Manitou Island |
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| In near background of the
image below is the dock that provides access to a beautifully restored Fish Camp on
the southwest corner of Manitou Island. In the foreground are the remains of Little Manitou and the light that warns of shoals between the two islands. |
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| Fur trade days ended a few years before Wisconsin became a state in 1854. Fishing, sandstone, lumber and the shipping that supported those "harvests" took over as the main economic activities of the area. The last sandstone quarry was closed by 1904. By the early 1920's the lumber mills were gone. By the mid 1950's commercial fishing took a huge fall - the life sucked out by simple over-fishing and the sea lamprey. |  |
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Next to the dock are remains of older docks, of a foundation building method still in use today to survive the battering waves and ice. |  |
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There is evidence on a
hillside not far from the dock that the island was in use thousands of years before the
loggers and the fisherman entered the historical picture. The ashes of ancient fires speak
of a people who lived off the land. Perhaps the name "Manitou," a Ojibwe word for "Spirit," tells us more than we are quiet enough - observant enough - to understand. The island is in the center of the Apostle group, protected on all sides by other islands. Is that part of the answer? When you visit Manitou, and it is easy to arrive on your own or the larger tour boat, there will be no problem understanding life in the fish camps, because the park service tells the tales well. But who speaks for the Anishinabe and the unknown ones who came long before? |
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| I always feel a little somber
when departing Manitou Island. Hope my attitude doesn't lead you to jump ship, because we have some great sailing ahead. We'll cruise close to a couple smaller islands and visit about them briefly in passing. Our real goal is Outer Island, a full 25 miles from Bayfield, where if the winds calm down we will anchor for the night. I have a real treat waiting. How would you like to watch the sunset from a vantage point 130 feet above Lake Superior? |
