History and Legends of Squirrel Island

 

(this is the text of a booklet printed by Maki's Muskellunge Lodge circa 1960, provided by Mark Richardson)

 

Squirrel Island, approximately fifty-five acres in area, is located in Squirrel Lake and was so-named because of its shape and contour. In the beginning it belonged to the creatures of the wilderness and to the bushy-tailed squirrel, the rabbit, the muskrat and others, it is still home. The birds common to the area return to it, and the descendants of the white owl still inhabit the virgin timber. An empty nest in an old pine tree at the northern edge of the island is mute evidence of a bald-headed eagles former occupancy.

 

Joe Shadamo, a former Indian guide and still a resident of the locality, says that his father told him that a few generations ago, before the U.S. Government took over, the Chippewa Indians living in that general area used Squirrel Island for a burial ground. These mounds, discernable 40 years ago, with the exception of one, have become level with the forest floor. It is a little mound on which Mr. and Mrs. Spreckelmeyer have kept flowers ever since it was discovered on their lot in 1926. Joe has identified the grave as that of his neice and has thanked them for their thoughtfulness.

 

The remains of a cabin, torn down in 1925 at the location of the present No. 1 cottage, was probably the islands first structure. It has been identified as a trapper's cabin of the late 1880's. Morgan C. Daniels, of Minneapolis, Minn. bought the property from the U.S. Government on Aug. 26, 1881. After his death in 1890 the property passed through his heirs to various people. Between 1904 and 1911, A. J. Bolger, Minocqua, held title to the property. A Mr. Dunn of Chicago, leased the island and built a hotel where Cottage No. 5 is now located.

 

 

 

 

Dan Jossart, an early Minocqua settler, recalls that in 1905 while he was working as a guide for Hansens Resort he met guests at Hansens Landing and rowed them out to Dunn's Resort Hotel. One unusual guest was a "remittance man" whose expenses were paid by his family in England in order to keep him from returning to that country. Soon Mr. Dunn built his own mainland landing at the present landing site (known as Carter's Landing.) This shortened the rowing distance to the island by two and a half miles. Murray's of Shorewood Lodge used Dunn's Landing in the early days of their business.

 

A. M. Triska and O.E Carter, St. Louis, bought the island in 1924. They visualized log cabins hugging the landscape in a manner to enhance the natural beauty of the island and foresaw a growing resort business, catering especially to family trade. They contracted with the late August Kanerviko, a Finnish specialist in log-cabin construction, to build nine cottages on the island.

 

They bought hemlock logs from Korpela Lumber Camp on the western mainland. The logs were brought to the island over the ice in the winter of 1924-25. Ernest Niemi, present Rambler dealer in Minocqua, remembers being the first lumberjack in the employ of Korpela to set foot on the island at that time.Nos. 1 and 2 cottages were completed and occupied by the summer of 1925. The other seven cottages and the present commissary and boathouse were built in 1926. The large building directly west of the commissary was built in 1927 and was used as an ice house. It was filled each winter with ice cut from the lake and packed in sawdust from the saw mills in the area.The owners named their resort business " The Muskellunge Lodge" and it has been known by that name ever since.

 

During the two years that Mr. Kanerviko and his crew worked on the island everyone learned to respect the tools of his trade. The shining axe, which Mr Kanerviko allowed no one else to touch, was known to be as sharp as a razor and from that has grown the legend that he shaved with it daily. His cross-cut saw is still to be seen in the mainland boathouse.

 

Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Spreckelmeyer were the first guests and spent the summer of 1925 in Cottage No. 2. After seeing the majestic view of the northern point of the island they purchased the lot and hired Mr Kanerviko to build them a summer home. They spent seven months of each year in it since that time.

 

In 1931 O.E. Carter bought out his partner and built the mainland house in 1933. Mrs. Frieda Schilling recalls that the garage on the mainland was built from lumber made by a portable saw mill from windfall logs on the island in 1939. Mrs. Carter kept up the business after her husbands death in 1950 and sold the property to Gerald Empey in 1955.

 

Mr. and Mrs Rutishauser have their summer residence between Winnie's Point and the Spreckelmeyer's and signify their presence by daily raising of the Stars and Stripes.

 

Mr. and Mrs. E. Orth, Chicago, bought Winnie's Point in 1943, They have developed this into a beautiful summer home. Mr. Orth has an electric chair-lift between his house and his garden on the hill. He grows corn, raspberries, strawberries and grapes. Mrs. Orth's hobby is keeping a daily weather and temperature record. [Note: this is the boathouse with apartment on the second floor, landscaped yard and gardening shed in larger cove on SW side of the island]

 

 

 

 

 

There are many tales and legends relating to the use of Squirrel Island. Some are true and others we cannot confirm. One persistent tale is that it had been used as a vacation spot and retreat by early Roman Catholic priests. Another is that an airplane pilot flying over the lake saw smoke rising from the island. Fearing it to be the start of a forest fire, he reported it. Investigators found a moonshine still. A small dugout house, probably used as a lookout, and four vats used to store liquor are still to be seen.

 

The island is said to have been used as a refuge by deer wounded on the mainland. In fact, one tale goes that a wise buck made yearly stays there during hunting seasons for several years. Fish stories are common to any resort. A mounted 45 inch musky, caught by Jim Kaumheimer, now hangs on the commissary wall and it is known that Al Stoeppler took a 47 inch musky home with him. Perhaps the fish were even larger in early days. Anyway, one dripping fisherman landed and reported that he tried to hit a musky " half as long as his rowboat" with an oar. The fish seized the oar and pulled him into the water. The oar has never been found.

 

Lil and Hugo Maki became the proprietors of the Muskellunge Lodge in 1959. They give their guests such friendly attention that vacationers return year after year. There is a large playground area equipped with swings for the children and horseshoe, badminton, shuffleboard and croquet courts for the adults. An excellent beach makes all water sports available. The Commissary Lounge is equipped with radio, piano and tables for writing or card-playing. Dairy products, ice cream, candy ,gum and soft drinks are available in the Commissary. The Makis have instituted the Tuesday Hot Dish Dinners to enable guests to get together and make new friends. There is a Finnish steambath (sauna) in the mainland house which fisherman find helps them relax and to loosen muscular kinks.

 

The transportation has always been free between the island and the mainland. In early days guests rang an old school bell at Dunns Landing to summon a small boat with an outboard motor. In the 1930s Mr. Carter replaced the bell with an island-to-mainland telephone and bought a larger launch. The Makis now use a modern pontoon boat which is safer and more easily entered.

 

 

 

 

 

In the horse and buggy days it took half a day to travel between Minocqua and Squirrel Island. Now the same trip can be made in 30 minutes. At Muskellunge Lodge there are no cars, no roads, no noise or dust of civilization and one can find a restful atmosphere.

 

"This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks". Here stand the virgin trees, nature's own air conditioners. Shelter for the birds and shade for you, the guests. You are invited to come and enjoy from the hurly burly of civilization at Muskellunge Lodge on Squirrel Island.