I NEVER EXPECTED that my search for information about Mission Park in Mission Township in the central Minnesota lakes region would connect to Faribault. But it did. To my church, Trinity Lutheran.
But let’s back up a minute. As I read the township history, I noted that Mission Township is named after a mission founded there among the Ojibwe in 1857 by the “Rev. Ottmar Cloetter,” a pastor with the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.
Almost immediately I questioned the spelling of the surname as “Cloetter.” The Rev. O.H. (Ottomar Helmut) Cloeter served as pastor at Trinity from 1957-1978. The name similarities between the Faribault pastor and the missionary noted in the township history gave me reason to pause. And investigate.
That led me to the Minnesota Digital Library and a 1931 letter from O. Cloeter of Vernon Center. He was the son of the pastor who moved from Michigan to start a mission among the Ojibwe. Located 14 miles north of current-day Brainerd, the mission station was called Gabitaweegama. That means “parallel waters,” denoting the mission’s location on a strip of land between the Mississippi River and Mission Creek. Ernst Ottmar Cloeter (not Cloetter) settled there with his young family in a newly-built log cabin. During the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, Crossing-the-Sky, a leader of the Gull and Rabbit Lake Ojibwe, advised Cloeter and his family to leave (presumably for their safety). The mission station was destroyed and Cloeter relocated to Crow Wing.
Six generations of Cloeter men would go on to become pastors, including O.H. Cloeter—great grandson of the long ago missionary. The younger Cloeter ended his ministry at Trinity in Faribault. I found it interesting that his family’s pastoral history traces back to Mission Township and to Mission Park, a park I appreciate for its quiet, wooded natural beauty. Now I also value the park for its sacred and historical connection.
When I next walk the trails of Mission Park, I will consider the Ojibwe and how some perhaps resented the intrusion of a white missionary into their culture and lives while others embraced the newcomers. Here, among the woods and rivers and lakes, the Ojibwe hunted for deer, gathered berries, crafted birch bark in to canoes, raised their families… They lived off and of the land that would become Minnesota.
And I’ll consider, too, how the Rev. Ernst Ottmar Cloeter settled here in the year before Minnesota became a state with expectations of connecting with these Native Peoples. It’s interesting how history and people intertwine. How choices and actions connect us, even after 164 years.
© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Beautiful
Thank you.
I love learning about Native American History. It’s always interesting and often tragic.
I agree. And isn’t it interesting that we both happen to focus on Native Americans in our blog posts.
How cool to find this connection in your research.
Yes, it was. But then, in talking to my husband, he recalled the Rev. O.H. Cloeter telling him about this mission. Pastor Cloeter died in 2008.
Sweet someone looks for his “cradle birth place”. Ottmar b. 4-29-1859, 4th of 13. Looks like they emigrated before the first born in 1852. Rev.Ernst was ordained in Bavaria, wow there’s a discussion wish I’d had with O.H. I’ve researched lutheranism synods from Germany through the emigration to the east, then to WI, MN, ultimately St. Louis for LCMS. Ernst was Pres. of LCMS’s MN & Dakota Dist. 1882-1885. I was confirmed in ’57, O.H. first class. Really like knowing more of this German Cloeter legacy – the oe had an umlaut according to FamilySearch. But not two t’s. Made his strongest impression on me when, in the 70s, daughters were at East St. Paul Luth., he visited principal Harold Kenow (of the Faribault Kenow’s). We were in the modest gym, in his strong voice greeted me by first name, 20 yrs. after I’d left town! His obit listed his strong church leadership after leaving Trinity and the first time I’d seen his first and middle names! Nice thinking of him again today. His father, Richard, “assisted” Trinity for 3 yrs. as well. A shame their Native American ministry heritage didn’t meld more with the Faribault heritage, which was more Dakotah than Ojibway. RCHS is so much stronger now, the town more diverse, knowledgeable and interested about its history. The clergy more together. That 1862 war will haunt MN forever. Interesting how the “mission station” affected naming of towns along the MN way. Go and make disciples! Great post! I need to update this http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~folp/nostalgia/pastors.html
Sandra, I appreciate how you often dig farther into topics I touch on in posts. Thanks for sharing what you learned.