Keweenaw Bay has a long and rich history. Father Ménard, the Jesuit missionary, wintered near what is now L'Anse in 1660-1661. Near here Father Baraga established his mission in 1843, and he and the head of the neighboring Methodist mission, the Rev. J. H. Pitezel, were good friends. Furs and fish figured prominently in the bay's early history as sources of economic wealth. In the 1880's and 1890's, the area's timber was cut, with Baraga and Pequaming as the centers of lumbering.