Near the western end of Lake Superior lies a forested archipelago of
twenty-two islands called the Apostles. The name probably stems from the desire of 17th century Jesuit missionaries to honor the Apostles by naming a beautiful place after them, rather then from an actual count of islands. Many Ojibwe Indian legends are associated with them. Voyageurs established trading posts on the islands, and later settlers built seasonal hunting and fishing camps, summer cabins, farms, and homesteads. These people used the resources of the islands and the adjacent waters for their commercial potential - forests were logged, brownstone quarried, and commercial fisheries were established. Light stations were built in the 1800s to guide approaching ships. |
 The islands have been carved for over a million years by glacial ice, wind, and waves; producing dramatic shorelines featuring sandstone cliffs, sea caves, and miles of pristine sand beaches. The Apostle Islands are at the continental northwestern limitof the hemlock, white pine, northern hardwood forest and the southern limit of the circumpolar boreal forest. Humans have used the Apostle Islands for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  |
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