Madeline Island and the Chequamegon Region

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John O. Holzhueter
Foreword by Steve Cotherman

Learn the history of a beautiful Great Lakes island that is the spiritual heart of the Lake Superior Ojibwe people and played a vital role as a trading post for European fur traders.

64 pages, 6 x 9, 32 b&w photos, 12 maps
Paperback: $12.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-146-2
Ebook: $9.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-593-4
Publication Date: 12/15/1974; reissued 2013

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Front cover of Madeline Island and the Chequamegon Region

Description

Madeline Island and the Chequamegon region hold a significant place in the history of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. From early trading outpost to modern-day tourist destination, it’s an area rich in story and legend. Native peoples came first, developing a deep spiritual connection with Madeline Island that continues today. Later residents, drawn by the natural beauty and abundant resources of the islands along Wisconsin’s Lake Superior coast, built forts and quarries, established schools and missions, and formed fishing and lumber industries. In time, tourists and leisure seekers came for the stunning scenery, constructing summer homes and a tourist economy that shapes the area still. Madeline Island and the Chequamegon Region chronicles this history, drawing on the journals and letters of French explorers and traders, missionaries and entrepreneurs, to give the fullest account available.

John O. Holzhueter traces the island’s history from its origins as the spiritual heart of the Lake Superior Chippewa through its emergence as a key French, British, and American fur trading post centered at La Pointe. He explores its mission-era developments—Jesuit and later Catholic missions—and illustrates how the island retained profound cultural significance for the Ojibwe. Supported by hands-on storytelling and historical photographs, Holzhueter also discusses the island’s shift to logging, fishing, quarrying, and eventually tourism. A foreword by Steve Cotherman updates the narrative with reflections on modern tourism and preservation efforts. First published in 1974 and reissued in 2013, this book provides a definitive history of a storied corner of Wisconsin.

Author Bio

John O. Holzhueter

John O. Holzhueter worked for more than twenty-five years as an editor with the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, retiring in 2000. He served as associate editor for the Wisconsin Magazine of History and worked on the six-volume History of Wisconsin series. John has also written several articles for the Wisconsin Magazine of History.