all died. A nursery- 

 man also brought some trees from LaPoint, at the head of Lake Superior, 

 which included Oldenburg, Wealthy, Siberian crab and others which are 

 doing well and producing fair crops of fruit. 



"For the last ten or twelve years our supply of fruit trees has been mostly 

 obtained through the agent of nurseries at Eochester, New York. Such 

 trees, generally, are doing well. The varieties are mostly Oldenburg, Wealthy, 

 Transcendent, Montreal Beauty, etc. 



"Early Eichmond and common red cherries do well here, but the black 

 (Mazzard?) are too late, and lack hardiness. 



" The only fruit plantations here are for home supply, or for the local market, 

 except, perhaps, currants and strawberries. I have commenced a strawberry 

 plantation, and will plant a plat of currants next season. 



''John Street has a small cherry and currant plantation, but the fruit is 

 consumed within the county. 



