CHAPTER 1

The Beginning

It is just a few minutes before daybreak as I walk onto NorthPier to meet with Joe for the first time. The pier is varnishedwith an overnight rain and sparkles in the morning light asI move toward a channel-side wooden picnic table. The first raysof dawn glisten off the nearby grass and tree leaves creating athousand tiny rainbows in the morning glow. There are patches offog appearing and disappearing on the pearl-grey lake.

Moving to the table, I open my knapsack and spread out thematerial I will need this morning. Today Joe and I will begin ourtalks by covering how the park was formed. I still have some quiettime before he is due to arrive, so I sit back and light my pipe andwatch the eastern sky move from grey to purple, and then littleby little slide into a stunning display of burnt orange; just anotherpeaceful day on Presque Isle.

Suddenly, like a ghost, Joe is there. I didn't see or hear himcome down the path or pier. He was just standing beside me.

Today he has on an old brown hat, modest overalls with a largehole in one knee and the other in perfect shape. His smile is bright,and he seems in a good mood. Slowly, he takes off his hat andbrushes the dusty brim with his fingers. I am sure he might callwhat he is wearing a hat, but to me that would be a stretch. It hasseen so many years of service that it could only be called a hatbecause it is resting on his head.

"I'm hoping I can 'member enough 'bout Presque Isle to help yawith that there book. I know ya must love Presque Isle 'cause it iswrit all over yer face. When I lived here, some of them old fellas fromtown would row their dinghies 'cross the bay, and we'd meet by thecampfire, drink coffee and talk fer a great while 'bout the peninsula,fishing and trapping. Life wuz sure good on Presque Isle."

"Joe, I'm sure you will be a big help. Before we start talkingabout the history of this sand spit we call Presque Isle, why don'tyou tell me about that old legend that was passed on from theIndians on how the park was formed. I've heard it is prettyinteresting."

"Sure will. Ever since I moved out here, I wondered how thislittle-bitty strip of sand and grass come to be. It seems to me, thiswhole peninsula always is trying to move down the lake towardBuffalo. I wuz wondering why? All the years I been coming to thepark, legends 'bout Presque Isle have always been floating on thewinds and through them bars in town.

"The old legend you be talking 'bout says them Injins that livedaround these parts had their own version 'bout how Presque Isle wuzformed. I heard them Eriez Injins, some folks called them the CatPeople, believed the Great Spirit created the world. That meant hemade all them Injins, other people, animals and fishes, lakes, forestsand streams. Everything. They believed that they wuz the GreatSpirit's chosen people. To show his love, The Great Spirit led them tothe shores of a great lake and gave them what they needed to live areal good life. That lake wuz Lake Erie.

"Them Eriez mostly lived on the shores of Lake Erie andwandered inland to near French Creek. That be somewhere nearWaterford, which was a far piece down the road.

"Like me, them Eriez hunted and fished to live. They wuz goodat building birch bark canoes from trees they got in them nearbywoods. Now, that is where that great Presque Isle legend begins.

"It seems that on one of them fishing trips, 'bout 1500 or so, theywent a far piece out on the lake looking fer the place where the sunsinks into the water. That's when them ghost voices of the lake calledout warning them to go back. When they wouldn't obey, the spiritsof the lake wuz angered and caused a terrible storm on the lake.Injin legend says that huge waves big as their lodges wuz thunderingand crashing down on them.

"Now, If'n ya ever been out on the lake 'round here in a storm,you'd understand what fear they musta felt. I'm sure them poorInjins wuz near scared out of their wits.

"Anyway, the Great Spirit seeing this stretched out his left armand put it down deep into the lake to protect them from the storm.Where the arm of the Great Spirit had dipped into the lake, a hugesandbar in the shape of an arm was formed. The legend then saysthat the Great Spirit told them this sandbar would be there foreverto protect the tribe. So now, that small sandbar is this here peninsulaand is known as Presque Isle State Park."

"Wait a minute. I think that legend is impressive, and I love theway you tell it, but you do know that scientists have other ideas onhow Presque Isle came to be, don't you?"

"Don't nobody question that, but their fancy ideas git so frightfulboring. Fact is, a fella one time told me a scientist at a public hallmeeting back in 1900 wuz talking and put the whole town meetingto sleep. Every last person that showed up wuz sound asleep."

"Well, even if that's true, Joe, they still usually get most of theirfacts right. It seems scientists believe six hundred million years ago,the whole middle of North America was covered with a shallowsaltwater sea. These scientists say that over a twenty million yearspan, volcanic activity nearly split North America in two. Thiswarming and cooling of the sea deposited sand, salts and silt allover the area. Over many years, compression and tremendous heatturned these deposits into shale, limestone, and sandstone. Then,like magic, the region transformed from fire to ice with the arrivalof the ice age.

"People with more education than me say that for five to sixmillion years huge glaciers advanced and retreated many timesover this area. They were called the Wisconsin Glaciers. Thesegiant sheets of ice leveled mountains dug valleys and moved hugedeposits of the sand, rock and shale. In the northern and westernregions of North America, this ice bumped into tougher bedrock,while in the southern areas it just moved the softer shale andsandstone aside."

"Jest a minute there. How many times do ya think the ice mightacovered the Erie area and what 'bout up yonder in Canada? I bet theice up there musta been thicker in some areas, so it dug in more.I thought I heard somewhere that this ice mighta been up to twomiles thick. Could that be true? That sure would'a been powerfulheavy."

"It was heavy, Joe. In fact, in some places they do believethe ice could have been well over two miles thick. Most of thescientists believe the large drop between the lake levels from LakeErie to Lake Ontario at Niagara Falls was caused by the weight ofglacier ice pushing the land mass down in that area which did notcontain really heavy bedrock to support that much weight.

"From what I have been able to come across, the ice coveredthis locale as many as fifteen or twenty times. In fact, in one bookI found, they said the whole earth was covered with ice at leasttwice. Up in Canada and in the upper Great Lakes areas where itstayed colder, the ice advanced and retreated but didn't melt asoften. This ice was considerably thicker and heavier, so it cut intothe surface much deeper. The weight of these glaciers crushed theearth's crust all over North America. When they moved or melted,the earth's crust sprang back changing the structure of the land.Rivers could and did reverse their flows, and basins, lakes andponds would form and disappear almost at random."

"Them boys down at Reeds tavern said that when the ice beganto melt, the Great Lakes wuz formed fourteen thousand years ago inthe big dips in the area, and that huge lakes wuz formed betweenthem ridges left behind. Mosta the big dips wuz from the big iceglaciers that wuz, like ya said a mile or two thick. That sure mustamade a huge amount of water, and I bet it filled them new lakes realquick."

"You are right about that. As the ice retreated northward, awhole series of ice dams were left behind. Large lakes began toform behind these ice dams in each of the Great Lakes' basins, oras you call them dips. Each lake left a deposit of sand, rock andeven sandbars along the new and changing shorelines.

"Like all bodies of water, it was the elevation of the lake'soutlet that controlled that particular lake's water level. As the iceretreated and readvanced over perhaps a million years, water levelsrose to the next higher ice-free outlets. Over time, there were moreretreats than advances, so each of the Great Lakes' basins lowered.

"The first of the Great Lakes to come into being from thismelting was 'Lake Maumee.' This later became known as Lake Erie,and formed in the lowlands created by the valley of the prehistoriceast-flowing Enigan River, which I am sure you have never heardabout. Very few people realize that this lake and river ever existed."

"Well, where'd that there river and lake go?"

"As the glaciers grew, advanced and retreated those manytimes, they destroyed the Enigan River and its valley. The icemoving deepened, flattened and enlarged, and finally destroyedthe whole river basin. Lake Maumee became the eastern portion ofLake Erie. Historians think this took nearly a million years.

"Because this area was located in the southern-most andwarmest region of what would become the Great Lakes, the glacialice here became thinner as it retreated across the Lake Erie basin.This thin ice did not have enough power to dig deep into theearth's surface like the glaciers that formed the upper Great Lakes.For that reason, Lake Erie became the shallowest of the GreatLakes."

"Someone once told me that fer a while, all the water in themGreat Lakes ended up flowing down to that big old Mississippi River.That's not true, is it?"

"Historians and scientists disagree, but many do believe that atfirst Lake Maumee waters flowed toward what is now Fort Wayne,Indiana, and down the Wabash River and into the Mississippi River.They think this because of the many ice dams left in place by theretreating ice.

"However, later when the glaciers finally retreated far enoughnorth and west, they allowed the ice-dammed waters to floweastward through the much lower Niagara outlet. Many thinkwhen this happened, a huge flood of water made its way into whatis now the Mohawk Valley. It was much like someone pulling theplug in a large bathtub. Water rushed eastward into Lake Ontarioflooding the whole region. The Mohawk Valley, even today, is filledwith the thick, coarse deposits that suggest a massive flood.

"Some people believe that this huge flood reduced some of theother Great Lakes' water levels to pond size. In fact, some scientistsbelieve that after this massive movement of water, the western endof Lake Maumee was as far east as North East, Pennsylvania. Over atime period of almost five thousand years, the land in the Niagaradistrict returned to its former heights, and the Great Lakes' waterlevels rose to nearly today's levels. Other scientists believe thatLake Maumee has always flowed as it does now down the NiagaraRiver, and never flowed to the west. Nevertheless, almost all agreethe removal of the ice dams may have caused a great flood downriver in the Mohawk Valley."

"Hold yer horses there. How the heck can anyone know who'sright 'bout what happened back then? That wuz a long time ago,and none of us wuz 'round back then."

"You know, you're right. There's no real way to be sure whethereither theory is completely accurate. After all, it happened over14,000 years ago. Either way, the result is as we see it today.

"Further north and west of the Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and theNiagara River regions, other glaciers and their melting formedLakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. The glaciers in these areaswere much thicker because of the colder weather there than theglaciers in the Lake Erie basin. These lakes filled with huge amountsof water and backed up into the lower area that we know today asGeorgian Bay. Scientists believe Georgian Bay once drained downthe Trent River into a newly forming Lake Ontario. This meant thatsome of the water never made its way over Niagara Falls.

"As this ice withdrew and continued to melt even further, newchannels were cut, and immense amounts of water poured into allthe lakes left behind. Over time, this water began to flow towardthe Atlantic Ocean by the St Clair River, Detroit River, Niagara Riverand St. Lawrence River. The Great Lakes were formed almost as weknow them today. The Indians called them the 'Sweetwater Lakes'because they were fresh water."

At this point, Joe jumps up and walks away down the piertoward the Channel Light. As he walks off, I notice he is indeedshort and stoop-shouldered. His walk has a slight limp. Aftera short while, he returns, pulls on his beard and sits back down.As I work with Joe, I begin to notice when he is bothered aboutsomething. You can count on him just jumping up and walkingaway for a time.

"Sorry 'bout that, but them Jeebees needed to talk to me a bit.They been hearing what we wuz talking over and wuz wonderingwhy'd them waters from way up north and out west in LakesSuperior, Michigan, and Huron start flowing to Lake Erie and LakeOntario down them there rivers. Them Jeebees been thinking maybethem there scientists wuz right and the waters shoulda gone southdown the Mississippi."

"Wait for a minute, Joe. Who or what are the 'Jeebees?' I neverheard of them before."

"Them Jeebees is my little people friends. I talk to them allthe time. Most people never see them. When I'm walking theyhide behind the trees and jump out thinking they can scare mesome. They been my friends since I wuz with the circus. They arevery curious 'bout everything. Them boys at Reeds think I be a bitcrazy when I talk to them. But, they don't know nothing 'bout themJeebees."

"As far as your question, you just answered it with the words,'down the rivers.' It all has to do with the fact that waters flowdownhill. Lake Superior is 600 feet above sea level. Lakes Michiganand Huron are 577 feet above sea level. The water of Lake Erie is565 feet above sea level, and Lake Ontario drops to only 243 feet.Water just did the natural thing and began to flow eastward fromlake to lake, and finally down the rivers toward the Atlantic Oceanwhich is at sea level. You should think of this water movement aslike walking down a series of steps.

"This system of gravity-fed rivers acted like a drain, and waterlevels of the lakes dropped a great deal. As I said before, at timesthis happened quickly. Finally, about four to five thousand yearsago, all the Great Lakes' levels moved to the current levels, and theGreat Lakes as we know them today were born.

"Because of the thin glaciers in this area and their slowmovement across this region, Lake Erie was left with a few featuresnot found in the other Great Lakes. One is the twenty or so islandsthat are found in the western basin of the lake. Five are large, withthe two largest being Pelee and Kellys islands. There is also anarray of smaller islands which are all found in this shallow westernbasin.

"Scientists say the islands in this portion of Lake Erie wereformed when the glaciers, with huge carbonate rocks embeddedwithin them, scraped the surface of the earth in a massive displayof nature's power. As they moved on and started to melt, theydropped the rocks. Over time, the rocks collected sand and silt andeventually formed the islands in the shallow area of the lake. Notmany islands are found in the other Great Lakes because of theirmuch greater depth. For example, the average depth of Lake Erieis just 62 feet. The average depth of Lake Superior is 462 feet andthe deepest part over 1,300 feet. While many great rocks may havebeen dropped by the glaciers into the other lakes, they are todayunder hundreds of feet of water.

"Because the western parts of Lake Erie contained thiscarbonate rock which is resistant to erosion, this portion of thelake stayed the shallowest. The eastern and much of the centralareas consisted of shale and sandstone, so the glaciers easily dugout and moved more material. This region is deepest, with a depthof 210 feet just off Long Point, Canada.

"The other distinctive features of Lake Erie are the shallownessof the lake as a whole, the two recurved sand spits that are LongPoint and Presque Isle, and the strong current that flows throughthe lake from west to east."

"Ya know something 'bout Lake Erie jest began to bother me.When I was thinking, I suddenly got what it wuz. Lake Erie is reallyjest like a big old river and flows by Presque Isle on its way to thatbig falls over there by Buffalo. If'n you be out in the lake in a boat,you'd float right on by Presque Isle like ya had a sail attached. A fewold-time ship captains told me that the water moves right fast out inthe middle of the lake."

"Yes, you're close to being right. As a body of water, Lake Eriebehaves as much like a river as it does a lake. Because Lake Erie'smain axis runs along the same lines as the prevailing winds, it isreally just a large lake with all the currents and characteristics ofa river. What also helps this is that the lake is extremely shallow.Studies have shown that a drop of water entering the lake fromthe Detroit River takes a little over two years to flow over NiagaraFalls. On the other hand, in the larger and deeper Lake Superior,a drop of water takes nearly 24 years to flow out of that lake intoLake Huron.