Richie / Chippewa Portage to Malone Bay Trail c.1847-1930
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:48 pm
In my research for the forthcoming (actually it may most likely be long in coming) “Lost and Found on an Island” book, among many of the interesting trails I have found is a trail that ran from the current portage from Richie to Chippewa all of the way overland, crossing the now portage from Whittlesey to Wood and on to the Lake Superior shoreline across from Hat Island then, on to the present location of Malone Bay / Siskiwit Falls area. In fact, from there, it went all the way on past Hay Bay and to Island Mine. More on that section later. What I will highlight here is the route from Lake Richie to Malone.
Keep in mind the descriptions I have put with the maps are just quick notes, but the GPS coordinates should be accurate (but I have not double-checked and cross checked with GE). I am also not sure what the board will do with the scaling of pictures, but I am willing to send anyone interested in checking out the routes 1:12000 scales maps and the tracks for the routes if they let me know what they find out.
Lake Richie to Hat Island Bay Trail* (1847)
Map Length: 5.04 miles
The first section, from Lake Richie to Hat Island Bay, shows up on an 1847 Land Survey conducted by William Ives. This is an amazing document compiled with extreme accuracy and detail. It must have been a true struggle to gather this info and I go into detail regarding the survey in the book. I have taken the survey and plotted it out quite accurately on a 1:12000 scale topographic map. A 1:24000 scale being shown in the picture. I have not plotted the tracks in Google yet, but have looked and it actually looks reasonable.
This “Footpath” is the west section of a trail that ran continuously from Moskey Basin to the shore of Lake Superior across from Hat Island just east of Malone Bay.
Starting at the southernmost end of Lake Richie and ending at the shoreline northeast across from what is now Hat Island, this trail skirts the east side of Wood Lake until crossing the present portage trail from Wood Lake to Lake Whittlesey and heading towards the southwest to the shore of Lake Superior where it ended at the shore just northwest of Hat Island..
Approximate Key GPS Coordinates:
Start at the end of Lake Richie: 048°01’55.70”N / 088°41’17.02”W
Crosses the existing Whittlesey to Wood portage: 048°00’11.15”N / 088°44’12.51”W
End along the Lake Superior shore: 047°59’10.51”N / 088°46’01.23”W
This same trail shows up in a survey conducted by Fred Dustin in 1929 and 1930. The drawing does not even come close to the detail provided by the Ives map, but it does verify the existence in 1930.
Lake Richie to Hat Island Bay Trail* (1930)
Both of these trails look to follow approximately the same route as the 1847 trails. As described in 1930: “following the shore to the head of Rock Harbor, thence to Lake Richie, where it crossed the carry-trail from Chippewa Harbor; on to the outlet or Narrows of Wood Lake, thence to the shore opposite Malone Island [Hat Island]” NOTE: Hat Island was once known as Malone Island
The second section does not show up in the 1847 survey, but is in the Dustin survey therefore, it cannot be plotted as accurately however, based on his description, it can be fairly close. Also, from the point across from Hat Island, it would be just over 1.5 miles from there to the current Malone Bay Dock.
Hat Island Bay to Island Mine Trail* (1930)
Map Length: 12.75 miles
This is a continuation of a trail that ran from Moskey Basin to the shore across from Hat Island that was previously described from 1847. In 1930 the previously described trail still existed, but continued on to Island Mine.
This would have made this one of the longest trails on the island at the time and, if you count the section from Moskey to here and, Daisy to Moskey, this would be the longest continuous trail on the island at this time.
As described by Dustin: from the “shore opposite Malone Island [now Hat Island], west to the outlet of Siskowit Lake, southwest to the falls of Little Siskowit River and on to the prehistoric mines near the old county seat.”
These are the only two sources I have for these trails. The next references I have is a park map from 1941, a Platte map from 1946 and an Army Corps of Engineers map from 1962, but may be from data from the early 1950’s and this trail does not show up on any of them.
As you can tell, I can go on about these old trails (and have been).
Hopefully you all find this as interesting as I do.
Keep in mind the descriptions I have put with the maps are just quick notes, but the GPS coordinates should be accurate (but I have not double-checked and cross checked with GE). I am also not sure what the board will do with the scaling of pictures, but I am willing to send anyone interested in checking out the routes 1:12000 scales maps and the tracks for the routes if they let me know what they find out.
Lake Richie to Hat Island Bay Trail* (1847)
Map Length: 5.04 miles
The first section, from Lake Richie to Hat Island Bay, shows up on an 1847 Land Survey conducted by William Ives. This is an amazing document compiled with extreme accuracy and detail. It must have been a true struggle to gather this info and I go into detail regarding the survey in the book. I have taken the survey and plotted it out quite accurately on a 1:12000 scale topographic map. A 1:24000 scale being shown in the picture. I have not plotted the tracks in Google yet, but have looked and it actually looks reasonable.
This “Footpath” is the west section of a trail that ran continuously from Moskey Basin to the shore of Lake Superior across from Hat Island just east of Malone Bay.
Starting at the southernmost end of Lake Richie and ending at the shoreline northeast across from what is now Hat Island, this trail skirts the east side of Wood Lake until crossing the present portage trail from Wood Lake to Lake Whittlesey and heading towards the southwest to the shore of Lake Superior where it ended at the shore just northwest of Hat Island..
Approximate Key GPS Coordinates:
Start at the end of Lake Richie: 048°01’55.70”N / 088°41’17.02”W
Crosses the existing Whittlesey to Wood portage: 048°00’11.15”N / 088°44’12.51”W
End along the Lake Superior shore: 047°59’10.51”N / 088°46’01.23”W
This same trail shows up in a survey conducted by Fred Dustin in 1929 and 1930. The drawing does not even come close to the detail provided by the Ives map, but it does verify the existence in 1930.
Lake Richie to Hat Island Bay Trail* (1930)
Both of these trails look to follow approximately the same route as the 1847 trails. As described in 1930: “following the shore to the head of Rock Harbor, thence to Lake Richie, where it crossed the carry-trail from Chippewa Harbor; on to the outlet or Narrows of Wood Lake, thence to the shore opposite Malone Island [Hat Island]” NOTE: Hat Island was once known as Malone Island
The second section does not show up in the 1847 survey, but is in the Dustin survey therefore, it cannot be plotted as accurately however, based on his description, it can be fairly close. Also, from the point across from Hat Island, it would be just over 1.5 miles from there to the current Malone Bay Dock.
Hat Island Bay to Island Mine Trail* (1930)
Map Length: 12.75 miles
This is a continuation of a trail that ran from Moskey Basin to the shore across from Hat Island that was previously described from 1847. In 1930 the previously described trail still existed, but continued on to Island Mine.
This would have made this one of the longest trails on the island at the time and, if you count the section from Moskey to here and, Daisy to Moskey, this would be the longest continuous trail on the island at this time.
As described by Dustin: from the “shore opposite Malone Island [now Hat Island], west to the outlet of Siskowit Lake, southwest to the falls of Little Siskowit River and on to the prehistoric mines near the old county seat.”
These are the only two sources I have for these trails. The next references I have is a park map from 1941, a Platte map from 1946 and an Army Corps of Engineers map from 1962, but may be from data from the early 1950’s and this trail does not show up on any of them.
As you can tell, I can go on about these old trails (and have been).
Hopefully you all find this as interesting as I do.