My life on Isle Royale with the wolves, moose, and the National Park Service

1
My life on Isle Royale with the wolves, moose,
and the National Park Service

• J.Laurie Snell

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Where is Isle Royale?
Source University of Texas Maps of United States
National Parks and Monuments.
3
Isle Royale is 40 miles long and 9 miles at the
widest point.The red lines are trails made by the
National Park Service.
Source National Park Service
4
The Ranger III goes from Houghton.
How do you get to Isle Royale?
Source National Park Service
5
The Isle Royale Queen III goes from Copper
Harbor Michigan.
Source The Isle Royale Line
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The Voyageur II goes from Grand Portage
Minnesota. It goes around the whole Island
dropping off mail and backpackers.
Source Grand Portage-Isle Royale Transportation
Line Inc.
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The Voyager will stop at any of the places
indicated on this map
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Why is Isle Royale in the United States?
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Isle Royale is part of the United States because
it appeared in the wrong place in Lake Superior
on John Mitchell's Map that was used in the
treaty of Paris, 1782-83.
Source Osher Map Library and Smith Center for
Cartographic Education University of Southern
Maine.
10
The human history of Isle Royale begins with the
Archaic Age (6000 B.C. 500 B.C.) The Copper
People came to Isle Royale and obtained copper
from small open-pit mines using stone mauls. The
copper was used primarily for tools.
Source Exhibit Museum of Natural History at
University of Michigan.
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In the 1700s the historic Ojibwa paddled to Isle
Royale to harvest island resources such as trout,
whitefish, sturgeon, herring, suckers, pike,
woodland caribou, beaver and loons. They called
the Island Minong meaning a good place to
live. Traditional Ojibwa-coming from what is
now the Minnesota and Ontario shoreline-used
"Minong" as a sanctuary from white-induced
change. (Source Tim Cochrane)
Source Photo Gallery Metis Ojibwa.
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This 5,720 pound mass of copper was removed
during initial explorations of prehistoric
copper pits on Isle Royale in 1875.
Burton Historical Collection. Detroit Public
Library.
13
After mining failed, commercial fishing was
introduced on Isle Royale in the early 1800s.
on Isle Royale. Here is the Mattson fishery in
Tobins harbor around 1891.
Source National Archives. Minnesota Historical
Society.
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Boat day in Tobins Harbor 1906. The Matson
fishery in the background has become the
Anderson-Mattson fishery.
Source Maurice Edwards Photograph/Merritt
collection.
15

In the 1900s Isle Royale became a place to get
away from civilization and to get rid of asthma.
Those wanting short visits could go to one of
the resorts in Rock Harbor, Tobins Harbor,
Belle Island, or Washington Harbor. Each resort
had a token of civilization Rock Harbor a tennis
court, Tobins Harbor croquet, Belle Island a
small golf course and Washington Harbor a bowling
ally. Others bought land and, with the help of
the fisherman, built cabins.
Belle Isle
Rock Harbor
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We first came to the Island in 1931 and lived in
Rock Harbor.
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For our first year, we rented this cabin in Rock
Harbor which eventually became the Orsborn cabin.
Source Sally Orsborn.
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This is Snug Harbor. It was a safe for kids, but
once my brother and I went out of the harbor to
get logs and nearly drowned so we moved to
Tobins harbor.
Source Isle Royale Boating Association.
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Here is our Tobins cabin painted by Elizabeth
Kemmer a Tobins resident.
20
Our father wrote childrens books. He had a more
modest cabin on the hill for his writing.
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Here is a book he wrote about Red Grange being
kidnapped before the BIG GAME and taken to Isle
Royale.
22
When the Tobins Harbor Lodge closed, Dad towed
one of the Lodges cabins across the harbor and
then we had a guest cabin.
23
There was a new boat about every year!
The Mary Margaret
The Seminole
The Coastal Queen
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For some years we were able to leave from Chicago
and get off this boat at Isle Royale.
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The one boat that came every year was the Winyah
from Duluth Minnesota. It picked up the fish,
delivered mail, milk, eggs and bread.
Source North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum.
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We could sometimes order food from Houghton but
mostly we ate a lot of fish, homemade bread, and
berries raspberries, blueberries, and
thimbleberries. And sometimes Inis Mattson
invited us for homemade ice cream.
Thimbleberries
Source Pasty.com.
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Sometimes we waited on the dock not knowing when
or if the boat would come.
28
Our parents evening canasta game was played by
kerosene lamp light.
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Washday was hard work.
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The kids here were my best friends.
Left to right Larry Matson, Jimmy Lawrence,
Laurie Snell (holding Ring), Ed Mattson, Art
Anderson, Jim Anderson (in front of Art Anderson)
and Art Mattson.
SourceLouis Mattson.
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Art Anderson took Jimmy Anderson and me to the
light house and a storm came up. We had to stay
listening to the fog horn all night.
32
Our father was a legendary fisherman. Being the
smallest, I always held the BIG FISH for the
photo.
33
My brother Jud wanted to ride a moose in the
water and was mad that I could not row fast
enough to reach the moose.
34
We loved being out in rough weather, but if it
got any worse than this we headed for Merritts
Lane.
35
I became an entrepreneur

• Rowing hikers back to Rock Harbor (Initially 5
  cents and then a customer suggested I say
  whatever you think it is worth -- then it was
  typically about 5 dollars).
• Selling moose antlers with Jimmy Lawrence to
  people off the Alabama (50 Cents). When we ran
  out of antlers, Jimmy suggested we switch to
  moose teeth for which we got the same price!
• Taking lodge visitors to Lookout Louise or Mount
  Franklin (1.00).
• Selling fish to the lodge (10 cents a pound).

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The view from Mount Franklin.
Source Anthony Jones Travel Photos.
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Here is my boat, still in good shape thanks to
son John and his children.
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In 1921 Afred Stole Jr., conservationcolumnist
for the Detroit News, convincedthe newspaper to
launch a major campaign to have Isle Royale made
into a National Park.
Albert Stoll Jr., at left, sets out for Isle
Royale with two Detroit News photographers. Source
The campaign to preserve Isle Royale By
Patricia Zacharias / The Detroit News.
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Isle Royale becomes a National Park.

• 1931 Isle Royale was authorized by Congress
  under President Hoover.
•  1940 President Roosevelt established Isle
  Royale National Park.
• 1946 Isle Royale National Park was dedicated.
• 1976 The park was designated part of the
  National Wilderness Preservation System  with 99
  of the island to be undeveloped.
• 1981 Isle Royale was made an International
  Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations. 

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The Park Service put in over 200 miles of trails.
They are not all as easy as this trail from Rock
Harbor to Tobins Harbor.
Source Captain Ben Kipelas Isle Royale Photos.
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The wolves and moose on Isle Royale.

• Early 1900s Moose came to the island, probably
  swimming from Canada.
• 1947 The Park Service brings 6 wolves from a zoo
  to the Island. They all die trying to find food
  from the fishermens back yards.
• Winter 1948-49 The lake between Isle Royale and
  Canada freezes and a small pack of timber wolves
  cross over to Isle Royale.
• 1959 An ecological study of the wolves and the
  moose on Isle Royale begins.

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Ecological study of wolves and moose on Isle
Royale Rolf Peterson, John Fucetish 2003-2004.
Ecological Studies of the Wolves and Moose of
Isle Royale.
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A moose with her calf.
Source 2004 Ecological Study.
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Most of the wolves travel in packs, but some are
loners.
The dots represent dead moose believed to have
been killed by the wolves in the year 2003-2004.
Source 2004 Ecological Study.
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Changes in the moose wolf populations.
Source Ecological Studies of the Wolves and
Moose of Isle Royale.
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Wolves chasing a moose.
Source Ecological Studies of the Wolves and
Moose of Isle Royale.
47
Introducing the Island to my family. Here is my
wife Joan fishing with son John who is in the
fish box.
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And here is daughter Mary collecting flowers.
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John and Mary on the rocks.
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The next generation Janet and John.
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Teaching John to fish.
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For this generation the game is scrabble.
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It was always fun to have visitors. Here our
friends the Crowells are enjoying the fog.
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My thesis advisor Joe Doob.
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Of course there is much more to see on Isle
Royale. Divers can visit famous shipwrecks, for
example, the America.
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A diver explores the America.
Source Isle Royale Shipwrecks.
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You will see a lot of ducks.
Source Captain Ben Kipelas Isle Royale Photos.
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And loons.
Source Environmental Canada.
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And many kinds of flowers.
SourcePark Vision Images of America's National
Parks.
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You will also see a lot of fog.
Source Captain Ben Kipelas Isle Royale Photos.
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You can find Greenstones, a semi-precious
gemstone, on the Isle Royale beaches.
Source E-bay.
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And you can see great sunsets.
Source Grand Portage Isle Royale Transportation
Line.
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And Northern Lights.
Source Brian Ruddy Isle Royal National Park.