~ RAILROAD ERA FOR WALLOON LAKE ~
(And Its Many Railroad Connections to Hiawatha Play at Waya-Ga-Mug)
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(And Its Many Railroad Connections to Hiawatha Play at Waya-Ga-Mug)
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Please do not copy the photos on this site, many of which have been submitted by private individuals...
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
The design and compilation of the text and photos on this site are copyrighted 2014.
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
The design and compilation of the text and photos on this site are copyrighted 2014.
The G.R. & I. Railroad published books and pamphlets with enticement for travel on their railroad line to Northern Lower Michigan.
Michigan in Summer has many interesting photos and text about the area, including Walloon Lake.
Michigan in Summer has many interesting photos and text about the area, including Walloon Lake.
When the map below was published in 1891 by the G.R. & I. Railroad, Walloon Lake was still named Bear Lake.
On the map, the nearest railroad stop to Bear Lake was Clarion, with part of the name Clarion hidden by the seam of the booklet.
The booklet was titled
"Mackinac the Wonderful Isle
Petoskey, Traverse City and other Northern Michigan Summer Resorts".
On the map, the nearest railroad stop to Bear Lake was Clarion, with part of the name Clarion hidden by the seam of the booklet.
The booklet was titled
"Mackinac the Wonderful Isle
Petoskey, Traverse City and other Northern Michigan Summer Resorts".
~ Map housed at the Library of Congress ~
Six months after the Homestead Act of May 1862, the Railroad act was signed. Railroads were given sections of land to promote the building of the railroads.
John Jones, Jr., and his sons Clarence and Elliot, cut ties for the G.R.&I. after they homesteaded in the area in 1872. The train stop at Walloon Lake was first named Melrose after an early Surveyor named Mel Rose. The Mel Rose name continues because the Village of Walloon Lake exists in Melrose Township.
"In the Fall of 1872, John Jones Jr. and his two sons, Clarence and Elliot came north by boat to Boyne City and staked their homestead in the present J.E. Jones farm. They built a log cabin clearing just around the place where the cabin sat to get the necessary logs with which to build. They returned to their home and brought their family to their new home in the Spring of 73. Mrs. Jones had brought with her a chest of drawers that she couldn't bear to part. All went well until they got off the boat in Boyne and then the question of how to get it to the homestead came up. Mr. Jones put the frame part of the chest on his back and each of the children took a drawer. They would go as far as they could, set them down and rest, and go on their way through the forest.
Clarence, the oldest son, was able to help his father plant potatoes around the stumps that spring and the two young chilled, Elliot and Lillian, were assigned the task of carrying water in small pails from the spring about a quarter of a mile away just beyond their line stakes. This of course was heavily-wooded, and it took great courage on their part to fetch the water, especially after they had met their first bear. They had been told to stand perfectly still if they saw one, and they did just that when they saw him. It was an experiment they never forgot.
In the Winter of 73, Mr. Jones and Clarence cut ties for the railroad that was to be brought in from Boyne Falls. They hauled them with an ox team straddling many a tree on a steep hill, getting them over the trail to their destination. In 1874, Melrose stop came into being. It was named after Mel Rose, one of the early surveyors. The railroad ended at this stop for a time until they could continue on to Clarion and finally to Petoskey. As they could only lay rails during the Summer months, it put a limit on how far they could go in a year's time. The territory had been divided between the U.S. government and the railroad to go through, so not all the pioneers homesteaded their land. They could buy it directly from the railroad and not have to prove-up their homestead, which was a five-year process." ~ Mildred Burns, longtime Walloon Lake resident
"In the Fall of 1872, John Jones Jr. and his two sons, Clarence and Elliot came north by boat to Boyne City and staked their homestead in the present J.E. Jones farm. They built a log cabin clearing just around the place where the cabin sat to get the necessary logs with which to build. They returned to their home and brought their family to their new home in the Spring of 73. Mrs. Jones had brought with her a chest of drawers that she couldn't bear to part. All went well until they got off the boat in Boyne and then the question of how to get it to the homestead came up. Mr. Jones put the frame part of the chest on his back and each of the children took a drawer. They would go as far as they could, set them down and rest, and go on their way through the forest.
Clarence, the oldest son, was able to help his father plant potatoes around the stumps that spring and the two young chilled, Elliot and Lillian, were assigned the task of carrying water in small pails from the spring about a quarter of a mile away just beyond their line stakes. This of course was heavily-wooded, and it took great courage on their part to fetch the water, especially after they had met their first bear. They had been told to stand perfectly still if they saw one, and they did just that when they saw him. It was an experiment they never forgot.
In the Winter of 73, Mr. Jones and Clarence cut ties for the railroad that was to be brought in from Boyne Falls. They hauled them with an ox team straddling many a tree on a steep hill, getting them over the trail to their destination. In 1874, Melrose stop came into being. It was named after Mel Rose, one of the early surveyors. The railroad ended at this stop for a time until they could continue on to Clarion and finally to Petoskey. As they could only lay rails during the Summer months, it put a limit on how far they could go in a year's time. The territory had been divided between the U.S. government and the railroad to go through, so not all the pioneers homesteaded their land. They could buy it directly from the railroad and not have to prove-up their homestead, which was a five-year process." ~ Mildred Burns, longtime Walloon Lake resident
The Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad tracks reached Melrose in 1872 [conflicting date?], and began service the following year. Melrose was located about a mile south of the present 2024 Village of Clarion, and about a mile from The Foot of then Bear Lake (now Walloon Lake). C.J. Mizer was the FISRT station agent in Clarion. Mr. Mizer then sold the FIRST tickets from the station at Talcott, and convinced the railroad to build the spur which ran right to the water of Walloon Lake where railroad patrons could easily catch a steamer to continue their travels on to a lake cottage or hotel. Mr. Mizer was the owner of the Mizer Hotel on the North Shore near "The Foot".
"Shortly after the rail was put in to Melrose, in the fall of 1874, John E. Darrah came to the end of the rails from Kent County. He had only a dollar-and-a-half in his pocket, a barrel of flour, and a cow to make a new start in a country that he had heard about being all virgin timber. He had just been burned-out in his last lumber camp and lost everything he had. He left his wife and small daughter with grandma until he could get a cabin up and they joined him the following spring. His homestead covered the spot where the village of Clarion was later to be built. He cleared the land and sold parts of it to people who later came to work in the sawmills. L.H. Foote and his father filed a claim for 160 acres a mile north of Clarion. Mrs. Foote and the three children came by train from Grand Rapids, an all-day journey. The Hass family came in 1875 or 1876 and stayed with the Darrahs until they could stake their claim, as so many others did that came to this new territory." ~ Mildred Burns, longtime Walloon Lake resident
In 1879 a Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Camp was set up on Indian Garden Point. Later, the railroad company set up another camp on Birch Point on the North Arm. In 1880, the G.R. & I. RR Camp was no longer needed, so was used by Henry G. Olds and his family, from Fort Wayne Indiana.... making for the beginning of Fort Wayne Camp, through a multi-year lease of the land from John Henry McConnell.
Article Below: By 1886 dummy trains were making regular trips from Petoskey, at least as far south as Wah-me-me.
It so happened that by 1892 that Talcott (later named Walloon Lake ~ the village) had enough activity that the G.R.&I. Railroad Company was convinced that it made sense to run a spur of their line from Clarion into Talcott. It was in just the following year, 1893, that the railroad company brought in their own steamer boat Walloon (later named the Tourist) to accommodate the many resorters.
1896 ~ Walloon Lake Train Station
Photo Below: The photo was taken looking into the direction away from Walloon Lake with the building in the background right being that of Masters and Hass Boat Co. "Pleasure Crafts" is what is written on the top of the wall.
Photo Below: The Masters and Hass Boat Co. building helps to give orientation to the railroad tracks and depot in the photo above.
"My Wilhout grandparents first came to Petoskey on the train from Indiana for their honeymoon in August-September 1896. My grandfather had been to Petoskey during the previous summer. They stayed at a big hotel just on the other side of the now old train station and Perry Hotel. They loved Petoskey; it was good for my granddad’s asthma and hay fever. They took side trips to Harbor Springs, Mackinaw City, and out to some lakes. They soon bought property on the West Arm of Walloon Lake, and in 1900 they built their first cottage at what is now on 5232 Lake Grove Road." ~ Barbara (Ice) Smith
Article Below: John K. Smith was one who "aided in the construction of the roadbed of the G.R. & I.
to Mackinaw City and the branch into Walloon Lake..."
to Mackinaw City and the branch into Walloon Lake..."
Photos Above and Below: Both photos show the same buildings and locations, so were of the same timeframe; before the Koneta building was moved to the other side of the tracks to be used as Ransom's village general store. The photo below showed the train engine just pulling into the station to pick up the many many passengers.
Walloon Lake Train Station ~ 1896
Photo Below: The Walloon Lake depot in 1901
The Petoskey Record 24 August 1908 stated: "The G.R. & I. railroad have provided a temporary depot for the summer,
and repairs are being made on the railroad dock (which can be seen below)."
~ The Train Car Clearly Ran Right To The Water's Edge ~
and repairs are being made on the railroad dock (which can be seen below)."
~ The Train Car Clearly Ran Right To The Water's Edge ~
1893 ~ The Dummy Train from Petoskey, made its way to Walloon Lake
1893 ~ "In the Old Days--- Thirty years ago Michigan tourists traveled in trains like that in the below picture, which was taken at Petoskey, Mich., in 1893." By 1924 when this photo was published in The Local Levering newspaper the automobile had already put the 'dummy' trains out of the running. Before the automobiles became so popular, this train ran from Petoskey, then making its way to Walloon Lake.
1900 ~ Reach Delightful Bear Lake/Walloon Lake by the G.R. & I Railroad
~ 1901 (& 1916) ~
A Stop at McCorkle's Grove
And
G.R. & I. Railroad Wreck South of Walloon Lake
Postcard Photo Below: The photo postcard below is not dated, so cannot be directly connected to the 1901 news article above reporting a GR&I wreck South of Walloon Lake, whereas Clarion (as labeled in the postcard second below) is just a bit north of Walloon Lake. The article below, however, mentions Clarion in particular, and the year for the wreck in the article was from the 27 April 1916 Petoskey Evening News.
Train Wreck At Clarion, Near Walloon Lake
1903 ~ New Railroad for Boyne City to Extend Through Walloon Lake
Depot Located in the Village of Walloon Lake
Article and Photo Below: This Walloon Lake depot was built in 1901.
It replaced the depot that had been moved onto the dock and used as a pavilion.
It replaced the depot that had been moved onto the dock and used as a pavilion.
The book Railroad Depots of Michigan: 1910-1920 stated on page 63 "Grand Rapids & Indiana Depot, Walloon Lake. Service to Walloon Lake consisted of three daily round-trips from Petoskey. The trip took 30 minutes, with a regularly scheduled stop at Clarion, where the trains left the main line and got on the Walloon Lake Branch..."
Page 24 of Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure published in 1999 described various travels of Ernest Hemingway including his family's travels from Chicago to Walloon Lake: "In order to reach their Walloon Lake cottage, Ernest Hemingway's family traveled by steamship from Chicago to Harbor Springs. A Dummy Train ran from Harbor Springs to Petoskey where, next the Hemingway Family rode the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad train to the Walloon Lake depot. At the depot their belongings were loaded onto a steamer on Walloon Lake, which delivered them to their cottage Windemere on the North Shore."
Photo Postcard Below from webmaster's personal collection: This postcard shows the "dummy train" as it rounded a bend on the the shore of Little Traverse Bay, after leaving Harbor Springs, heading to the Petoskey Suburban Station.
Photo Postcard Below from webmaster's personal collection: This postcard shows the "dummy train" as it rounded a bend on the the shore of Little Traverse Bay, after leaving Harbor Springs, heading to the Petoskey Suburban Station.
Photo Below: The same G.R. & I. Northland Limited "dummy train" as in the photo above, is shown at a brief stop at the Suburban Station in Petoskey. Then, the train would travel on to Walloon Lake village for passengers to connect with the steamers on the lake to take them to their cottages or a resort.
Photo Below: Accompanying text stated: "Back when the tourist trains used to bring summer vacationers up north to Walloon Lake, the train tracks came into the foot of the lake and stopped on the shoreline. There, the resorters would get off and all of their luggage would be loaded onto boats [Both steamers Tourist and Outing are at the dock.] that would take them to their cottages around the lake. This picture shows the depot area where the trains would stop. It was located, according to the picture, between what was then Masters Boatworks and the Village Store which was then on the lakeside of the present road." Those tracks were removed in 1928.
Photo Below: 1906 ~ Depot for the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway in the Village of Walloon Lake BEFORE the fire;
and before November of 1906 because no winter train ran between Walloon Lake and Petoskey.
and before November of 1906 because no winter train ran between Walloon Lake and Petoskey.
Article Right from the 3 July 1907 issue of The Petoskey Record: Charlevoix County's neighboring Emmet County experienced its very first car accident with the advent of cars around the countryside... and, the accident not surprisingly involved a train, since trains also were a prevalent mode of transportation at that time in history.
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As seen in the news photo above: The depot in the Village of Walloon Lake had burned down, at The Foot, on 5 August 1907, along with Grund's Grocery, the post office, a restaurant, Shepard's store, and the T.L. Belding building. Next Photo Farther Below: A temporary depot was built after the fire, so that people could still reach the steamers at the edge of Walloon Lake to carry the resorters to their cottages, or a resort. The new depot was finished in 1910 and located about 50 feet north of the previous station [See article below]. Later the depot was moved to the corner of River Road and Springvale Road so it was nearer to the main tracks of the railroad.
The 6 July 1910 Petoskey Evening News stated: "A desperate effort is being made by the railroad company to complete the new station by July 15. If nothing interferes with the progress of the work, the cement platform which will measure 40 by 80, will be laid this week, and the roof will be put on next week. The station proper will be about 19 by 20. Certainly nothing will add more in improving Walloon than this new addition by the G.R. & I."
Two Photos Below: This is the Walloon Lake Depot which was rebuilt (per the articles above) after the first depot burned in 1907. Later, the depot was moved easterly to the main track of the railroad, where it was eventually abandoned with the cessation of railroad passenger service.
James C. Whitfield, Sr. described his first train trip to discover Walloon Lake:
"I recall when we first came to Walloon Lake, it was in the summer of 1908, along in August I believe. My Mother and Father and I had come up on the train to Petoskey from Chicago at the suggestion of my Father's friend, R. Houston following Dad's bout with ptomaine poisoning. Dr. Houston owned a cottage on the lake over in the south arm and he recommended that Dad come to Walloon where it was nice and quiet, where he would be able to rest and relax and get his health back. So in a few days we took the Michigan Central train from the Hyde Park station. I was much too small to remember any of the trip, but I know that we had a corner room in the old Cushman House where Meyer's Hardware now has a parking lot. I remember looking out our window and seeing all the buggies and wagons going by. After a day or so at the Cushman House Dad took a walk in Pennsylvania Park just in front of the hotel and sat down to rest on one of the green benches there. He struck up a conversation with a local man there and told him he had been recommended to go to Walloon Lake by a friend, but didn't know how to get there. The gentleman told him to take one of the trains we later called a "dummy" [Photos Farther Above] from the station just across the street and this would take us over to Walloon Lake. Dad thanked the gentleman for his help and that same afternoon we did take the dummy over to the lake.
When we got there, which was about three o'clock there was no one at the station we could ask directions, and the station was in a most dilapidated freight house in a swamp. Altogether the outlook from that station wasn't at all appealing. There were a few old leaning buildings (one a general store) and some miscellaneous junk lying about. We could see a small view of water, but as for a beautiful lake, there just didn't seem to be any and after landing in that swamp nothing looked appealing. So, Dad and Mother said we'd forget the whole thing. We climbed back on the train which had brought us over and rode back to Petoskey very much disappointed. So you can see how much we were impressed with Walloon Lake.
The very next day Dad took a walk in the park again and met his friend of the previous day and told him of our disappointing trip. The gentleman was quite surprised and said we hadn't gone at the excursion properly. We should have gone over in the morning, taken the steamer for a cruise around the lake, stop off at one of the hotels for lunch and thereby get to really SEE the lake. He must have been a pretty good salesman as we followed his direction the next day, had a wonderful ride around the lake, stopped at Eagle Island Hotel, now called Hemlock Point and came back to Petoskey with a much better impression. In fact we were so taken with the whole place that Dad went back the following day and made arrangements for us to stay two weeks at the Mizer Hotel. Back to Walloon we went and this time were met by a bell boy from the hotel who took our bags up to the hotel a few blocks away.
All I can remember of that part of the trip was walking between tall rows of bushes on both sides, taller than my head and more bushes than I had ever seen before. We got to the Mizer OK and were all settled in. The next morning I was up early and ready for a good breakfast. Afterward I had to go down and see all that water from the big dock in front of the hotel. I noticed a stick floating in the water there and decided that by stepping on that log down there I could pick it up, but what I didn't know was that a floating log can be very slippery and can roll quite easily. Well, I had no sooner put my foot on the log when it did just that and BINGO I was in the drink!! Of course I didn't know how to swim, and I can't imagine how I got out, but I did and stood on the dock hollering for Mother. The bell boy ran up to our room and yelled, "Your boy just fell into the water." Mother and Dad rushed down and rescued me and that was my first experience of being in Walloon by mistake or otherwise, but it wasn't the last as when we built our cottage I almost made it a weekly if not daily habit of getting myself dunked."
James C. Whitfield, Sr. described his train trip from Chicago to their cottage on Walloon Lake after school was out for the next summer:
"Too soon we had to leave for home as school had already started and I was already “late for school”, maybe a week. That was a long winter waiting to get back to the lake and see our new cottage. Finally the day came when school was out and we took the train that same evening for the north woods. It was the Michigan Central which ran on Illinois Central tracks from the twelfth street station through Gary and Michigan City to Kalamazoo where we were bumped around like a cattle train before being hooked up to a Grand Rapids & Indiana engine for the 300+ miles haul to Petoskey and then on to Mackinaw City, the end of the GR&I line."
James C. Whitfield, Sr. described his summer train trips from Chicago to their cottage on Walloon Lake as almost a ritual:
"That became almost a ritual with Dad. He would come up with Mother and me to help open up the cottage, stay a week or so, then take the Sunday night train back to Chicago where he’d work a week or so [being a nose and throat specialist] then back to Walloon he’d come on a Friday or Saturday night arriving in Clarion early in the morning of the next day where we’d meet him. And when I say “early” I mean just that as the train usually pulled in about 5:30 or 6:00 which necessitated our getting up in what would be nearly the middle of the night, then a long hike over to Clarion through that chilly air. Northern Michigan air in the early morning even in summer isn’t for sunbathing. We’d collect Dad, help him carry his bag and be met at the cottage by Auntie Mame who had prepared a good hot breakfast for us near-frozen souls. Following breakfast we’d go out on the back road and take some deep-breathing exercises to get our circulation working again."
~ James C. Whitfield, Sr.
"I recall when we first came to Walloon Lake, it was in the summer of 1908, along in August I believe. My Mother and Father and I had come up on the train to Petoskey from Chicago at the suggestion of my Father's friend, R. Houston following Dad's bout with ptomaine poisoning. Dr. Houston owned a cottage on the lake over in the south arm and he recommended that Dad come to Walloon where it was nice and quiet, where he would be able to rest and relax and get his health back. So in a few days we took the Michigan Central train from the Hyde Park station. I was much too small to remember any of the trip, but I know that we had a corner room in the old Cushman House where Meyer's Hardware now has a parking lot. I remember looking out our window and seeing all the buggies and wagons going by. After a day or so at the Cushman House Dad took a walk in Pennsylvania Park just in front of the hotel and sat down to rest on one of the green benches there. He struck up a conversation with a local man there and told him he had been recommended to go to Walloon Lake by a friend, but didn't know how to get there. The gentleman told him to take one of the trains we later called a "dummy" [Photos Farther Above] from the station just across the street and this would take us over to Walloon Lake. Dad thanked the gentleman for his help and that same afternoon we did take the dummy over to the lake.
When we got there, which was about three o'clock there was no one at the station we could ask directions, and the station was in a most dilapidated freight house in a swamp. Altogether the outlook from that station wasn't at all appealing. There were a few old leaning buildings (one a general store) and some miscellaneous junk lying about. We could see a small view of water, but as for a beautiful lake, there just didn't seem to be any and after landing in that swamp nothing looked appealing. So, Dad and Mother said we'd forget the whole thing. We climbed back on the train which had brought us over and rode back to Petoskey very much disappointed. So you can see how much we were impressed with Walloon Lake.
The very next day Dad took a walk in the park again and met his friend of the previous day and told him of our disappointing trip. The gentleman was quite surprised and said we hadn't gone at the excursion properly. We should have gone over in the morning, taken the steamer for a cruise around the lake, stop off at one of the hotels for lunch and thereby get to really SEE the lake. He must have been a pretty good salesman as we followed his direction the next day, had a wonderful ride around the lake, stopped at Eagle Island Hotel, now called Hemlock Point and came back to Petoskey with a much better impression. In fact we were so taken with the whole place that Dad went back the following day and made arrangements for us to stay two weeks at the Mizer Hotel. Back to Walloon we went and this time were met by a bell boy from the hotel who took our bags up to the hotel a few blocks away.
All I can remember of that part of the trip was walking between tall rows of bushes on both sides, taller than my head and more bushes than I had ever seen before. We got to the Mizer OK and were all settled in. The next morning I was up early and ready for a good breakfast. Afterward I had to go down and see all that water from the big dock in front of the hotel. I noticed a stick floating in the water there and decided that by stepping on that log down there I could pick it up, but what I didn't know was that a floating log can be very slippery and can roll quite easily. Well, I had no sooner put my foot on the log when it did just that and BINGO I was in the drink!! Of course I didn't know how to swim, and I can't imagine how I got out, but I did and stood on the dock hollering for Mother. The bell boy ran up to our room and yelled, "Your boy just fell into the water." Mother and Dad rushed down and rescued me and that was my first experience of being in Walloon by mistake or otherwise, but it wasn't the last as when we built our cottage I almost made it a weekly if not daily habit of getting myself dunked."
James C. Whitfield, Sr. described his train trip from Chicago to their cottage on Walloon Lake after school was out for the next summer:
"Too soon we had to leave for home as school had already started and I was already “late for school”, maybe a week. That was a long winter waiting to get back to the lake and see our new cottage. Finally the day came when school was out and we took the train that same evening for the north woods. It was the Michigan Central which ran on Illinois Central tracks from the twelfth street station through Gary and Michigan City to Kalamazoo where we were bumped around like a cattle train before being hooked up to a Grand Rapids & Indiana engine for the 300+ miles haul to Petoskey and then on to Mackinaw City, the end of the GR&I line."
James C. Whitfield, Sr. described his summer train trips from Chicago to their cottage on Walloon Lake as almost a ritual:
"That became almost a ritual with Dad. He would come up with Mother and me to help open up the cottage, stay a week or so, then take the Sunday night train back to Chicago where he’d work a week or so [being a nose and throat specialist] then back to Walloon he’d come on a Friday or Saturday night arriving in Clarion early in the morning of the next day where we’d meet him. And when I say “early” I mean just that as the train usually pulled in about 5:30 or 6:00 which necessitated our getting up in what would be nearly the middle of the night, then a long hike over to Clarion through that chilly air. Northern Michigan air in the early morning even in summer isn’t for sunbathing. We’d collect Dad, help him carry his bag and be met at the cottage by Auntie Mame who had prepared a good hot breakfast for us near-frozen souls. Following breakfast we’d go out on the back road and take some deep-breathing exercises to get our circulation working again."
~ James C. Whitfield, Sr.
After arriving by train in Walloon Lake Village, the Hemingway Family had still to take a steamer ride to their summer home Windemere.
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1912 Photo Below: Accompanying text stated: "Back in the old days of Walloon Lake, there was an ice mound that was allowed to build up over the winter on property that was next to the Walloon Lake Railroad Depot. Sometimes the ice grew to about 35 feet high, some old timers have said. While today that may be disputed, other ice towers are allowed to happen in neighboring communities around the north, like Gaylord." Could this ice mound in the photo below have been the result of the 1901 Artisian Well having been drilled near the G.R.&I. Station as stated in the article at the left?
This movie below of the Ice Tower, beside the home of the Hass Family, was digitized from the film of an 8 mm camera.
James C. Whitfield, Sr., described a trip on the railroad out of Walloon Lake to see...
"The Indian Play Hiawatha in the Land of the Ojibways".
"The Indian Play Hiawatha in the Land of the Ojibways".
The Dummy Train ran from Walloon Lake through the Petoskey Station, and then on to Conway.
"It was about that early time, too, that my folks took me over (from Walloon Lake) to a place on the Conway line of the GR&I called ‘Wa-yag-amug’. It was on the shore of Round Lake and was where the Indian pageant was put on, every afternoon in the summer. The entire cast was composed of local Indians and they enacted the Longfellow poem, ‘HIAWATHA’. We took the early afternoon train to Petoskey, then changed to the one for Conway and were let off at a special stop designated as ‘WA-YAG-AMUG’. We traipsed down to the lake and into a small pavilion built partly over the water of an inlet of the lake. The ‘stage’ consisted of the natural woods and shore of the opposite side of the inlet. An Indian teepee was set up there and all the trappings of the Indian village and beside a couple of real birch bark canoes, pulled up on the beach. The only white man in the presentation was George Franklin of Petoskey who read parts of Longfellow's poem hidden behind a rock on one side. The play started and continued as the Indians moved about on the stage and ended as the villain of the poem was chased by the villagers and as he climbed to the top of the rock from where he jumped off into a pool of water and a stuffed beaver skin was floated up in his place. Then Hiawatha was supposed to die and that Indian stepped into a canoe beached in the lake itself, and holding a paddle straight up he was towed by an underwater rope to a spot on the farther shore where he stepped into the woods. It was quite well done and I was thrilled, but what interested me most was the home made birch bark canoes in the play, and I kept thinking how wonderful it would be if I could make myself one."
~ James C. Whitfield, Sr. |
[The program above right for ‘The Indian Play Hiawatha’ in the Land of the Ojibways spelled the place name ‘WA-YA-GA-MUG'.]
Over time... sometimes the place name of the Hiawatha play was spelled Wa-ya-ga-mug, and sometimes it was spelled Ya-way-ga-mug.
Over time... sometimes the place name of the Hiawatha play was spelled Wa-ya-ga-mug, and sometimes it was spelled Ya-way-ga-mug.
The article below right tells of Longfellow's inspiration for his rendition of Hiawatha, the poem.
The Director of Special Collections & University Archives of Grand Valley State University Libraries of Allendale MI, Robert Beasecker, has submitted the article below. THE INLANDER, a student literary magazine of the University of Michigan included the article "Hiawatha -- An Ojibway Indian Play" written by Lawrence S. Highstone. The article presented information about the play itself, and included several photos connected with the actors from before 7 October 1905 when the article was published.
Robert Beasecker researched the 1905 author, Lawrence S. Highstone, of the article below, in the records of the University of Michigan, and Ancestry.com. It was found that "Highstone was born on Mackinac Island in 1878; he received the LL.B. degree from Notre Dame in 1902, and attended UofM 1902-03, but left without taking a degree. He died in 1921 of a brain tumor".
Robert Beasecker researched the 1905 author, Lawrence S. Highstone, of the article below, in the records of the University of Michigan, and Ancestry.com. It was found that "Highstone was born on Mackinac Island in 1878; he received the LL.B. degree from Notre Dame in 1902, and attended UofM 1902-03, but left without taking a degree. He died in 1921 of a brain tumor".
Dean and Marna Wheaton submitted the photo below for use only on this Walloon Lake Wanderings website:
Wayagamug in August 1909...
home of the play Hiawatha beside Iduna Lagoon
The 1881 article below illustrates the admiration for Longfellow even before he wrote the epic poem Hiawatha in 1855.
Ownership of original book The Wooing of Hiawatha by Longfellow is in possession
of Karla Howard Buckmaster
and presented in the form of a slideshow below for viewing pleasure only...
click on pause to allow more time to read the pages.
A different presentation of the same booklet can be viewed at another website.
The folder below (presented in the form of a slideshow) was issued by the General Passenger Department of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway Company in July 1913.
The photos were by Petoskey, Michigan, photographer Grace Chandler Horn.
The Hiawatha play performed at Round Lake or Wa-Ya-Ga-Mug Lake, was extremely well attended with the dummy trains running to and fro daily during the Summer performances. The November 1905 Acetylene Journal article shown below written by L.O. Armstrong, the railroad agent who was promoting the Hiawatha play told of the acetylene lighting illuminating the staging area. The grandstand for viewing the Hiawatha play, shown in the photo right, was described as standing "two hundred feet long and is two stories, the lower one of which consists of boxes and serves as a porch to the upper stand. There is accommodation for 2,500 people." This is the same play with grandstand that James C. Whitfield, Sr., wrote of attending in his above description.
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Photos Below: The Hiawatha play staging area was front left with the huge grandstand showing in the background.
In the 31 August 1902 Chicago Tribune, a true Hiawatha Love Story was reported:
HIAWATHA AND MINNEHAHA IN AN INDIAN PLAY WED.
Members of Native Company Use Lines of Longfellow in Real Love Making - Double Ceremony Unites the Couple
Members of Native Company Use Lines of Longfellow in Real Love Making - Double Ceremony Unites the Couple
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Aug. 30 -[Special.] - Margaret Wahbunosa, who plays the part of Minnehaha in the Ojibway production of Longfellow's poem of Hiawatha at Desbarats, Ont., was on Wednesday married to Thomas Shawano, who plays the part of Hiawatha in the same company. The rites on Wednesday were those of the Sioux and Ojibway Indians, while on Thursday they were married according to the rites of the Episcopal church by the Rev. Frederick Frost, missionary at Garden River.
Nobody, either in the audiences nor the managers dreamed that the two Indians were putting more into their lines than what they were paid for until a few days ago, when Shawano asked for a day off in order that he might marry the dusky maiden whom he has been wooing in so romantic a manner for the last two months.
The couple have been with the company ever since it was organized, and some time ago were assigned to the roles of Minnehaha and Hiawatha. Day after day. In the Ojibway tongue. Shawano has been wooing Margaret according to the verses of the poet, and night after night he has been wooing her according to the manners of his people. He has been successful, and the season closes with one of the most romantic record.
Following the play on Wednesday six white people were made members of the Ojibway tribe in token of their kindness to the Indians. They were Miss Marguerite and Miss May Armstrong, Mrs. Burton and William, Winifred and Frieda Burton.
Nobody, either in the audiences nor the managers dreamed that the two Indians were putting more into their lines than what they were paid for until a few days ago, when Shawano asked for a day off in order that he might marry the dusky maiden whom he has been wooing in so romantic a manner for the last two months.
The couple have been with the company ever since it was organized, and some time ago were assigned to the roles of Minnehaha and Hiawatha. Day after day. In the Ojibway tongue. Shawano has been wooing Margaret according to the verses of the poet, and night after night he has been wooing her according to the manners of his people. He has been successful, and the season closes with one of the most romantic record.
Following the play on Wednesday six white people were made members of the Ojibway tribe in token of their kindness to the Indians. They were Miss Marguerite and Miss May Armstrong, Mrs. Burton and William, Winifred and Frieda Burton.
An Indian Love Song from Longfellow's Hiawatha
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Prominent Area Indian Leaders in 1901 Hiawatha at Petoskey
"The Hiawatha Indian drama, with native Ojibway Indian actors, at Ya-Way-Ga-Mug, a new station on the G.R. & I., is a permanent attraction of which Petoskey is proud. The natural setting for the Indian play is matchless. The seating capacity is furnished in a grand-stand of the most solid construction. The novelty of the exhibition appeals to all classes. Exits and entrances are by canoe, and the acting of the Indians perfect in its naturalness. All the main incidents of the poem are incorporated in the play, which Miss Alice Longfellow has warmly endorsed as being worthy of her father's great work. The singing of the Indians is as surprising as their acting. Sweet love lyrics, canoeing songs, old wedding songs and others illustrating their folk-lore, and dances illustrating Ojibway tribal religious and social customs, render the performance fascinating in the extreme. The costuming is perfect and the properties historically correct. The scenes are a series of pictures of ravishing beauty. The entire performance compels us to look at the Indian in a different light. The whole play and the exciting and varied watered sports that follow can be enjoyed in one afternoon and at small cost. We confidently advise all our visitors to go to Ya-Way-Ga-Mug before leaving our northern shores." ~ From a booklet published in 1904 by the G.R. & I. Railroad promoting the area titled: Little Traverse Bay Resorts.
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Miss Frances Pailthorp, Art Teacher ~ A Friend to the Indians
(Indian Exhibit at Wayagamug)
Attended Olivet College ~ Petoskey Schools Art Department
(Indian Exhibit at Wayagamug)
Attended Olivet College ~ Petoskey Schools Art Department
Miss Frances Pailthorp [photo above left] was a local area artist who was instrumental in advancing the painting of a huge mural [photo above] which hung in Petoskey High School for years, and now is preserved in the Physical Education Center at North Central Michigan College Petoskey MI. Evidently, from the 1910 article left, Miss Pailthorp was preparing to set up an Indian exhibit at Wayagamug which was where the play of Hiawatha was performed beside Round Lake. One has to wonder what ever happened to the many Indian relics which Miss Pailthorp had gathered, as I have read about them in other articles as well. Does anyone know where those Indian items might be located?
---Karla Howard Buckmaster
---Karla Howard Buckmaster
In Miss Pailthorp's handwriting she described the mural scene: "Mural for the Petoskey High School by Mr. Hildebrand. 1st Train & Depot, 1st School (blank in this picture), white Men & Indians homes, Lumber Jack, Friendly Indians in Cream Deerskin, Catholic Mission, Our Bay, Our Sunset, Hunters, Porter's Mission & First Post Office, Pigeons, Deer ~ Sculpture in the Background, Picking Corn, Maple Sugar Bush. Figures not Realistic, but Symbolic."
Photo Below: Each student who participated for almost a year, in the painting of the PHS mural, was given an award
like the one below that was presented to Carlie Broman.
Carlie Browman passed away in 2022.
like the one below that was presented to Carlie Broman.
Carlie Browman passed away in 2022.
The 2014 photo below of the Class of 1949 enjoying their 65th Petoskey High School Class Reunion included students of Miss Pailthorp. Joyce Wurst, Dick Curtis, Carolyn Switzer and Carlie Broman (in photo below right) who began kindergarten together at Petoskey, Michigan's, Central Elementary School in 1936. Those four were noted in the article about the creating of the mural above led by Miss Pailthorp.
The 2016 photo above of the Class of 1949 enjoying their 67th Petoskey High School Class Reunion included students of Miss Pailthorp. Both Carolyn Switzer and Carlie Broman (in photo above) had been noted in articles of having helped for almost a year in creating the mural depicting the history of Petoskey on the high school wall... with the mural now at home in the Student and Community Resource Center at Petoskey's North Central Michigan College.
Miss Pailthorp wrote: "The panels painted by the Ottawa Indian children were written up in Michigan History, March 1953, a magazine published by the Michigan Historical Society. No other school has panels of this kind painted by young Indian artists in Michigan to my knowledge."
3) In February 2017, handwriting was discovered on the back of the above painting, transcribed as:
1st Schools- Boards Not Logs When Mrs. Oakley arrived with her little daughter (Mrs. W Chrysler) she found the older people down at a cabin planning for a school. Dr. Little was from Canada (He was the one who called the meeting.) + so was Mrs. Oakley. (She had taught in Canada) She applied for the position (as teacher) and was hired. There were three new board cabins One was to be used by a man who built the three One “ “ “ “ for the school The 3rd Mrs. Chrysler Oakley purchased for $30 (to live in) So our first school was valued at $30 Here you see the Indians getting ready for the maple sap run. Birch bark pail. This was done by Katheryn Kirwin H.S. Art Pupil 1939-1940. These were made with the cheapest kind of powdered paints mixed with water. When a friend saw them she sent us clear varnish from N.Y. We wanted a dull finish+ tried cheesecloth + black wire netting but you could not see the fine bead work on the suits—so we had to let the pictures shine—sometime these may be suggestions for fine murals about our public buildings. Katheryn lives on Emmet Street is a very gifted modest little artist. I have enjoyed seeing her work. |
4) In February 2017, handwriting was discovered on the back of the above painting, transcribed as:
Arrival of the Gov. Boat By Oakley Bush 1940 H.S. Art Class The boat came in in Nov. when the Indians were decorating their graves with paper roses (All Saints’ day.) The Indians were carrying wreaths about the streets, on the way to the cemetery. The officers followed one of them happened to say he liked the flowers, so one day later when the Indians went out to the Gov. boat to sell baskets, maple sugar, etc. they decorated their canoes with paper roses to please the officers. — Mrs. Chrysler’s nephew from Calf. wrote a book on Gov. boats. We used one of the pictures for this boat. Oakley shows the other Indian after birch bark. Oakley was killed by a train just after he had finish these. He had a real “feeling” for fine things – Was proud of his race + it’s history His grandfather taught Indian art+ told Indian legends to Boys Camps – He was a great help to Oakley. He (Mr. Frank Greenleaf) passed on this year. We all wanted to find some way of finishing these with a dull finish but our original paints were very cheap – powdered paints mix with water. |
Close-up Photos Below: Signatures and Dates of the four above numbered paintings of Miss Pailthorp's students...
(Click to Enlarge)
(Click to Enlarge)
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Compare the page of photos below of the 1951 Art Department with photos above the signature photos ... It is interesting to see that two of the paintings which now hang in the Petoskey High School hall in August 2015 (photos above), are also on the walls behind the students in the art room in the 1951 Petosegan photos below. "First School" and the painting with the ship in the background are both identifiable in the paintings below compared to the paintings in the above photos. One painting in the first photo below left is NOT hanging with the other 4 paintings in August 2015 at the Petoskey High School. Miss Pailthorp had mentioned that 8 paintings had been created by her students. Does anyone know where the other four paintings, other than those now hanging at PHS, are located??? Please let me know if you know their locations. [UPDATE: Look farther below for photos of the other four paintings, and their location as of July 2012]
Three photos below were from the 1940 Petoskey High School yearbook, the Petosegan...
Obituary Below Left: Oakley Bush painted the artwork as described in a photo above with Miss Pailthorp.
Oakley had been at Camp Wolverine with the CCC and was assigned to painting there.
Obituary Below Right: Only about six months after Oakley was killed, his grandfather Frank Greenleaf,
with whom Oakley had lived, passed away from an illness.
Frank Greenleaf (in photos below) was a well-known performer in the Indian pageants
presented in the Petoskey area.
In March of 1953 Miss Pailthorp published her article "Petoskey Murals" in the Michigan History Magazine shown below describing the eight paintings and the student's names: Josephine Otto, Oakley Bush, Laura (Lorna in another article?) Jean Schneider, and Jo Kirwin.
The four photos below of four of the paintings of Francis Pailthorp's students' paintings were included in an article in the July 2012 Odawa Trails newsletter. The accompanying article stated the painted murals are hanging in the LTBB Governmental Center in Harbor Springs, Michigan. It stated that the murals had been found in the basement of the Petoskey High School, but no date given for that happening.
Photo Below Left: Francis Pailthorp wrote on the back of this photo... "I found this [photo]. It was taken in my High School studio years ago. I was looking over my Ottawa Indian art in the studio, all kinds of baskets, sweet grass, quill, splint, birch bark, wood carving, leather work, bead work, quill work etc. Frances Pailthorp"
Photo Below: This painting of Judge C.J. Pailthorp is the same painting as shown hanging on the wall behind Francis Pailthorp
in the photo above. In 2017 the painting is housed in the Little Traverse Historical Museum in Petoskey, Michigan.
in the photo above. In 2017 the painting is housed in the Little Traverse Historical Museum in Petoskey, Michigan.
~ School Seeks Mural History ~
The 17 November 1983 Petoskey News Review photo and article below confirm that yes,
EIGHT murals did at one time exist, and shows another of the paintings in the photo with the article.
~ Historic Mural Will Be Saved ~
Another local Petoskey MI artist besides Miss Frances Pailthorp who had a special relationship with the Native Americans who performed in the Hiawatha Play was Grace Chandler Horn. As the article below mentions, Grace Chandler Horn's "Indian art studies of the Hiawatha players has added to her reputation to a very marked degree, and in the course of the next few weeks all these beautiful Indian Studies, together with the above mentioned studies of Michigan's justly celebrated 'North Woods" will be on exhibition at the studio [in Petoskey].
The article at the left is part of an article in the Popular Electricity and the World's Advance, Volume 6, Issues 1-6. The article verifies the importance of Grace Chandler Horn's photography skills regarding the Hiawatha play and her friendship with the Indian actors.
The article at the left is part of an article in the Popular Electricity and the World's Advance, Volume 6, Issues 1-6. The article verifies the importance of Grace Chandler Horn's photography skills regarding the Hiawatha play and her friendship with the Indian actors.
On the second page of the program of the "Libretto Indian Play ~ Hiawatha Played At Wa-Ya-Ga-Mug, on the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway Near Petoskey Michigan, Each Summer Season by Native Ojibway Indians" was credit given as follows: "Illustrations from Original Photographs by Grace Chandler Horn". Her portraits from the play of Hiawatha are incredible in this program.
The slideshow below (Click "Play") is composed of copies of photos from a display at Petoskey's North Central Michigan College in the Student and Community Resource Center. This is only one display, of the many displays in the same area which contain valuable local Indian relics and information. The photos below highlight the "Hiawatha Play" which took place on the north-east corner on Round Lake, also known as Barney's Pond or Ya-way-ga-mug as Jim Whitfield, Sr., referred to the location in his above writing.
Two Photos Below Left: Frank Greenleaf was not only an actor in the play Hiawatha, but also a famous guide and lecturer on Indian Life and Legends. On the 1940 US census Frank Greenleaf, 65 years old, was enumerated in Ward 4 Petoskey MI with Amelia Greenleaf 60 years old, along with two males: Leo Mishige 24 years old, and Oakley Bush 19 years old, possibly a grandson of Frank Greenleaf. It was Oakley Bush who painted the Indian panel in the photo farther above with Petoskey art teacher Miss Pailthorp. Since Oakley was living in the household of Frank Greenleaf, an actor in the play Hiawatha. After the Hiawatha Play ceased, the local Indians proceeded to present Hiawatha in the Indian Pageants that continued for several years, hosted by the Bear River, and also in the Petoskey athletic stadium.
Photo Directly Below: Frank Greenleaf had performed in the original Hiawatha Play. In the dramatic style of the Hiawatha Play, Indian Pageants continued for many, many years.
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Lists below center and right: The 26 August 1932 Petoskey Evening News listed the names of the Hiawatha Pageant CAST MEMBERS which illustrates just what a large production the pageant was with so much community involvement. Notice that Oakley Bush was one of the children in the cast. Oakley was one of the artists noted above with whom art teacher Miss Pailthorp mentored.
Photo below left: The 21 August 1933 Petoskey Evening News featured a photo of Ella Petoskey as "giving the welcome" for the Petoskey Days Indian Pageant.
The 1941 article above about Frank Greenleaf is a poor scan of the photo especially,
while the text remains readable, and interesting as transcribed below:
FRANK GREENLEAF, FORMER HIAWATHA STAR, DEAD
while the text remains readable, and interesting as transcribed below:
FRANK GREENLEAF, FORMER HIAWATHA STAR, DEAD
"Frank Greenleaf, full-blooded Ottawa Indian, whose last name in Indian is "Ash-Ki-Bi-Gosh," is dead.
Members of the Indian race held special services, Thursday and Friday evening prior to his services at St. Francis church Saturday morning followed with burial in Greenwood cemetery.
Born at Good Hart on March 12, 1875, he spent his entire life in this region. He appeared in the original 'Hiawatha' productions on Round Lake, in the Chamber of Commerce Indian pageants, in the Indian Naming Ceremony at Harbor Springs and was instructor in Indian lore at Camp Pe-To-Se-Ga on Pickerel Lake. Several years ago he was a special guest at the homecoming celebration for Camp Pe-To-Se-Ga members at Lexington, Ky.
For several years he operated a barber shop on Park-ave.
Greenleaf died Thursday following an illness -- Review Photo-Engraving."
Members of the Indian race held special services, Thursday and Friday evening prior to his services at St. Francis church Saturday morning followed with burial in Greenwood cemetery.
Born at Good Hart on March 12, 1875, he spent his entire life in this region. He appeared in the original 'Hiawatha' productions on Round Lake, in the Chamber of Commerce Indian pageants, in the Indian Naming Ceremony at Harbor Springs and was instructor in Indian lore at Camp Pe-To-Se-Ga on Pickerel Lake. Several years ago he was a special guest at the homecoming celebration for Camp Pe-To-Se-Ga members at Lexington, Ky.
For several years he operated a barber shop on Park-ave.
Greenleaf died Thursday following an illness -- Review Photo-Engraving."
Article Below: 1910 Ending of the Hiawatha Indian play at Wa-ya-ga-mug for some years,
at least according to this article...
BUT, a 1913 article two articles below,
then tells of a near tragedy at the play, so the Hiawatha play must have continued.
Perhaps the 1910 article was only referring to the "end of the season."
"Hiawatha Pageant" Michigan Historical Marker Unveiled At Dedication
Ima Williams head of the Hiawatha Pageant Historical Marker Committee, sponsored by the Petoskey Area Antiques Club, along with her daughter Angie, saw the fruition of their project to have a Michigan Historical Marker placed close to the setting of the play of Hiawatha at the Iduna Lagoon on 7 October 2015. The slideshow below presents a record of the dedication ceremony.
The Northern Arrow ~ Pennsylvania Railroad Train
Depot Relocated on the Corner of Springvale Road and River Road
After the temporary Walloon Lake railroad depot was built by 1910, it then was moved to the corner of River Road and Springvale Road so it was nearer to the main tracks of the railroad.
The 1911 publication of "Picturesque Walloon" on page 8 explains "WHERE IS WALLOON LAKE?":
It is situated eight miles south of Petoskey on the Grand Rapids & Indiana railway. Good telegraph, telephone and mail service closely connect us with the business world.
Many popular families from the leading cities of the East, South and West, spend their summer vacations here. Petoskey, the metropolis of the resort region, is reached by the G.R. & I. suburban train service. Boyne City, a thriving city of 5,000 population, only five miles distant, a pleasant and picturesque drive by carriage or automobile."
AND on page 18... "the village of Clarion, one mile distant on the G.R. & I., sprung up, with C. J. Mizer, the station Agent."
Picturesque Walloon published 1911 described on pages 14-16, WALLOON LAKE'S EARLY HISTORY AS TOLD BY AN EARLY SETTLER:
"More than thirty years ago we arrived at what was then the station of Melrose, at that time the first station south of Petoskey. It consisted of two buildings, the section foreman's residence and the toolhouse and postoffice combined. The postoffice consisted of a slot in the door of the toolhouse, with a box attached to the inside, to catch whatever mail might be left there by the trainmen. The patrons of the office consisted of the section men and possibly five or six homesteaders who, at some time or other, had worked on the section. Every one was his own postmaster.
There, at the station, we found ample accommodations for our transfer to the lake in the form of a two-wheel push cart. Into this we loaded our baggage and camping outfit and started for the lake, a mile distant. After a rest or two, and while the setting sun was making shadow pictures on the smooth surface of the lake, we made our camp where now stands the handsome summer residence of H.S. Jordan, of Grand Rapids, Mich. The view up the lake from our camp showed an unbroken shore line of dense pine and hardwood, as far as the eye could reach, with one exception, that being Indian Garden, where the officials of the G.R.&I. railway had erected a small building in the natural opening of the woods, this point at that time very much resembling the place as it is today, with the exception of the dock, magnificent hotel and other buildings lately erected by W.H. Ellis, the present owner. This point then known as Indian Garden, had been the annual camping grounds of the Indians as far back as history reaches: here grew all the native trees and fruits and some that were foreign to this vicinity.
On this point the G.R.&I. officials (and sometimes their families) camped for several summers. They also carted by hand all their baggage, tents and supplies from the railroad to the lake, often employing John Hollm and John Hammer, two big powerful men (called "The Two Johns"), who also helped them at the camp and acted as guides on the lake.
Indian Garden was connected with the outside world by a single telegraph wire from the main line, through the woods and across the lake at what is now known as Judge Henry's Point."
It is situated eight miles south of Petoskey on the Grand Rapids & Indiana railway. Good telegraph, telephone and mail service closely connect us with the business world.
Many popular families from the leading cities of the East, South and West, spend their summer vacations here. Petoskey, the metropolis of the resort region, is reached by the G.R. & I. suburban train service. Boyne City, a thriving city of 5,000 population, only five miles distant, a pleasant and picturesque drive by carriage or automobile."
AND on page 18... "the village of Clarion, one mile distant on the G.R. & I., sprung up, with C. J. Mizer, the station Agent."
Picturesque Walloon published 1911 described on pages 14-16, WALLOON LAKE'S EARLY HISTORY AS TOLD BY AN EARLY SETTLER:
"More than thirty years ago we arrived at what was then the station of Melrose, at that time the first station south of Petoskey. It consisted of two buildings, the section foreman's residence and the toolhouse and postoffice combined. The postoffice consisted of a slot in the door of the toolhouse, with a box attached to the inside, to catch whatever mail might be left there by the trainmen. The patrons of the office consisted of the section men and possibly five or six homesteaders who, at some time or other, had worked on the section. Every one was his own postmaster.
There, at the station, we found ample accommodations for our transfer to the lake in the form of a two-wheel push cart. Into this we loaded our baggage and camping outfit and started for the lake, a mile distant. After a rest or two, and while the setting sun was making shadow pictures on the smooth surface of the lake, we made our camp where now stands the handsome summer residence of H.S. Jordan, of Grand Rapids, Mich. The view up the lake from our camp showed an unbroken shore line of dense pine and hardwood, as far as the eye could reach, with one exception, that being Indian Garden, where the officials of the G.R.&I. railway had erected a small building in the natural opening of the woods, this point at that time very much resembling the place as it is today, with the exception of the dock, magnificent hotel and other buildings lately erected by W.H. Ellis, the present owner. This point then known as Indian Garden, had been the annual camping grounds of the Indians as far back as history reaches: here grew all the native trees and fruits and some that were foreign to this vicinity.
On this point the G.R.&I. officials (and sometimes their families) camped for several summers. They also carted by hand all their baggage, tents and supplies from the railroad to the lake, often employing John Hollm and John Hammer, two big powerful men (called "The Two Johns"), who also helped them at the camp and acted as guides on the lake.
Indian Garden was connected with the outside world by a single telegraph wire from the main line, through the woods and across the lake at what is now known as Judge Henry's Point."
Four Photos Below: The depot at Walloon Village was built in 1907 after the original one had burned in 1906. In later years, it was moved easterly to the main track of the railroad, and finally abandoned with the cessation of passenger service.
Photo Above: Accompanying text stated: "Members of the Grand Old Army Lambard [sic~Lombard] and Richardson Post enjoyed an outing on Walloon Lake about 1914-15. The building was the new railroad depot which was located near Clarion just past the intersection of the Junction of US 131 and M-75 to the right of corner by railroad tracks." Photo Below: The people in the photo below are the same people as in the photo above.
Nothing seemed to have materialized with the idea of having the Pere Marquette Railroad
run from Bay Shore to Walloon Lake, but it was discussed as in the articles below.
run from Bay Shore to Walloon Lake, but it was discussed as in the articles below.
Page 120 in Inland Lakes of Michigan By Irving Day Scott originally published in 1921 described the connection of Walloon Lake with the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad.
"It [Walloon Lake] is easily reached by the Grand Rapids & Indiana R.R., which follows the broad valley of Bear Creek south from Petoskey and runs a short spur from the main line to Walloon Lake Station at the south-eastern end of the lake... The abundance of high ground along the shores insures excellent locations for cottages and its nearness to the railroad makes it easy of access."
"It [Walloon Lake] is easily reached by the Grand Rapids & Indiana R.R., which follows the broad valley of Bear Creek south from Petoskey and runs a short spur from the main line to Walloon Lake Station at the south-eastern end of the lake... The abundance of high ground along the shores insures excellent locations for cottages and its nearness to the railroad makes it easy of access."
June 15, 1928 ~ Walloon Lake Branch (1mile) in Michigan abandoned, with the prevalence of automobiles.
1930's ~ Inside the Walloon Lake Depot
Nathan C. Griswold worked in the 1930's at the Walloon Lake Depot where the Dummy Train went to, and from, Petoskey, even though the train no longer went on the spur down to the lakeside at The Foot of Walloon Lake
Small Railroad Building ~ Railway Semaphore Signal
Handwritten on the back of this photo below of a very small railroad building is "D Buckley" who was the grandfather of the photo submitter Louisa Taylor. D Buckley lived in the Village of Walloon Lake so perhaps this building was in the area of Walloon Lake. Does anyone know for sure?
Ernie Mainland, who is in the process of building a model of the G.R. & I railroad when in its vicinity of Petoskey MI, has a great knowledge of railroads. Ernie has given the following explanation of the small railroad building and its function:
"The building is a small shed, out on the line, manned by one or more men. But probably only one. One man is standing on a “ramp” that allowed him to store his transport vehicle inside. Why was he there?
To change the semaphore signal, the tall post next to the track. It had one or two arms, this one had two. The arms moved to one of three positions. Straight up (12 o’clock); mid-way (about 1:30), and Straight out (3:00). The position of the arm told the oncoming train to proceed at speed, proceed with caution, or stop. A man made those arms move. Under the arms, you see circles? Those are lenses, red, yellow, green to aid in long distance viewing and nighttime viewing. There was a lamp behind the lens. As the arm moved, so did the lens. The man had to keep the lamp burning and the lenses clean. I see wires running from the mystery pole to the signal pole, so I suspect the lenses were illuminated by electric light.
I don’t think the other tall post, in the background, had anything to do with train movements. Perhaps it was a telegraph/power pole with one if its arms broken.
And that leaves the apparatus. A tricycle. Two wheels on one rail, the side with the man in back, and the third wheel on the other rail. Since most trackage was laid as flat as possible, it was as easy as riding a bike on level ground to cover the distance from your work station, this signal house, back to the larger depot. Power to the driving rear wheel was from pumping the lever you see in the middle of the rig.
I would guess the man standing in the doorway was the man in charge of this station." ~ Ernie Mainland
Ernie Mainland, who is in the process of building a model of the G.R. & I railroad when in its vicinity of Petoskey MI, has a great knowledge of railroads. Ernie has given the following explanation of the small railroad building and its function:
"The building is a small shed, out on the line, manned by one or more men. But probably only one. One man is standing on a “ramp” that allowed him to store his transport vehicle inside. Why was he there?
To change the semaphore signal, the tall post next to the track. It had one or two arms, this one had two. The arms moved to one of three positions. Straight up (12 o’clock); mid-way (about 1:30), and Straight out (3:00). The position of the arm told the oncoming train to proceed at speed, proceed with caution, or stop. A man made those arms move. Under the arms, you see circles? Those are lenses, red, yellow, green to aid in long distance viewing and nighttime viewing. There was a lamp behind the lens. As the arm moved, so did the lens. The man had to keep the lamp burning and the lenses clean. I see wires running from the mystery pole to the signal pole, so I suspect the lenses were illuminated by electric light.
I don’t think the other tall post, in the background, had anything to do with train movements. Perhaps it was a telegraph/power pole with one if its arms broken.
And that leaves the apparatus. A tricycle. Two wheels on one rail, the side with the man in back, and the third wheel on the other rail. Since most trackage was laid as flat as possible, it was as easy as riding a bike on level ground to cover the distance from your work station, this signal house, back to the larger depot. Power to the driving rear wheel was from pumping the lever you see in the middle of the rig.
I would guess the man standing in the doorway was the man in charge of this station." ~ Ernie Mainland
Article Above: It is doubted that this other Railroad Branch ever happened.
Clarion Depot
21 June 2014 ~ Clarion Railroad Crossing
In 2014, the railroad trains still run on the same bed as when the Cobbs & Mitchell Railroad ran through Clarion, and on to a spur that jutted off to nearby Walloon Lake. The railroad has been replacing many of the old ties... thus the large piles of old pulled ties stacked beside the tracks. A freight train still uses the tracks to deliver plastic pellets into Petoskey near the Petoskey School Northmen Stadium. The pellets are then transported to, and used by, one of Petoskey's few industries, Petoskey Plastics which is located on the road to Charlevoix MI.