CHAPTER 1

The Beginning

It is just a few minutes before daybreak as I walk onto NorthPier to meet with Joe for the first time. The pier is varnishedwith an overnight rain and sparkles in the morning light asI move toward a channel-side wooden picnic table. The first raysof dawn glisten off the nearby grass and tree leaves creating athousand tiny rainbows in the morning glow. There are patches offog appearing and disappearing on the pearl-grey lake.

Moving to the table, I open my knapsack and spread out thematerial I will need this morning. Today Joe and I will begin ourtalks by covering how the park was formed. I still have some quiettime before he is due to arrive, so I sit back and light my pipe andwatch the eastern sky move from grey to purple, and then littleby little slide into a stunning display of burnt orange; just anotherpeaceful day on Presque Isle.

Suddenly, like a ghost, Joe is there. I didn't see or hear himcome down the path or pier. He was just standing beside me.

Today he has on an old brown hat, modest overalls with a largehole in one knee and the other in perfect shape. His smile is bright,and he seems in a good mood. Slowly, he takes off his hat andbrushes the dusty brim with his fingers. I am sure he might callwhat he is wearing a hat, but to me that would be a stretch. It hasseen so many years of service that it could only be called a hatbecause it is resting on his head.

"I'm hoping I can 'member enough 'bout Presque Isle to help yawith that there book. I know ya must love Presque Isle 'cause it iswrit all over yer face. When I lived here, some of them old fellas fromtown would row their dinghies 'cross the bay, and we'd meet by thecampfire, drink coffee and talk fer a great while 'bout the peninsula,fishing and trapping. Life wuz sure good on Presque Isle."

"Joe, I'm sure you will be a big help. Before we start talkingabout the history of this sand spit we call Presque Isle, why don'tyou tell me about that old legend that was passed on from theIndians on how the park was formed. I've heard it is prettyinteresting."

"Sure will. Ever since I moved out here, I wondered how thislittle-bitty strip of sand and grass come to be. It seems to me, thiswhole peninsula always is trying to move down the lake towardBuffalo. I wuz wondering why? All the years I been coming to thepark, legends 'bout Presque Isle have always been floating on thewinds and through them bars in town.

"The old legend you be talking 'bout says them Injins that livedaround these parts had their own version 'bout how Presque Isle wuzformed. I heard them Eriez Injins, some folks called them the CatPeople, believed the Great Spirit created the world. That meant hemade all them Injins, other people, animals and fishes, lakes, forestsand streams. Everything. They believed that they wuz the GreatSpirit's chosen people. To show his love, The Great Spirit led them tothe shores of a great lake and gave them what they needed to live areal good life. That lake wuz Lake Erie.

"Them Eriez mostly lived on the shores of Lake Erie andwandered inland to near French Creek. That be somewhere nearWaterford, which was a far piece down the road.

"Like me, them Eriez hunted and fished to live. They wuz goodat building birch bark canoes from trees they got in them nearbywoods. Now, that is where that great Presque Isle legend begins.

"It seems that on one of them fishing trips, 'bout 1500 or so, theywent a far piece out on the lake looking fer the place where the sunsinks into the water. That's when them ghost voices of the lake calledout warning them to go back. When they wouldn't obey, the spiritsof the lake wuz angered and caused a terrible storm on the lake.Injin legend says that huge waves big as their lodges wuz thunderingand crashing down on them.

"Now, If'n ya ever been out on the lake 'round here in a storm,you'd understand what fear they musta felt. I'm sure them poorInjins wuz near scared out of their wits.

"Anyway, the Great Spirit seeing this stretched out his left armand put it down deep into the lake to protect them from the storm.Where the arm of the Great Spirit had dipped into the lake, a hugesandbar in the shape of an arm was formed. The legend then saysthat the Great Spirit told them this sandbar would be there foreverto protect the tribe. So now, that small sandbar is this here peninsulaand is known as Presque Isle State Park."

"Wait a minute. I think that legend is impressive, and I love theway you tell it, but you do know that scientists have other ideas onhow Presque Isle came to be, don't you?"

"Don't nobody question that, but their fancy ideas git so frightfulboring. Fact is, a fella one time told me a scientist at a public hallmeeting back in 1900 wuz talking and put the whole town meetingto sleep. Every last person that showed up wuz sound asleep."

"Well, even if that's true, Joe, they still usually get most of theirfacts right. It seems scientists believe six hundred million...