About the Book

History is but a firefly, darting about the northern woods on a warm summer's night. If one doesn't capture and bottle it, this illusive critter takes flight and disappears. Even to clear minds, those events of yesteryear -- both significant and memorable -- tend to fade like images in the morning fog. If we don't "bottle it," so to speak, what once provided clues as to why we are and where we are might well be buried with our forefathers.

Several years ago, members of Courte Oreilles Lakes Association (COLA) formed a history committee and began assembling evidence of our collective past on Big Lac Courte Oreilles and Little Lac Courte Oreilles (hereafter referred together as Lac Courte Oreilles). We sought to capture the essence of Courte Oreilles magic, the figurative magnet that keeps drawing us closer to this northern Shangri-La. The fever of discovery quickened in 2001, and our attentions focused on collating mounds of information and puting it on paper, forever preserving our heritage. Committee members rode the shorelines, knocked on doors and engaged knowledgeable neighbors in fireside chats with the tape recorder running. We visited libraries, called on historical societies and begged for maps, documents and photos. The results of our efforts have been condensed and are written on the following pages of "Tales of Lac Courte Oreilles." The book follows the shoreline, stopping at historically prominent bays, points and developments, and in all cases, noting those people and events that created legends. We talk about our Ojibwe brothers and sisters as well as the white settlers who arrived after them.

Cost: $18.00

Moccasin Resort provided lodging and American Plan
meals until a fire destroyed the lodge in 1966.

The second log cabin, built in the 1920s by the Pattersons, owned by the
Seligs in 1941 and sold to the Tickners in 1957. It was sold to
POPCA in 1962.

 Mother and child show off tradtional ceremonial dress.

Chief Billy Wolf (fourth from left) and members of the Staats  family show off yet another big catch from Lac Courte Oreilles.

 Tommy Fairclough (at left), local musician and
 summer resident for three decades with the first
 Musky king, Otto Fuchs (far right).