Michipicoten Fishing Log Book Resurfaces After 100 Years (Log Book available in pdf below)
Native Guides & Fishermen in the Mission
Every Wawa resident knows that the Wawa area is a fisherman’s paradise. For eons First Nation’s people established summer settlement sites along the Lake Superior coastline, our pristine rivers and streams to take advantage of the abundant food supply found in our extensive waterways.
The Hudson’s Bay Co Michipicoten Post took advantage of plentiful lake trout, herring and whitefish stocks in the 1800’s and regularly shipped barrels of salted fish to markets in Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit and Chicago.
At the turn of the 20th century, “gentlemen fishermen” were a regular sight in Michipicoten during the warmer months. In 1910, one such group left their dusty offices on the bustling streets of Detroit, caught the steamer Caribou from Sault Ste. Marie and headed north for an 18 day adventure in Wawa’s back yard.
The group consisted of 4 gentlemen (G. Howard Meredith, James O. Murfin, Frederick L. Smith, Kirkland B. Alexander) ranging from a Michigan State Judge (Murfin), a Detroit architect (Smith) and an author (Alexander) for a popular North American outdoor magazine. They arrived at the abandoned Michipicoten Post on July 27th, portaged 25 miles on their first day to Hawk Lake, took 3 days to paddle down the Michipicoten, then spent 10 days camping and fishing at Old Woman Bay.
Their local fishing guides included George Andre, Tommie Robertson (Nish-i-shin-i-wog), Pete Kash and the legendary William Teddy. These men set up camp for the fishermen, cooked all their meals, portaged the canoes and guided them to the prime fishing spots. One such “secret” spot could only be reached by portaging a canoe up a 200 foot incline to a crystal clear lake above the Old Woman cliffs. They called it Clear Water Lake. Hardy ice-fisherman of today will know this as Alpine Lake.
This group called themselves the North Shore Club. Some members made repeated trips to the area and other remote sections of the Lake Superior shoreline. This specific trip was recorded by Kirkland B. Alexander who kept a daily log. He created copies of the log, complete with black and white photographs for all of the Club members including “Judge” Murfin. A copy eventually found its way to the hands of Mr. Murfin’s great nephew Bill Chapin who thought to contact the Town of Wawa to see if anyone would be interested in the Log.
The Town of Wawa Heritage Committee received the original document earlier this year and immediately had it copied in a digital format by Superior Image. Copies have been provided to the Town of Wawa Public Library in both a digital and paper format for the public to view.
For those fishermen who want to read the ultimate fishing tale and get some tips on fly-fishing locations, you will enjoy this log book. For those who love history and want to see some new photographs of familiar places and names, the log book does not disappoint. For those who just want to know what portaging, canoeing, camping and fishing was like in the Michipicoten area 100 years ago, this log book is a treasure. Ironically enough, even though the people are long gone, the rivers are dammed and the buildings are only a memory, the essence of the adventure still remains. Although some sections of their portage trails are now paved, and you have to portage concrete dams instead of a roaring set of waterfalls, I bet today’s paddler would feel the same emotions and sense of awe if they followed the footsteps of those gentleman fishermen on their first portage from the Mission to Hawk Lake 100 years ago.
The Hudson’s Bay Co Michipicoten Post took advantage of plentiful lake trout, herring and whitefish stocks in the 1800’s and regularly shipped barrels of salted fish to markets in Sault Ste. Marie, Toronto, Montreal, Detroit and Chicago.
At the turn of the 20th century, “gentlemen fishermen” were a regular sight in Michipicoten during the warmer months. In 1910, one such group left their dusty offices on the bustling streets of Detroit, caught the steamer Caribou from Sault Ste. Marie and headed north for an 18 day adventure in Wawa’s back yard.
The group consisted of 4 gentlemen (G. Howard Meredith, James O. Murfin, Frederick L. Smith, Kirkland B. Alexander) ranging from a Michigan State Judge (Murfin), a Detroit architect (Smith) and an author (Alexander) for a popular North American outdoor magazine. They arrived at the abandoned Michipicoten Post on July 27th, portaged 25 miles on their first day to Hawk Lake, took 3 days to paddle down the Michipicoten, then spent 10 days camping and fishing at Old Woman Bay.
Their local fishing guides included George Andre, Tommie Robertson (Nish-i-shin-i-wog), Pete Kash and the legendary William Teddy. These men set up camp for the fishermen, cooked all their meals, portaged the canoes and guided them to the prime fishing spots. One such “secret” spot could only be reached by portaging a canoe up a 200 foot incline to a crystal clear lake above the Old Woman cliffs. They called it Clear Water Lake. Hardy ice-fisherman of today will know this as Alpine Lake.
This group called themselves the North Shore Club. Some members made repeated trips to the area and other remote sections of the Lake Superior shoreline. This specific trip was recorded by Kirkland B. Alexander who kept a daily log. He created copies of the log, complete with black and white photographs for all of the Club members including “Judge” Murfin. A copy eventually found its way to the hands of Mr. Murfin’s great nephew Bill Chapin who thought to contact the Town of Wawa to see if anyone would be interested in the Log.
The Town of Wawa Heritage Committee received the original document earlier this year and immediately had it copied in a digital format by Superior Image. Copies have been provided to the Town of Wawa Public Library in both a digital and paper format for the public to view.
For those fishermen who want to read the ultimate fishing tale and get some tips on fly-fishing locations, you will enjoy this log book. For those who love history and want to see some new photographs of familiar places and names, the log book does not disappoint. For those who just want to know what portaging, canoeing, camping and fishing was like in the Michipicoten area 100 years ago, this log book is a treasure. Ironically enough, even though the people are long gone, the rivers are dammed and the buildings are only a memory, the essence of the adventure still remains. Although some sections of their portage trails are now paved, and you have to portage concrete dams instead of a roaring set of waterfalls, I bet today’s paddler would feel the same emotions and sense of awe if they followed the footsteps of those gentleman fishermen on their first portage from the Mission to Hawk Lake 100 years ago.
| the_north_shore_club_1910b.pdf |
View the "Log of the North Shore Club" - pdf file 18.5 MB
The document has been transferred to a format that allows you to view the actual text and photographs. The attached file includes a section at the end with enhanced photographs only. Enjoy!
Thanks to Superior Image (www.superiorimagewawa.com) for their work on this project.
NOTE: Please do not reproduce any text or photographs from this document without the permission of the Town of Wawa Heritage Committee (info@wawa.cc).
Thanks to Superior Image (www.superiorimagewawa.com) for their work on this project.
NOTE: Please do not reproduce any text or photographs from this document without the permission of the Town of Wawa Heritage Committee (info@wawa.cc).
P.S. - the continuing story... the log book was actually PUBLISHED!
While conducting some research on the history of Lake Superior Provincial Park, I came across this musty old book published in 1911 by none other than Kirkland B. Alexander, the author of the "Log of the North Shore Club". The cover of the book shows one of the photographs from the original Log taken of the gentleman fishermen and their guides on Hawk Lake in July 1910. The book may be found listed under rare books and runs up to $155 U.S.!
The book is called "The North Shore Club - Paddle and Portage on the Hundred Trout Rivers of Lake Superior". It includes a number of years worth of tales and adventures experienced by the author and his fishing buddies from Lake Nipigon to Montreal River. The last few chapters include greater detail and dialogue from the 1910 trip down the Michipicoten River.
You can find the entire book to read online if you search for the name of the book through www.book.google.ca. Enjoy!! I know I did.
The book is called "The North Shore Club - Paddle and Portage on the Hundred Trout Rivers of Lake Superior". It includes a number of years worth of tales and adventures experienced by the author and his fishing buddies from Lake Nipigon to Montreal River. The last few chapters include greater detail and dialogue from the 1910 trip down the Michipicoten River.
You can find the entire book to read online if you search for the name of the book through www.book.google.ca. Enjoy!! I know I did.
