Tradition says that the hill was first discovered by Europeans in 1673 by
Father Jacques Marquette with
Louis Jolliet. However, modern historians view this tradition as untrue, though the Order of the
Society of Jesus were likely the first
Catholic priests to set foot on the hill. The
U.S. government owned the land until 1855, and the hill was known as "Government Hill" because
surveying work was done there. Forty acres were purchased by Fr. Paulhuber of
Salzburg,
Austria. Around 1862, an area farmer found him living on the hill. Soubrio had heard about the hill when he was working as an assistant to a retired professor in
Quebec, Canada. He had found an old French diary and map dated 1676 showing a cone-shaped mountain in Wisconsin. The diary described how the author placed a stone
altar, raised a
cross, and dedicated the hill to
Jesus's mother
Mary. The diary account corresponds with Jesuit missionary work in the area between 1673 and 1679. A set of wooden crosses were placed for the
Stations of the Cross in 1875. In the winter of 1879, Fr. Raess sent a proposal to
Archbishop John Henni to construct a new shrine to Mary. Construction began that spring. Pilgrims began flocking to the shrine, and it was decided that a religious order should administer the shrine. A group of
Discalced Carmelites came from
Bavaria at the invitation of Archbishop
Sebastian Messmer, and the Shrine of Mary was put under their care on June 26, 1906. The building now known as the Old Monastery Inn and Retreat Center was completed in 1920. The second shrine was removed in 1925 so that a third shrine could be built. The cornerstone of the third and present shrine was placed by Archbishop Messmer on August 22, 1926. The present church was completed and
consecrated in 1931. Another tradition describes a German priest who was recreant to his vows and came to America for
penance. He found a reference to the hill in Marquette's diary and decided to take a
pilgrimage. He became ill in
Chicago, and was
paralyzed. He reportedly found the hill, crawled to the summit on his hands, and was cured of his paralysis. ==Basilica Church==