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Notre Dame's Log Chapel
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A replica of Badin's original log chapel which burned to the ground in
1856, it was built in 1906, hand-hewn with a broadaxe by William
Arnett, an ex-slave from Kentucky. "To the right of you, to the left of you, in front of you, and behind you reigned the primeval forest. There were not thirty acres of clearance in the whole section of land belonging to the college." [1845] -- Timothy Howard, History of St. Joseph County, Indiana, (Lewis Publishing Co., 1907), vol. 2, p. 629. "The lake in front of me is situated in the cold even in the greatest heat, in mind-freezing North America; the fire behind me has been raked by a semi-savage Canadian, and the bell-ringing comes from the necks of horses belonging to a group of Indians of the Potawatomi tribe who have put up their temporary camp at the lake; the log cabin itself in which I am putting together this letter to you is the mission house of St. Mary of the Lake (Ste.-Marie-du-Lac)."
-- German missionary's description of his stay
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© 2001 by Robert F. Ringel.
All rights reserved.