Manthey Camp

Manthey Cottage, circa 1925.

Manthey Collection, Album A, Page 001, Photo 1

History

Frank W. Manthey of Minneapolis, Minnesota, owned slightly over 150 acres in the Rock Harbor area. Manthey established a summer camp on the main island across from East Caribou Island. The Rock Harbor Trail bisects a portion of his former property. During the winter of 1928/29, Manthey intermittently bagged moose and provided one of the hides to the Smith family. He is the only known summer resident to ever overwinter at Isle Royale. Structures on the Manthey property included a main cottage, four guest cabins, two log cabins, two outdoor toilets, a boathouse, and a dock. Manthey was favorable of a National Park at Isle Royale and initially desired a life lease in exchange for his property. For reasons unknown, Manthey sold his property outright in exchange for $2,240.33. The property officially transferred to the U.S. government on September 23, 1937. All structures were removed shortly after purchase.

• Recollections of Russell Smith

  
  

  Oral History 123: Russell Smith, Peggy Widtfeldt (Smith)

  Credit / Author:

  NPS

  Date created:

  10/14/2020

  Audio Transcript

  In 1928 when we were up there, Fred Manthey had borrowed my rifle, because he stayed up all winter that year. And I told him that if you got a good hide, I'd like to have it. And so, when we got up there he told us that he had a hide, all salted down, and dried for us. And it was folded up in a piece about three feet square and a foot and a half, or a foot thick, something like that... with the hair side out and the salt side in. And we went down to his place to get it, down at the bottom of Rock Harbor. We were coming home and something happened to the outboard motor, a little dirt in the gasoline or something. We stopped dead out in the bay, and who would come out to give us some help but the game warden. Pat and the kids covered up the hide, and we got the engine running in just a minute or two, and that was that. But Pat always remembers bringing out a hot hide, a moose hide from the island.

Morse Camp

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