Old Crow Wing's Lutheran mission, led by Reverend Ottomar Cloeter, was located here. The original mission, known as Gabitawigama, began in 1857 at Mission Lake, about thirty miles north of here. In 1862, Reverend Cloeter moved his family to Fort Ripley, and then to Crow Wing. He rented a house at this location and carried out missionary work in the Crow Wing community and outlying areas until moving to Afton Minnesota in 1868.