Isle Royale 1889

[treeplanter]

This pic popped up on Facebook. Not sure where it is.

[dcclark]

Hm, I'm going with... somewhere on Isle Royale!

OK, more seriously: That looks like the profile of the Greenstone in the distance, on the far left. With the steep side of the ridge on the left, this means we are probably looking east. We're definitely in the big lake, not any inland lake. So this is located somewhere on the far west end looking east. Perhaps somewhere outside of Washington/Grace harbors on a boat?

[torpified]

Is another possibility that little archipelago that extends Houghton Ridge (which forms the Superiorside rim of Siskiwit Bay), looking NNE? That would make the bump on the far left Mt Siskiwit.

I hope the answer also pops up --- just not too immediately!

[johnhens]

Maybe in the 5 fingers.

[dcclark]

Torpified -- I could see it being the extension of Houghton Ridge. That would give the right angle on the Greenstone as well. In that case, what would the head of land beyond the islands be? Maybe the view is compressed enough that it's the arm of land in front of Siskiwit Lake?

John - I think that if this were in the 5 fingers, the view would have to be reflected left-to-right, or else the cliffs would be oriented the wrong way. That can easily happen when developing an old negative. (That causes unlimited amounts of trouble when trying to identify shaft houses in the Copper Country from old photos, since buildings from the same mine were often mirror images of each other).

[treeplanter]

As drclark mentions, old negatives can be printed backwards. I "flipped" the picture in Photoshop. Maybe this will make more sense.

[Bobcat1]

Or, it could be taken from by the Rock Harbor Lighthouse, across Middle Island Passage and looking “up” Rock Harbor, with Mt Franklin in the distance?

[73irgrads]

Bobcat1, you've got it. I have a picture from nearly that same angle and it matches perfectly

[dcclark]

Well done, Bobcat! I can even find those three islets on maps. Apparently they are the actual "Middle Islands" of Middle Island Passage. The land behind them is Caribou Island then.

Here's an aerial view.

[treeplanter]

I think you nailed it. It'd be interesting to find the same location and take a picture from the same vantage point today. I suspect the scene hasn't changed much.

[Bobcat1]

I went over there on one of my kayak trips and spent a morning poking around. You could go up the lighthouse tower and look around. I hear it’s closed for maintenance these days.

[Bobcat1]

Now my question is, is the dark object in the waterway between the “middle islands” and Caribou Island a rock islet, or is it a boat? I tried zooming it up and it’s too fuzzy for me to tell, but it looks structured.

[dcclark]

Now my question is, is the dark object in the waterway between the “middle islands” and Caribou Island a rock islet, or is it a boat? I tried zooming it up and it’s too fuzzy for me to tell, but it looks structured.

It's in the right spot to be this unnamed islet off the coast of Caribou. The red line shows the view from the lighthouse to the dark object, between the two right islands.

[torpified]

We need to start a rival (to Nevada Barr's) series of Isle Royale mysteries, featuring you lot as intrepid and resourceful sleuths!

[TopCarrot]

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/nLlf ... 10_dvd.mp4

I found this nice shot of the middle passage taken in 2011 check 34 seconds in.

https://astheyare.org/2011/09/03/isle-r ... ighthouse/

Not much changes in 120 years.