Isle Royale

This history of Isle Royale traces almost 5,000 years of human efforts to harvest its natural resources. From the Paleo-Indians who extracted native copper to the 19th-century miners, fishermen, farmers, and sportsmen, this isle apart has been visited, mined, and plundered for centuries. Under the protection of the National Park Service since 1940, the island is returning to the natural regime that preceded the arrival of the first humans. Moose, wolves, and bald eagles now share the island with low-impact campers and boaters. The reader will visit the lighthouses, steamships, fish camps, and resorts and the people of the last two centuries who left their footprints on this jewel of Lake Superior.

Jessica J. Poirier visited the isle very often as a child when her father, who still works for Isle Royale National Park, was employed there. She was born and raised in nearby Lake Linden and is a graduate of Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Poirier also worked for the Isle Royale Natural History Association, to which her royalties from this book will be dedicated. Richard E. Taylor, past president of the Houghton County Historical Society and a local historian, is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He is the author of Houghton County: 1870–1920.

Arcadia Publishing, 2007

paperback, 128 pages, 200 Black And White images, 6.5 (w) x 9.25 (h)