46 FISHBEMEIfr OF THE UEITED STATES. 



when occurring in the darkness of night, and their boats were driven far out into the lake where 

 they could not live, or were cast upon a dangerous shore. 



Fishermen are sometimes drowned in winter while fishing on the ice, either through careless- 

 ness in approaching the holes which are made when setting and hauling nets, or in venturesome 

 expeditions over ice too thin to bear their weight. One man perished tbus near Bayfield, Lake 

 Superior, in 1878, and another in 1879 at the Gull Islands, at the entrance of Green Bay. 



Fishing villages. — As a large proportion of the fishermen live in villages and cities whose 

 interest in the fisheries is of minor importance, they dwell in houses in nowise different from those 

 of the same class of men engaged in other pursuits, partake of the same food and comport them- 

 selves in essentially the same manner. In some localities, however, fishing is the only important 

 industry, and in these places it is possible to trace some peculiarities in the character and sur- 

 roundings of the fishermen. Some such villages exist in Green Bay, particularly on the west 

 shore, north of Cedar Eiver. The fishermen dwelling here, as a rule, are well fitted for their occu- 

 pation, temperate and industrious. The gains of many, however, for the past five years, have been 

 hardly sufQcient to support them, fish having been scarce and prices low. Their houses, which are 

 barely comfortable, are always built near the fishery, close to the beach. A few have cleared 

 fields of considerable extent around their dwellings, but the majority have tilled only sufficient 

 land on which to raise potatoes and some other vegetables. A few miles north of Menominee the 

 road terminates northward, and the only communication by land between the villages is by an 

 imperfectly marked trail leading through an almost impenetrable pine foxest. Communication 

 with the outside world is carried on entirely by water. The Menominee dealers send boats along 

 the shore every day during the height of the season and gather up such fresh fish as the fisher- 

 men may have for sale. They stop at every fishery and the fishermen bring out their fish in the 

 pound boats. The fish are weighed and the dealers give receipts stating the number of pounds, 

 the kind, and price, and at the next trip bring the requisite amount of money. At these times the 

 fishermen send to town for whatever supplies they need, receiving them at the next visit of the 

 dealers' boats. 



At Green Bay City and the southern end of Green Bay generally, many fishermen are well-to- 

 do and several in very good circumstances. Some others, as one might expect, on account of the 

 variety of nationalities, are shiftless, and seem to have little tact in providing for their families. 

 In many cases their gains are sufficiently large to enable them to live well if they but used judg- 

 ment in expending them. Nearly all the fishermen are land-owners to some extent, several pos- 

 sessing valuable farms in addition to their fisheries. 



At Two Elvers, situated on the west shore of Lake Michigan, on the Green Bay peninsula, the 

 fishing population — nearly all French-Canadians — ^live in one locality at the mouth of the two 

 rivers, forming quite a colony, known in the vicinity as "Canada." The men are apt to be 

 extravagant during profitable seasons, taking little thought for the future. It has been stated 

 that, as a class, the fishermen of this locality were formerly quite intemperate, but recentiy a 

 decided improvement has taken place in this respect. 



In the vicinity of the Straits of Mackinac the fishermen are of all grades, nationalities, and 

 conditions. The least industrious, perhaps, are the French gill-netters. About two-thirds of them 

 barely succeed in gaining a livelihood. They sometimes allow their nets to remain in the water 

 for several weeks untouched, the fish caught in them becoming putrid. During seasons of plenty 

 these, as well as some in other localities, are apt to indulge in extravagant living and comparative 

 idleness, returning when their means are expended, to activity and humble living. 



The fishermen of Huron are generally considered a better class of men than the Lake Erie 



