July i, 1905.] 
9 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
An Outing in Michigan. 
Months of pleasant anticipation and a week of active 
preparation, found me quite ready to board the evening 
train of the Pennsylvania line on Aug. 5, in company 
with a friend whose destination was the same. 
As the morning dawned, we found our train arrived 
at Reed City, in what had formerly been the heart of 
the pine forests of Michigan ere fire and ax had swept 
all away. We were interested in noting the great 
changes made in this section of the State since last over 
the route years ago, and ere we anticipated, found our- 
selves in Petoskey, with its steady population of about 
5,000 augmented to over 10,000 by the influx of sum- 
mer visitors. It has become; quite an important busi- 
ness place, as the source of supplies to the villages and 
summer resorts of quite an area. Our train circled 
around the beautiful Little Traverse Bay, upon whose 
entrancing shores are located Bay View, Menonaqua, 
Roaring Brook, Wequetonsing, and Harbor Springs, 
with their pretty summer homes of thousands over- 
looking the waters of this charming bay, and having 
reached the last-named, then returned to Kegonac, near 
Bay View, and then northward, passing Round Lake, 
small, but pretty, the head of the chain of lakes that 
constitute the famous “inland route,” and in a few 
minutes we were at Conway, our destination, and our 
train sped onward toward its terminus at Mackinaw 
City, while we were gathering our belongings and hav- 
ing them sent, my friend’s to his summer lodge on the 
south shore of Crooked Lake, two and a half miles 
distant, and mine to Conway Inn, pleasantly located on 
the shore at the head of the lake, where I had engaged 
quarters for the season. From the porch one gets a 
fine view down the lake. On the right are the neat 
cottages of Messrs. Jewell and Anspaugh, of Cincin 
nati, and on the rising ground further back the Lake 
Home Hotel, and farm of the veteran Hastings, who 
was one of the pioneers of this region — then the hand- 
some point covered with natural forest growth of 
maple, beech, birch, balsam, cedar, mountain ash, and 
a few lordly white pines. This is known as Cincinnati 
Point, having been purchased about twenty years ago 
by a party of Cincinnati gentlemen on recommendation 
of Captain Barnes, and upon which the club built six 
small cottages, which they and their successors have 
occupied every summer since. They also have a com- 
modious dining hall and good boat house. Beyond the 
point are located several neat summer houses, with the 
woods in the background. On the left is moored a 
family houseboat, which is occasionally towed to other 
localities. Beyond this the neat cottage Wildemere, 
belonging to Mr. Stallman, of Columbus, O. Further 
along a picturesque log house in a cedar grove at the 
mouth of the pretty trout brook known as Town Line 
Creek; then, after an interval of another half mile, 
come in view the nearest of the row of pretty summer 
homes that occupy the entire lake front up to the steam- 
boat landing at the village of Oden. 
Looking beyond Oden, a distant view is had of Pon- 
shawaing and thence across to- the eastern shore of 
rising ground, with a few cultivated farms. Across 
from and beyond Oden is seen the large island of that 
name, the only one in the lake, the southern extremity 
of which is near the mouth of the Minnehaha, a 
famous stream for trout, and whose headsprings are 
some five miles distant in the hills, and following from 
thence the southern shore eastward about a mile, is 
found the outlet of Pickerel Lake. This outlet has 
been dredged so that small steamers and launches can 
easily go through. Between Crooked Lake and Pick- 
erel Lake is this handsom,e thoroughfare of about a 
mile and about midway is a small oval pond of deep 
water, and quite ■well noted as a good fishing place. 
Pickerel Lake is quite a handsome body of water, al- 
most entirely framed in wooded shores, and about 
one and a half miles by three in extent. Cedar Creek 
flows in at its eastern extremity, and is a good trout 
stream. From the head of Crooked to the head of 
Pickerel Lake is a good eight miles. 
Crooked Lake is five miles long by two and a half 
miles in width at its widest part, about opposite Oden. 
Its outlet is Crooked River flowing northeasterly from 
near Ponshawaing by a very devious way through the 
forest some six or seven miles until it debouches into 
Burt Lake near the mouth of the famous stocked trout 
stream known as Maple River, and about two miles 
from the handsome Colonial Point Hotel on the north- 
ern shore, and about three miles from Sager’s Buckeye 
House on the westerly shore, and about six miles from 
the Columbus Beach resort and Indian River Village 
at the foot of the lake. Burt Lake is over nine miles 
long and five miles at its greatest width, and is a very 
charming body of water, with generally high wooded 
shores, and is a famous resort for many from Colum- 
bus, Ohio, Pittsburg, Pa., and other localities. Its out- 
let is the Indian River, which, after five miles’ run 
through the good duck marsh, discharges into Mullet 
Lake, the largest of the chain, and which is about 
twelve miles long and about five miles at its greatest 
width, and has a number of noted resorts on its beauti- 
ful shores, which are m the main, forest-covered, with 
here and there a cultivated farm. At the foot of the 
lake, where it debouches into the Cheboygan River, 
excellent bass fishing is found, as ■wll as in the river 
which runs through about seven miles of attractive 
country, and after receiving the waters of Black River, 
the outlet of Black Lake, is quite a respectable river, 
emptying into the south channel of the Straits of 
Mackinac, at Cheboygan. 
The appearance of the country through which this 
chain of lakes and connecting rivers pass, together 
with the fact that Round Lake is separated from the 
'eastern extremity of Little Traverse Bay by sand diines 
of only a half mile, indicates that all of both Emmet 
and Cheboygan counties that is north of this valley 
must have been an island at some time. The trip 
through — known as the inland route— by the regular 
little steamers Topinabee and Charles D. is very en- 
trancing, and is well worth taking. A boat leaves the 
Oden pier every morning during the season, and goes 
through to Topinabee on Mullet Lake in time for din- 
ner, and meets the boat there that started from Che- 
boygan at same hour, and after dining, each boat re- 
turns, reaching destination at 6 o’clock in the evening, 
thus affording an opportunity for passengers to transfer 
and go through, or to return by same boat. Many take 
this charming recreative trip several times during the 
season, and unite in extolling the beauty and variance 
of scenery of lake and river. 
The best lake for fishing is Mullet, and the next 
best is Burt. In Crooked and Pickerel lakes the fishing 
is only fair, except for small varieties, although occa- 
sionally some good bass, wall-eyed pike and pickerel 
are the reward of the persistent fisherman. 
Having ascertained that to hire a rowboat would cost 
$2.50 per week, and as my outing would cover about 
ten weeks, I concluded that I preferred to have one of 
my own and be more independent, and had therefore 
scanned closely the advertising pages of Forest and 
Stream to determine which to select. Having had 
considerable experience years ago with my canvas boat 
Wanderer, accounts of cruises in which were given in 
your pages, I was inclined to the advertisement of the 
King Folding Canvas Boat Co., and having sent for a 
catalogue, finally ordered a ii-foot special, with oars 
and single paddle and named Wanderer, to be sent by 
express to Conway, and two days after my arrival there 
it came to hand, and was soon put up and in the water 
and found to be quite satisfactory. - During my ten 
weeks’ stay, I was on the lake nearly every day, and 
would row with ease from six to twelve miles; and for 
a change of exercise would run ashore at some wood- 
land road or path and walk from three to five miles, 
enjoying thus to the fullest extent the scenery of both 
water and land. Among the cottagers about the lake 
were_ a number of Cincinnati acquaintances whose in- 
vitations to call were frequently accepted, and an hour 
was thu.s often passed in pleasant converse and reminis- 
cence. Twice every week the necessity of a barber re- 
quired a row over to Oden, and then a stroll in that 
vicinity was always a pleasant episode. Nearby is a 
famous orchard that produces the finest and fairest of 
choice apples, and so prolific was the yield that they 
were sold at 20 cents per bushel at the orchard, or 25 
cents delivered within two to three miles, and were 
shipped in carloads barreled. It is asserted that the 
hardest and best fruit is produced by grafting on the 
stock of the native mountain ash. During the season 
the two good-sized hotels at Oden were well filled with 
summer guests, and the wharf was active with launches 
and rowboats, starting out and arriving from different 
directions. The New Oden was discovered to be on 
fire at about ii o’clock one night near the close of the 
season, and notwithstanding every effort made to save, 
was totally destroyed. It will undoubtedly be rebuilt 
in readiness for the coming season. 
There is almost daily a good sailing breeze on 
Crooked Lake, and very frequently the wind comes 
up very strong and somewhat unexpectedly, and with 
its wide sweep causes considerable commotion, and the 
white-capped waves are very much in evidence. I was 
caught out on several occasions when it required hard 
pulling to make any progress against wind and waves, 
as the Wanderer was so light — 55 pounds — and drew 
so little water, but by keeping her well headed up she 
rode the waves like a duck and shipped no water what- 
ever. Occasionally I would vary the exercise in good 
weather by taking my single paddle, and after putting a 
sandbag in the bow for ballast, would seat myself 
astern and spend a couple of hours in paddling, Adiron- 
deck style, from one side, with occasional change over, 
.somewdiat to the surprise of those who had never seen 
it done until then. 
The water of this lake is clear and cold, and numer- 
ous are the spring rivulets that feed it. There are beds 
of water plants in several localities that afford habitats 
for fish and anchoring places _ for the still-fisher, and 
are almost always well occupied. Launches of many 
kinds are getting quite numerous, nearly every cottager 
having one for rapid transit, and for towing their row- 
boats when out on fishing excursions, and on fine days 
the lake has quite a gala appearance. Mine host 
Blackmer, of the Conway Inn, has quite a fleet of good 
row and sailboats for rent, and hardly a day passed but 
there came parties from Petoskey to spend a while upon 
the water iri rowing or fishing. Another great attrac- 
tion is the supply of pure and cold water obtained 
from numerous flowing wells that have been driven at 
both Conway and Oden, and is s® much prized that it 
is taken in quantities to Petoskey. and elsewhere, and 
the sign “Conway Spring Water Used Here” is not 
uncommon in the cities on the G. R. & I. line at 
restaurants and hotels. It is said to be absolutely pure, 
and is certainly very fine, and as cold as should be 
drank; and the amount that runs to waste would be 
greatly appreciated could it be piped to some city 
wdiere it could be used in place of yellow Ohio River 
water. 
I was asked to accompany a couple of gentlemen on 
a trip to Black Lake, southeast from Cheboygan, to be 
gone a we^k or ten days, during the latter part of 
August, and being ever ready for adventure or ex- 
ploration . into unknown localities, I gladly accepted 
their Invitation. We took the early morning train to 
Oden, and there embarked on the steamer TopinaLee 
and were soon meandering through the crooked ways 
and tpe tyild fcenery of the tortuous Crooked River, 
enjoying every rod of the devious trip of from six to 
seven miles through to Burt Lake, and were then soon 
steaming up to the dock at the beautiful Colonial Point, 
and thence across to Sager’s, having in the passage a 
handsome view of this fine body of water and its 
changing shores, and then a rapid run to Indian River 
Village in time for a very good dinner at the Alcore. 
After dinner we engaged Mr. Shafer with team and 
double--seated spring wagon and started on our thirty- 
five mile ride across country to the head of Black 
Lake, or, as named on some of the maps, Cheboygan 
Lake. At Indian River is the mouth of Sturgeon River, 
augmented near by the waters from Little Sturgeon 
River, and which are noted trout streams, and easily 
accessible. Our road northeasterly across the sandy 
pine barrens or plains soon brought us to the cross- 
ing of Pigeon River, a goodly stream, which empties 
into Mullet Lake, near to where debouches the Indian 
River, and has enjoyed the reputation of being prolific 
of trout and also for an occasional grayling. It cer- 
tainly had an inviting look, and we regretted that we 
had not time to give it a trial, especially so inasmuch 
as neither of our party had ever had the good fortune to 
fish for or take a grayling. We passed on, but at least 
one of us made a resolve to visit the locality at some 
future time, and give it a fair trial. 
For some miles our route was over sandy soil, with 
only gray pines to be seen, until, having crossed one or 
two promising looking trout strearris flowing toward 
Mullet Lake, we entered a rolling country with fine 
hardwood timber, and with here and there a cleared 
farm; and after passing en route a couple of small 
hamlets which in due time will unquestionally be good 
towns, as the country becomes more settled, 'we reached 
the flourishing little city of Onaway, a railway town, 
just at dusk, and stopped at one of the hotels for 
supper for ourselves and team, and then continued our 
journey to the little hotel at the head of the lake. On 
inquiry, we found that a firm of wealthy lumbermen had 
rented the place outright for two weeks, and with their 
families and friends it was filled, to the exclusion of any 
others, and we could not be accommodated. Some- 
what discouraged, we drove back to where the cross 
road ran parallel with the lake, and drove westerly 
until, coming to a lumber camp, we made inquiry; and 
were told that a Mr. Stewart, who had a farm near the 
lake, about a. mile further on, might take us in, and 
arriving there at about 9 P. M., we finally induced them 
to do so, and during our stay of three days were much 
pleased that our lot had been cast with these pleasant 
people. The next day was spent on a nearby stream 
known as Stony Creek fishing for trout, and with fair 
success. A game of whist in the evening swiftly passed 
the time, and was followed by a good night’s rest. 
Next day, we took a boat and did some trolling and 
more exploring about the lake, catching some fish and 
enjoying the scenery. The following day we pulled 
down to the foot of the lake, and stopped for dinner at 
the neat log hotel kept by Mr. McKinnon and situated 
between where Black River enters and also makes its 
outlet. Here we found quite a number of fishermen 
guests, who had made very good catches of pickerel, 
wall-eyed pike, bass and perch. We engaged the little 
gasolene launch that is run in connection with the 
house, to take us with rowboat in tow to a point about 
five miles up on the northerly side of the lake, where 
we fished for a time, with poor luck, as the bass were 
not biting, notwithstanding that many were seen, some 
of good size. We caught some pickerel, and then went 
on an exploration tour of the shore and strolling 
through woods roads and paths at various points, and 
gradually worked down and returned to the hotel for a 
late supper. Next day we had the launch take us up to 
Stewart’s landing, and we got pur luggage and bade 
our hosts good-by, -with assurances that they would be 
glad to have us come again; and went back to McK.’s 
and spend the afternoon in exploring the outlet. 
The day following, a party of four having been 
brought in from Cheboygan, we arranged with the 
driver to' return with him, and enjoyed very much the 
trip of fourteen miles down the Black River Valley, 
which we found entirely cleared up and occupied by 
prosperous farmers, with good buildings, and whose 
orchards were loaded with fine-looking apples. We 
passed Long Lake, about midway, which has a good 
hotel, and has been well-stocked with bass, and is 
bound to be quite a resort. Its outlet runs into Mullet 
Lake. Arriving at our destination, we put up at the 
New Cheboygan Hotel, remaining until 8 o’clock next 
morning, and then embarked on the Charles D. of the 
Inland Route Line, and steamed up the Cheboygan 
River, enjoying the scenery of this interesting water- 
way all the way through to Mullet Lake. Our trip 
through Mullet was very enjoyable, the high wooded 
shores and beautiful points being interspersed with an 
occasional farm and hotel and cottage pleasantly 
located, all adding to the attractiveness of the varied 
scenery. Parties_ angling from boats took pride in 
holding up for view their strings of fish, and withal 
the time swiftly passed, until our arrival at the wharf 
at Topinabee. Here we disembarked for dinner at 
the hotel, charmingly located, and tree-embowered, 
and then re^embarked on the steamer Topinabee, now 
making its return trip. We enjoyed the scenery 
throughout Mullet Lake, and Indian River, and then 
re-entering Burt Lake, passed on, and again through 
Crooked River, arriving in due time at Oden, and 
thence by train to Conway, -well satisfied with our tour. 
While the season was still open, in September, a 
party 'of fi've planned for a day’s trouting up the Min- 
nehaha, and taking bur lunches along, we pulled four 
miles do’\^m the lake to the mouth,- and then up the 
winding, course of the' river; for about a mJle to *‘the 
head of leaving our boats, §§parated 
