Little Church in the Wilderness - Smith Richard L.

Little Church in the Wilderness is a novel that is both absorbing and inspirational. The
story takes place in the 1870’s when a Catholic priest gifted with the ability to heal
both body and soul is sent as a missionary to Upper Minnesota.
After the Civil War, Father Todd Edward Bose is ordained in Baltimore and his
bishop sends him to the village of Whitefish near the Canadian border to form a parish
and build a church. His life in the wilderness is filled with many trials, challenges, and
adventures. Upper Minnesota in the 1870’s is sparsely populated with only Indian
villages and a few logging towns only accessible by Mississippi River steamboats. A
small contingent of Irish Catholic families migrated from Boston to Upper Minnesota
in 1870 to scratch a living out of the skimpy soil and harsh winters. They miss access
to the Sacraments, so they petitioned the local bishop in St. Paul to send a priest to
form a parish and build a church. The bishop asks his friend, the Bishop of Baltimore,
to send a missionary. He selects a newly ordained priest, Father Todd Bose, to serve
that Catholic settlement. Young, energetic, dedicated, and gifted with special talents,
Father Todd accepts his assignment and travels by train, boat, and horseback to
Whitefish. Unaware that God has blessed him with special graces as a healer, he settles
in the village, builds the church, and serves his parish as both priest and medic. His
unique talent as a healer becomes well-known throughout Upper Minnesota and both
Indians and townsfolks ask for his help.
Father Todd is an amalgam of the traditional of service, dedication, and love so
characteristic of the many of the priests I have known. All the characters depicted in
this story as well as descriptions of places that existed over 100 years ago are fictional.