Father Baraga chose to travel from LaPointe to Grand Portage by sailing straight across Lake Superior from Sand Island rather than following the shorelines, hoping to save 80 to 100 miles and as much as a month of travel time. He and his Indian guide, Louis, set out in a small 18-foot fishing boat, but at the halfway point a gale arose and rough waters tossed the boat wildly. When Louis feared they would perish, Baraga remained calm, lay back in the boat, and recited his breviary, assuring him that the priest would not die in the water because the people on the other shore where they were going would be unfortunate. After Baraga told him to steer straight ahead, the tiny boat passed through the breakers into a calm inlet that was then unnamed. In gratitude for their safe delivery, they erected a cross there and named the stream Cross-River.