A book and video for those wanting an adventure travelling the Lakes by boat, car or armchair. Lots of maps, pictures and things to find.
Have an adventure with history!

BEAVER ISLAND, LAKE MICHIGAN
(A on Map)

In the 1850s, James Jesse Strang crowned himself the King of Beaver Island, then audaciously declared the island a separate country from the United States. There is convincing evidence that the American government had a hand in his assassination.

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JOHNSON'S ISLAND, LAKE ERIE
(H on Map)

During the American Civil War, 3000 Confederate soldiers were interred at Johnson's Island. Conditions were appalling, prisoners were even forced to eat rats to survive. An elaborate plan by the South to release the prisoners and blowup the Welland and Erie canals was thwarted by a Canadian.

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GARDEN ISLAND, LAKE ONTARIO
(C on Map)

Garden Island's population of 750 was ruled with a iron fist by ship-building magnate D. D. Calvin. His village was so self-sufficient it even had its own currency. But why weren't residents allowed to build a church?

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CHRISTIAN ISLAND, LAKE HURON'S GEORGIAN BAY
(D on Map)

1649, 3,000 of the last Huron Indians fled to this Island to escape devastating Iroquois attacks. By the following spring, the only 300 surviving Huron fled to Quebec. What terrible tragedy left Christian Island a mass graveyard?

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MACKINAC ISLAND, LAKE HURON
(E on Map)

Since the 1890's, the Grand Hotel has maintained it place among the top historic hotels in America. The Grand's history is full of intriguing and humorous tales about the extreme measures needed to excel in the cutthroat world of hotels.

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300-page book & 72-minute video

An island ruled by a king who declared it his own country, an island used as a hideout by a notorious pirate, an island mined by pre-historic copper miners... these are only a few of the stories in this remarkable collection. The book and film, Mysterious Islands, is a fascinating historical journey to islands in the vast basin of the five Great Lakes. Standing removed and alone, islands have been central to some of the most important, outrageous and tragic events in Great Lakes history, from a decisive and bloody naval battle in the War of 1812, to Prohibition rumrunning, to harrowing tales of shipwreck and rescue. The waves of time have left many islands behind, but remnants of the past still mark their shores- burial grounds, grand hotels, abandoned quarries, lighthouses, strategic forts, and even a castle. Indispensable for boaters, this guide book is brimming with stories of island names, shipwrecks, abandonded places, folklore and intrigue.
296pp. photos & illus. sc 1999
book and video package $49.95
book $24.95 and video $29.95
book $24.95 and video $29.95
(*US Customers: our prices are in Canadian dollars. At present the Canadian dollar is worth 70 cents to the US dollar. The book and video package will cost you between $35 and $36 dollars)

How to order

Listing of Islands in Mysterious Islands

SOUTH BASS ISLAND, LAKE ERIE
(B on Map)

In 1812, a 28-year-old American with no naval military experience led a "navy" of sick soldiers and farmers to capture an entire British fleet (the first time in British history). Today one of the largest monuments in the world stands to honor the Battle of Lake Erie.

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ISLE ROYALE, LAKE SUPERIOR
(F on Map)

In 1400 BC prehistoric copper miners from Lake Superior were part of a trading network so extensive it included people thousands of miles away in what are now the states of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

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HEART ISLAND, LAKE ONTARIO'S THOUSAND ISLANDS
(G on Map)

A stunning castle is perched on Heart Island. What motivated a millionaire build it? And why did it sit abandoned for decades?

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HIGH ISLAND, LAKE MICHIGAN
(I on Map)

In 1913, the House of David Cult moved to High Island. They were chaste, didn't believe in cutting their hair, and believed that they would live to 1000 years of age. The incredible story of their leader, David Purnell, is the stuff movies are made from.

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 What other tales, characters, and comminutes inhabit the pages of the Mysterious Islands book? Pirates, spies, adventurers, hermits, ghost towns, bootleggers, shipwrecks, ghosts... and much, much more!

 

  MAP KEY

A) Beaver Island, Lake Michigan H)South Bass Island, Lake Erie

B) Johnson's Island, Lake Erie I) High Island, Lake Michigan

C) Garden Island, Lake Ontario

D) Christian Island, Lake Huron's Georgian Bay

E) Mackinac Island, Lake Huron

F) Isle Royale, Lake Superior

G) Heart Island, Lake Ontario