730 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 8, 1909, 
A Vacation and Forest Fires 
By E. S. WHITAKER 
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. 
I N the first week of August last I arrived at 
Douglas Lake in Cheboygan county, Michi¬ 
gan, for a summer sojourn, and after a 
hearty dinner, changed my apparel, transferred 
my canvas boat Wanderer from storage to the 
water and felt very much at home as I pulled 
along the southerly shore from the hotel to 
Grapevine Point, admiring the changing scenes 
along the shores, and feeling that it was good 
to be there. 
I went ashore at my old landing in Grapevine 
Bay and took a stroll back into the fine woods 
that covered both hill and dale, and finally from 
the top of the highest point in that vicinity I 
sat down on an old mossy log and enjoyed the 
handsome views that were presented, until, as 
the shadows lengthened, it behooved me to re¬ 
turn to the hotel. As day succeeded day, a 
part of the time was spent in roaming over old 
and new made trails, and in rowiing over the 
waters of this charming lake. New and old- 
time guests coming and going, a number of 
whom accompanied me over the trails when 
the weather was favorable, and with song and 
tale seemed to much enjoy the outings, for to 
many of them forest life was a novelty, and it 
filled a new niche in their lives. 
I was returning at noontime one day, from 
the lake, when I observed a dense volume of 
smoke arising beyond the hill. That looked 
very suspicious, and I hastened in, .and with 
Stephen Johnson, went to investigate. The fire 
had spread from a former burning, and in the 
high wind was rapidly sweeping toward the 
lake through an old slashing, and would very 
soon threaten the hotel and cottages. We 
hastened back, telephoned to Pellston for as¬ 
sistance, which was fortunate, for within fifteen 
minutes the line was down and could not be 
used for some days thereafter. The men and 
teams came the wrong way and were headed 
off by the fierce fire and obliged to go part 
way back to another road. 
In the meantime all who were at our side of 
the lake worked strenuously fighting the fire 
with buckets of water, hoes and shovels, both 
women and children carrying water from wells 
and from docks along the lake front, and suc¬ 
ceeded in preventing the destruction of the 
buildings, although it was just by a bare 
margin. The roaring of the flames as they 
swept over the hill was enough to fill the 
stoutest heart with terror. After an hour, help 
from outside began to arrive, plows were set in 
motion, and some trees cut in order to keep 
the fire within certain limits. At times it 
seemed impossible to prevent it from consum¬ 
ing the buildings, but the hardest kind of work 
succeeded, and at eleven o’clock in the evening 
a most welcome shower prevented further 
spreading that night, and with a guard posted, 
the others retired,, glad indeed to have the 
shelter of a roof. For a number of days the men 
remained, and with water hauled in casks and 
with shovels fought the smouldering fires that 
kept breaking out here and there under the 
force of the strong wind. The professors and 
students from the nearby camp of the civil en¬ 
gineering department of the Michigan Uni¬ 
versity did brave work in preventing it from 
crossing wood roads, and only left for their 
homes after it was supposed that all danger 
was over. 
In two or three weeks, however, . as every¬ 
thing was unusually dry, fire broke out afresh 
in various places, and the wind caused it to 
sweep over thousands of acres, destroying much 
valuable timber. Mr. Bryant put men at work. 
MR. WHITAKER ON HIS FAVORITE KNOLL IN THE 
WOODS. 
and they succeeded in saving the camp, with its 
tent floors and boats stored in completed 
buildings. 
Within a half mile of the hotel was the edge 
of a tract of primeval forest known as the Big 
W oods, with very large hemlocks, maples, 
birches and some pines and spruces. It had 
been .saved from the two previous fires by much 
exertion. After the men had gone I patrolled 
the edge of the fire line daily to prevent any 
smouldering fire from breaking out and spread¬ 
ing. I had spent some days in roaming through 
it, blazing and cutting out new trails, after 
removal of Mr. B.’s family to Pellston, and my¬ 
self keeping bachelor’s hall at the hotel, when, 
one morning in October, I found fire a mile 
wide coming from the southwest over the 
dividing ridge. It had caught from the further 
side and had evidently been spreading during 
the previous night. I cut a forked brush and 
swept the leaves from the road for over a mile 
and back-fired most of the way, hoping to pre¬ 
vent it from crossing over. But my efforts 
proved in vain, for the wind carried the fire 
into those grand old woods, and by nightfall 
it was burning furiously, and the appearance 
was gorgeous. The telephone had been out of 
order for a day or so, and no one else had seen 
the fire, as the air was, filled with smoke, and 
alone I watched its progress as it rushed from 
tree to tree in a furious volume of living flame, 
until nearly eleven o’clock, and then feeling as¬ 
sured that it would not be carried any further 
toward the hotel, but would work westerly and 
northerly, I returned for a late supper and a 
night’s rest. 
In the morning I found the fire had worked 
all around Bullhead Bay and was eating its way 
toward the cedar swamp on the north shore, 
and, as the wind had died down, it thus gradu- 
allj" worked along, and when night again came 
it presented a wonderfully beautiful picture, 
and the roaring and crackling of the flames as 
they devoured the dense growth of cedars could 
be distinctly heard. With Gene Hamlin, the 
Indian guide, I watched the panorama from 
different points of view until midnight. Dur¬ 
ing the night it reached a cottage adjoining the 
cedars, and it with its locked up contents was 
totally consumed. 
For days in September and October, during 
the reign of the fire king, the air was dense 
with smoke. On one'occasion I went out for 
a stroll when the sun appeared only as a faint 
red spot, and after an hour or so it had com¬ 
pletely disappeared as the smoke grew yet 
more dense. I could see but a few rods and 
could not tell just where I was. With my com¬ 
pass before me, I took a course that brought 
me to the easterly shore, along which I rowed 
until I knew the locality, then turned westerly, 
and laying my course, pulled directly for the 
hotel. That same day a party were fishing from 
a launch, and although they were familiar with 
the lake, were unable to find their way home, 
and ran hither and thither for several hours 
and finally ran into the right bay.. 
The first of the series of three fires in that 
part of the country was supposed to have 
started through the carelessness of berry pick¬ 
ers who had been camping in that vicinity, and 
the others resulted from smouldering embers 
fanned into life by the winds. Thousands of 
acres of forest land were burned over more or 
less severely. Some of the tracts where the 
fire did not burn deep among the roots will 
doubtless show green again this spring, but the 
general appearance immediately after was such 
as to make me think that “destruction and 
desolation’’ was the most appropriate term that 
could be applied, as it will be some years ere 
new growth can obliterate the impression. 
Fortunately by strenuous work most of the 
shore line was preserved, so that the beauty 
of the lake will not be so much marred. By 
some strange freak an old mossy log on a 
knoll in the big woods where I frequently rested 
and read my Forest and Stream escaped being 
burned, and I was agreeably surprised to find 
that the fire had left untouched a circular 
space three or four rods across at this favorite 
spot, which will bloom like an oasis in the 
desert when spring has opened the leaves. 
Fishing was fairly good during the season, 
and some fine strings of northern pike, pick¬ 
erel and bass were brought in, the Newhall 
brothers doing especially well. Judge Ermston 
{Concluded on page 758 .) 
