It’s been years since I’ve had the opportunity to take the boat on a weeklong vacation on the waters of Lake Michigan. I’ve spent countless hours cruising around Lake Michigan when I first purchased the boat, but over time it’s just been more difficult to find the time and people willing to join me for a longer trip. With my kids getting older and out of the house, it just wasn’t possible to do.
But that has changed now, with Natalie and her children having a sincere interest in exploring all that Lake Michigan has to offer Also, now that I’ve had the engines overhauled on Take Five, it’s become a much easier choice to make when it comes to long cruises over the lake. Gone are the very real worries of a major malfunction happening while in the middle of the lake. I’m still very cautious, but my level of concern has definitely decreased since with “new” engines pushing us along the way.
Our plan was to drive up to Door County, where the boat is currently docked, on Friday, August 19th. We provisioned the boat that evening and then planned for an early morning departure for Beaver Island, the first stop along our journey. We would then continue to Mackinac Island on Monday, August 22, Charlevoix, MI on Thursday, August 25th, and then back home on Saturday, August 27th. The crew included, Natalie and her daughters Kameryn and Brynn. Her son didn’t join us, to his sisters’ delight, because he had freshman football practice.
We packed up the boat, went to sleep, and were up at the break of dawn on Saturday morning to embark on the 9-hour first leg of our cruise. The Trip to Beaver Island went flawlessly and we arrived there around 4:00 PM local time. Despite the overcast day, the lake conditions were perfect! Several people helped us dock up the beast and we were in time to make it to Dalwhinnie, a local cafe where we were told, the best pizzas on the entire island were served. Little did we know it was the only place to get a pizza, but despite the lack of competition, we were overly impressed.
Beaver Island is an island in Lake Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. At 55.8 sq mi (145 km2), it is the largest island in Lake Michigan and the third largest island in Michigan after Isle Royale and Drummond Island. The island is located approximately 32 miles (51 km) from the city of Charlevoix. Beaver Island had a total population of 657 at the 2010 census.
I personally find the history of the island fascinating! In 1856, it was home to a unique American religious colony, a theocratic monarchy ruled by the self-appointed “King Strang”, who was the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, colloquially known as Strangites to distinguish them from the much larger The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Irish American immigrants later settled in the island, and it has remained a popular vacation and tourist destination. Portions of the island and surrounding archipelago are protected as part of the Beaver Islands State Wildlife Research Area.
Although Beaver Island is known today mostly for its beaches, forests, recreational harbor, and seclusion, previously it was the site of a unique Latter Day Saint kingdom.
The island’s association with Mormonism began with the death of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Most Latter Day Saints considered Brigham Young to be his successor, but many others followed James J. Strang. Strang founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), claiming it was the sole legitimate continuation of the church that Joseph Smith founded. His church continues to exist, though not on Beaver Island, and numbers a maximum of 300 adherents. His group initially settled in Voree, Wisconsin Territory, in 1844, and established a community there that persists today as an unincorporated community within the Town of Burlington, Wisconsin.
Seeking refuge from persecution, Strang moved his followers from Voree to Beaver Island in 1848. At the time, the island was inhabited by mostly Irish Catholic immigrants. In particular, they came from an Irish-speaking island (off the coast of County Donegal) called Arranmore. The Strangites flourished under his rule and became a political power in the region. They founded the town of St. James, which was named in honor of Strang. They constructed a road denominated “King’s Highway” into the interior of the island that remains one of its primary thoroughfares. The Strangites cleared land; constructed cabins, farms, and other improvements; and attempted to establish themselves permanently on the island.
Strang was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1853 and again in 1855. He founded the first newspaper in Northern Michigan, the Northern Islander. During his tenure in the Legislature, he made the island the center of the new County of Manitou, which included the Beaver Islands, Fox Islands, and North Manitou and South Manitou Islands, and had its seat at St. James in Beaver Island. The state of Michigan abolished Manitou County in 1895 (see below).
Once established on Beaver Island, Strang declared himself a polygamist, contrary to his previous opposition of it. He had five wives, one male lover and fathered a total of fourteen children.
In 1850, Strang proclaimed himself king, not of the island, but of his church, which then included most of the inhabitants of the island. He was crowned on July 8 of that year inside a large log “tabernacle” that his adherents erected, in an elaborate coronation ceremony. On him was bestowed a crown that a witness described as “a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front”, a royal red robe, shield, breastplate, and wooden scepter. The Strangite tabernacle and Strang’s house are no longer extant, and also the Strangite regalia, yet a printing shop that his disciples erected persists as the only Strangite construction remaining in the island. Presently the printing shop houses a museum of insular history.
Strang and his adherents often conflicted with their neighbors on the island and adjacent locales. While claiming dominion of only his church, Strang tended to exert authority over non-Strangites on the island also, and was regularly accused of forcibly seizing their property and physically assaulting them. Open hostility between the two groups was frequently violent, and the majority of the Irish immigrants fled to the neighboring island of Mackinac. Ruffians beat Strangites at the post office, and Strang once fired a cannon at some unruly drunken fishermen who had threatened to expel his church from the island. Strangites held an increasing monopoly of local government that blurred the distinction between church and state.
While Strang held many progressive ideas such as the conservation of woodlands, many judged his autocratic rule intolerable. One edict, for example, prescribed the clothing of Strangite women (see bloomers). Two women refused obedience and Strang had their husbands flogged, an act that was rendered more tolerable after one of them was discovered in the act of adultery. While recovering from their floggings, the husbands conspired against Strang. On June 16, 1856, the US naval gunboat USS Michigan entered the harbor of St. James, and Strang was invited aboard. As Strang walked along the dock the two conspirators shot him from behind and then ran in the gunboat, which departed and disembarked the men on Mackinac Island. Neither man was arrested or convicted of the murder.
After Strang died of his wounds on July 9, 1856, mobs from Mackinac Island and St. Helena Island arrived and expelled the Strangites, who then numbered approximately 2,600, from Beaver Island and reclaimed the island. Upon expulsion of the Strangites, local government in Manitou County, which included Beaver Island, almost ceased. Court sessions and elections were rarely held, county offices were often vacant, and the region acquired a lawless reputation. Michiganian Governor John J. Bagley affirmed this reputation in 1877 when he advocated for the abolition of the county.[5] A bill was introduced to this effect yet failed to be enacted. A second attempt in 1895 was successful, and the Beaver Islands were incorporated into Charlevoix County while Fox and Manitou Islands were incorporated into Leelanau County.
We departed Beaver Island on the morning of Monday August 22nd en route for the much more populated and famous Mackinac Island. Tune in later for more updates regarding that portion of our trip! Until then…….
