LaBlance Fish Tales Two (eBook)

Beaver Island Ice Walkers

The beginning of our Commercial Fishing history, on the Great Lakes, started at Scotts Point just south of Gould City, Michigan. From there the business moved to Beaver Island, St. James, Michigan.

In the 1800s, many men in my family were Ice Walkers. In the winter months, when they could not fish, they were contracted by the U.S. Post Office to deliver mail to various icebound islands and cities in Northern Michigan.

Many of our early family tales are from Beaver Island which is 40 miles by ferry across Lake Michigan from Charlevoix, Michigan. This includes the northwest corner of the island to the port of St. James.

The history of the Ice Walkers is filled with stories of courage, lost men floating on ice floes for miles, sometimes days before they could get back to land—and warmth. We have stories of at least three Ice Walkers in my family who met a tragic end, either falling through the ice or freezing to death, their bodies never recovered, or suffering frostbite so badly it would require the amputation of fingers, toes, sometimes even hands. Augustus LeBlanc’s sons, Paul and Oliver, continued to haul the mail well into the 1890s.

From The Beaver Island Beacon, 2013: “Ice Walkers” by Bill and Jeff Cashman

From early in the Mormon Era, carrying the mail across the ice was a sure way to earn $20—if one survived. Augustus LeBlanc was one of the first, and boldest, starting in 1851; after 20 years his sons took over.

The usual route was out past Hog Island, where a shack provided shelter if needed, on to Gray’s Reef and Waugoshance, and coming ashore at Cross Village. It could be done in a day, but frequently took longer. The ice walkers encountered every conceivable peril, from white-outs that left them disoriented to rough ice, thin ice, or no ice at all: chasms in which slush-filled water forced long detours.

They sometimes used a horse or dog sled, which allowed them to carry tools: planks to get over a barricade, and saws so they could cut out an ice raft to navigate a chasm. Even so, the record is full of tragedies. Horses fell in and drowned, and so did men. Sometimes a body had to be left on the ice until better weather permitted recovery.

One of the most harrowing tales involved a dog-sled trip down from Naubinway in which the team was stalked by wolves. They drew closer and closer, until the mail carrier drew his Colt 45 and shot the lead wolf—which quickly became dinner for its former friends.

In the 1850s Augustus LeBlanc was one of the early Ice Walkers from Beaver Island, St. James, Michigan. (Note in passing: Our last name was changed to LaBlance sometime in the 1880s. One story is the Catholic nuns on Beaver Island changed the spelling while another says it was changed by census takers.) During the winter months Augustus had a contract with the US Mail to deliver letters and parcels across Lake Michigan. Augustus’ route would change daily depending on the ice coverage of the lake, which itself was constantly changing according to wind and weather.

Many times, he would travel across the ice to Charlevoix, Naubinway, Cross Village, and other islands in the area. Some of the hazards encountered were thin ice, cold winds, and windrow ice piles where the wind is so strong, it blows layers of ice on top of each other forming barriers. The most hazardous weather condition of all was whiteout. There were times when he had no choice but to change his route because he would come to open water. Augustus would need to be supplied with food, blankets, extra clothes, saws, matches and spikes to use if he fell through the ice. At times he would have a sled he dragged and sometimes a dog to pull it. Seldom would he have a horse to help carry the mail because he knew the weight of the horse would easily break through the ice.

Charlevoix Courier, March 1892, Paul and Oliver LeBlanc, accompanied by C. Bissell, all Beaver Islanders from St. James, Michigan, left in early March to carry the United States Mail to Cross Village, Michigan, across twenty-seven miles of ice. They most likely traveled a lot more miles than the twenty-seven, as one is never sure of ice conditions walking across the ice. On this trip they started out with a crisp cold wind but otherwise a nice day. Having made this trip several times, the Beaver Islanders, being very hardy men and prepared to meet any challenges, would be tested on this trip. The ice started out to be perfectly safe and traveling on it there should not be much danger. Although conditions of the ice are very unpredictable, within a hundred feet you can go from solid ice to huge cracks several feet wide to mounds of ice you can’t see over. I can attest, from my own experience, that you cannot take walking on the ice like a stroll through the park. You must be prepared before you even start with the proper equipment or you won’t have a chance to survive.

These men pulled a sled loaded with the mail, planks to cross cracked ice, matches, lots of rope, spikes in their pockets (used to get out of the water if you fell through), couple of jackets, gloves, warm boots with extra socks and some fire wood. They would try to keep at least thirty feet between them to lessen the weight on the ice. You would not walk side by side. Conditions of the ice started to change several miles out. They encountered a crack in the ice that required the use of the planks to get across. Later they had to change directions because of a crack too wide for the planks, which added miles to their trip. Next, they came to ice packed six feet high where they had to unload the sled and hand carry everything over this ice pile. Finally, in sight of land, they had a decision to make… whether to keep walking into the night with no idea of the ice conditions ahead of them or prepare to sleep out in the open for the night.

The right decision would be to spend the night right where they were. That’s what the three men did, each taking a turn keeping watch for any changes in the ice or wind. Now you may think there was no way these men could get any sleep but you would be wrong. Hours of walking on the ice, while pulling a sled is exhausting and sleep would come easy until it was time to take a shift as a watcher.

The LeBlanc brothers, along with C. Bissell, had slept many times while ice walking. They arrived in Cross Village the next morning, as you know the mail must get through safely, but each had frozen feet and hands. After resting for the rest of the day and night, enjoying a fine meal and of course some alcohol, they prepared to make the trip back to Beaver Island with another load of mail and some supplies. Paul and C. Bissell made the return trip without Oliver. They started out in the early morning with solid ice and no wind. Conditions would change drastically as they made their way to Beaver Island. The wind started to whip up out of the south and about 4 miles from their destination they found themselves separated from land, as a huge sheet of ice broke off and they were floating in a northerly direction. Now they truly were at the mercy of the elements and drifting further away from Beaver Island. The only good news was, they were drifting toward Hog Island and Garden Island, both a bit north of Beaver Island. By night fall the huge sheet of ice they were drifting on hit a shoal just off Hog Island, still more than 2 miles from shore. They hunkered down in an ice cave for the night, knowing as long as the winds did not change, they could make their way to Hog Island once it was daylight. As morning arrived, they realized that they now had to hand carry everything over several ice piles. It took them about five hours to get the mail and supplies and their sled to shore.

Fighting bitter cold and exhaustion they found an old fisherman’s cabin where they started a fire in the pot belly stove and laid down to a deep sleep. They were overdue and with no way of contacting anyone on Beaver Island, a search plane from Charlevoix was sent out. By midday smoke was seen coming from the cabin, the pilot knew this time of the year that cabin was not occupied. He circled overhead and LeBlanc and Bissell heard the plane and came outside to signal that they were there and survived their ordeal. The pilot radioed Beaver Island of their location and a rescue party was sent out across the ice between Hog and Garden Island. The going was rough and dangerous but being hardy souls, they made it to the cabin on Hog Island. The first thing the ice walkers asked was, “Did you bring the beer?” Everyone sat around the pot belly stove and had a few beers before they made the trek to Beaver Island. The mail got through and they met their family at the nearest saloon where several toasts to the men were made before they made their way home. Since it was still mid-March, they knew in a couple of days they would make the trip again. I know this book is about the LaBlance family but I should mention other ice walkers from Beaver Island. This is just a short list of families that were ice walkers; Gallagher, Boyles, O’Donnell, Martin, Cable, McCauley, McCann and Murry’s, all of these names are related to...