Grand Island (Alger County, Michigan)
| Grand Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Lake Superior | |
| Geographical location | 46 ° 31 ′ N , 86 ° 40 ′ W | |
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| length | 13 km | |
| width | 5 km | |
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Grand Island is an island located in the Great Lakes .
geography
Approximately eight miles long and three miles wide, the island makes up most of the Grand Island Township , which in turn belongs to Alger County , Michigan , and is the largest island on the southern shore of Lake Superior .
The next larger settlement is the City of Munising , which is less than a kilometer south of the island on the southern edge of Munising Bay at the mouth of the Anna River .
history
The island has a continuous history of settlement, which dates back to 2000 BC. Goes back to BC. The first detectable traces of settlement can be assigned to the Anishinabe or related tribes and indicate a seasonal use of the island, favored by the island's protected location and abundant fishing grounds.
The first contacts between Indians living on the island and white settlers took place in the 18th century in the form of sporadic visits by trappers and missionaries. An increasing involvement in the North American fur trade can be dated to around 1820, for which a winter log house built by a fur trader can be proven.
In 1841, Abraham Williams became the first white settler to settle permanently on Grand Island. With the permission of the local tribal chief, Williams opened a trading post on the southern end of the island and lived there with his family until his death in 1871. Soon after, the island was acquired by William Mather, President of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company . Most of the few log houses still preserved today date from this period and were built by Mather or employees of his company. Mather himself rented out many of these log houses and also had a small hotel built.
In the early 1990s, the island was acquired by the United States Department of Agriculture , the United States Forest Service and converted into a National Recreation Area . Today the island is mainly visited by hikers , cyclists and campers.
Grand Island Archaeological Program
The Grand Island Archaeological Program , a collaboration between Illinois State University and the Hiawatha National Forest, has existed since 2001 . The program carries out extensive excavations and mapping of archaeological finds in order to obtain a detailed picture of the settlement history of the island. It is also used to train archeology students in archaeological field research. The third goal of the program is to provide visitors to the island with the knowledge they have acquired about the history of Grand Island, including through tours to current excavations. In the course of the project, more than 200 archaeological sites have been documented.
Students participating in the program will be accommodated in the historic Mather Lodge on the island .
literature
- James M. Skibo , Terrance J. Martin, Eric C. Drake, John G. Franzen: Gete Odena: Grand Island's Post-Contact occupation at William's Landing. (2004, Mid-Continental Journal of Archeology 29: 167-190.)
- James M. Skibo, Eric C. Drake, Mary E. Malainey: Stone boiling, fire-cracked rock, and nut oil: Exploring the origins of pottery making on Grand Island. (2009, Wisconsin Archaeologist 90 (1 & 2): 47-64.)
Web links
- Grand Island Archaeological Program , Illinois State University website
Individual evidence
- ^ John G. Franzen: Wintering at Little Island Rock: A Fur Trade Site on Grand Island (Mid-Continental Journal of Archeology Vol. 29, No. 2, GRAND ISLAND ARCHAEOLOGY (Fall, 2004), pp. 219-248)