The Emperor of Isle Royale
Lake Superior is the largest, the deepest, the coldest, and the wildest of the five enormous Great Lakes. The largest island in Lake Superior, named by early French explorers Isle Royale, or royal island, due to its vast size, retains the wilderness aura that Native Americans and those first European explorers experienced. This island, 45 miles (72.5 kilometres) long and nine miles (14.5 kilometres) wide, features one main island, with more than 400 smaller islands or islets clustered around the main one. Although only 15 miles (24 kilometres) from Canada, and 18 miles (29 kilometres) from the state of Minnesota, Isle Royale belongs to Michigan (which is 50 miles, or 80 kilometres, to the south). This rocky, heavily forested island in northwestern Lake Superior, known for its wolves, moose, and many miles of hiking trails, has a year-round human population of zero.
Isle Royale has ten major shipwrecks. Half of them were U.S. ships, such as the steamer America (see WDM #23 and #24) and the excursion vessel George M. Cox (see WDM #34), but five were Canadian ships – because Isle Royale lies in a direct line between the canals at Sault Ste. Marie at the entrance to the lake, and the largest harbor on Lake Superior, Thunder Bay,
