19th Century

Hunting, Fishing, Maple Sugaring (1800 to 1900 CE)

Nineteenth-century documentation clearly indicates that an aboriginal population that included Ojibwa, Cree, and Assiniboin groups was present on the north shore of Lake Superior in the area of the "Great Carrying Place" (Grand Portage) and near the mouth of the Kaministiquia River at Fort William (present day Thunder Bay, Ontario). From the last quarter of the eighteenth century into the first half of the nineteenth century the depots of the North West Company and (after the merger in 1821) the Hudson's Bay Company at this location served as cultural and economic centers for the surrounding region for Euroamericans and Native Americans alike.

The use of Isle Royale's resources by native groups was nonintensive, consisting mainly of hunting and fishing by small single or multifamily groups originating from the north shore. The native and Metis population remaining at Grand Portage continued to exploit the island's resources. After 1836, when the American Fur Company (AFC) expanded its operations to include commercial fishing, were much sought after for their knowledge and expertise in the local fishery (Cochrane, n.d.). Ojibwa men and women were employed by the AFC; the men engaged in fishing, and the women processed the catch. Most of the AFC fishing establishments on Isle Royale coincided with prior aboriginal sites and, after the termination of AFC fishing in 1841, these sites were subsequently reoccupied as seasonal sites by native groups. The Treaty of LaPointe (1842 and 1844) ceded Isle Royale to the US. Government, altering but not eliminating native interests in Isle Royale.

There is sketchy evidence for a trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) on the island at Hay Bay although there is no clear documentation in support of this. A.C. Lane's (1898) geological report, which referred to an HBC establishment at this location, seems to be the basis for the persistence of the tradition. This location could not be further clarified through field survey or by archival research.

Ives reported the location of an Indian maple sugaring camp on Red Oak Ridge or Sugar Mountain near the Island Mine. Sarah Barr Christian's diary relates a trip she made to a sugaring camp "on the north side of the island" (Christian, 1932). The identification of historic period aboriginal sites poses special problems. The almost wholesale adoption of goods of non- native manufacture renders the occupation and resource, utilization sites of Native Americans nearly invisible archeologically. Differences in fish processing techniques, where heads and tails are left with the body, may be a clue to an aboriginal site. But in most instances this distinction will be very difficult to support empirically.

With the legal cession of land to the United States Government in 1842, Isle Royale underwent the surveying necessary for its ultimate disposition to various mining concerns (e.g., Ives, 1847). As Ives was gridding out the island, prospecting and mine openings were already underway. The first rush for copper began in 1846 but was nearly played out by 1850, the Siskowit Mine closing in 1855. Following the Civil War an increase in the price of copper caused a second rush, beginning in 1871.

It was during this period that the Minong and Island mines were opened. But the rush was, like the first, short lived, with most mines closed by 1879. A final attempt to extract a profit in copper was made in 1889-1890 by the Wendigo Company, but it too was forced to abandon its operations by 1892 (Rakestraw, 1967).

(Clark, 1995)

Recorded Jesuit Baptisms on Isle Royale

From 1849-1854 and 1874-1882 the Jesuit missionaries N.M.J. Fremiot, Dominique du Ranquet, and Richard Baxter visited the mines and habitation sites of Isle Royale. During their canoe trips they conducted Catholic services such as mass and baptisms and recorded at least 45 island births.
The table compiles the number of baptisms by site and time period, as recorded in the Archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Thunder Bay.
Data compiled by NPS / Tim Cochrane and Seth DePasqual.

Recorded Jesuit Baptisms on Isle Royale

Site	1849-1851	1852-1854	1874-1875	1876-1877	1878-1882

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