Lac Vieux Desert has a surface elevation 1,680ft (510m)[3] above sea level, and a maximum depth of about 40ft (12m). The surface area is 4,260 acres (17.24km2; 6.66sqmi), of which approximately two-thirds is in Wisconsin and one third in Michigan.
Located in the Lake District of northern Wisconsin, the lake is a popular boating and fishing resort.
The lake was named by French fur trappers, who were some of the first Europeans in the region. They translated the name into French from the term used by the Ojibwe of the area: Gete-gitigaani-zaaga'igan, meaning "Lake of the Old Clearing", or "Old Garden." At the time of European colonization, the Ojibwe (also known in the US as Chippewa) occupied extensive territory around Lake Superior, in what are now the jurisdictions of northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in the United States, and northern Ontario through southeastern Manitoba in Canada.
The Michigan shore of Lac Vieux Desert is in the largest of the few small areas of Michigan that are part of the drainage or watershed of the Mississippi River. There are three such areas along the Wisconsin border with Gogebic County and a bit of Iron County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and two areas along the Indiana border with Berrien County in southern Michigan.[4]
Recreation
There are multiple resorts and campgrounds on the lake. Most of the shoreline on the Wisconsin side of the lake is developed, however dense forest surrounds many of the properties.
Fishing
In 1919, the Wisconsin state recordTiger muskellunge was caught in Lac Vieux Desert. It was 54.0 inches (137cm) long and weighed 51pounds 3ounces (23.2kg).[5] The record has stood longer than any other fishing record in the state.
Gogebic County is the westernmost county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 14,380. The county seat is Bessemer. This was historically part of the territory of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa, which had twelve bands in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation is in this county, in Watersmeet Township; it is the land base of one of the federally recognized tribes.
Phelps is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,010 in 2018. The unincorporated community of Phelps is located in the town.
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
The Montreal River is a river flowing to Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. It is 47.8 miles (76.9 km) long and drains approximately 270 square miles (700 km2) in a forested region. For most of its length, the river's course defines a portion of the Wisconsin–Michigan border. The Ojibwe name for the river is Gaa-waasijiwaang, meaning "where there is whitewater".
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is a federally recognized Ojibwa Native American tribe, with an Indian reservation lying mostly in the Town of Lac du Flambeau in south-western Vilas County, and in the Town of Sherman in south-eastern Iron County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation, located at 45°59′05″N89°52′38″W, has a land area of 108.065 sq mi (279.887 km²) and a 2000 census resident population of 2,995 persons. Its major settlement is the unincorporated Lac du Flambeau, which had a population of 1,646 persons.
The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in northern Minnesota near Cloquet in Carlton and Saint Louis counties. Off-reservation holdings are located across the state in Douglas County, in the northwest corner of Wisconsin. The total land area of these tribal lands is 153.8375 square miles (398.437 km2). It is the land-base for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Before the establishment of this reservation, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa were located at the head of Lake Superior, closer to the mouth of the Saint Louis River, where Duluth has developed.
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) band located near Cloquet, Minnesota. Their land base is the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, located mainly in Carlton and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota, 20 miles west of Duluth.
The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe is one of six federally recognized bands of Ojibwe people located in present-day Wisconsin. The band is based at the Lac Courte Oreilles Indian Reservation, at 45°52′59″N91°19′13″W in northwestern Wisconsin, which surrounds Lac Courte Oreilles. The main reservation's land is in west-central Sawyer County, but two small plots of off-reservation trust land are located in Rusk, Burnett, and Washburn counties. The Reservation was established in 1854 by the second Treaty of La Pointe.
The Treaty of La Pointe may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in La Pointe, Wisconsin between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples. In addition, the Isle Royale Agreement, an adhesion to the first Treaty of La Pointe, was made at La Pointe.
The Ottawa National Forest is a national forest that covers 993,010 acres (401,860 ha) in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It includes much of Gogebic and Ontonagon counties, as well as slices of Iron, Houghton, Baraga, and Marquette counties. The forest is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service.
The Ontonagon Indian Reservation is the homeland of a branch of the Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe. Its twelve bands were located throughout Michigan and the Upper Midwest.
The Sandy Lake Tragedy was the culmination in 1850 of a series of events centered in Sandy Lake, Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of several hundred Lake Superior Chippewa. Officials of the Zachary Taylor Administration and Minnesota Territory sought to relocate several bands of the tribe to areas west of the Mississippi River. By changing the location for fall annuity payments, the officials intended the Chippewa to stay at the new site for the winter, hoping to lower their resistance to relocation. Due to delayed and inadequate payments of annuities and lack of promised supplies, about 400 Ojibwe, mostly men and 12% of the tribe, died of disease, starvation and cold. The outrage increased Ojibwe resistance to removal. The bands effectively gained widespread public support to achieve permanent reservations in their traditional territories.
The Lake Superior Chippewa are a large number of Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) bands living around Lake Superior; this territory is considered part of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in the United States. They migrated into the area by the seventeenth century, encroaching on the Eastern Dakota people who historically occupied the area. The Ojibwe defeated the Eastern Dakota and had their last battle in 1745, after which the Dakota Sioux migrated west into the Great Plains. While sharing a common culture and Anishinaabe language, this group of Ojibwe is highly decentralized, with at least twelve independent bands in this region.
Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in Watersmeet Township of southeastern Gogebic County, in the western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It is the landbase for the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The reservation has a total land area of 328.04 acres (1.3275 km2), split into two sections in eastern Watersmeet Township.
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is a band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, many of whom reside on the Lac Vieux Desert Indian Reservation, located near Watersmeet, Michigan. It is approximately 45 miles southeast of Ironwood, Michigan in Gogebic County.
Lake Lena is an unincorporated community and Native American village in Ogema Township, Pine County, Minnesota, United States, located along the Lower Tamarack River. It currently is the administrative center for the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, District III.
The Gogebic Range is an elongated area of iron ore deposits located within a range of hills in northern Michigan and Wisconsin just south of Lake Superior. It extends from Lake Namakagon in Wisconsin eastward to Lake Gogebic in Michigan, or almost 80 miles. Though long, it is only about a half mile wide and forms a crescent concave to the southeast. The Gogebic Range includes the communities of Ironwood in Michigan, plus Mellen and Hurley in Wisconsin.
Trout Lake is in Vilas County, Wisconsin, near the towns of Boulder Junction and Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin. With a surface area of 6.208 sq mi (16.079 km2) and a volume of 0.058 cu mi (0.240 km3), Trout Lake is one of the largest lakes in Vilas County. It has 16.1 mi (25.9 km) of shoreline, a large portion of which is undeveloped. There are also seven islands within the lake: Miller Island, Zimmerman Island, Haunted Island, Easter Island, Fisk Island, Chocolate Drop Island, and an unnamed island. It is a dimictic eutrophic lake that is highly productive and supports a large number of sport fish, which has made it a popular angling destination.
The Turtle-Flambeau Flowage is a 12,942 acres (52.37 km2) lake, in Iron County, Wisconsin. It has a maximum depth of 15 meters and is the seventh largest lake in the state of Wisconsin by surface area. The flowage is home to unique wetland patterns and plant species as well as several species of sport and game fish, including Musky, Panfish, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye and Sturgeon. The lake's water clarity is low, but can vary in different locations in the lake. Fishing, camping, boating, and hunting are popular activities on the flowage, and Ojibwe people traditionally harvest fish and game on the lake. Environmental concerns on the flowage include mercury contamination, algal blooms, and several types of invasive species.
Rice Bay, on the Michigan side of Lac Vieux Desert, contains a significant stand of wild rice traditionally managed and harvested by the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The availability of wild rice, and the annual rice harvest, played a central role in Ojibwe migration to the area and led to the establishment of a seasonal, and later permanent, settlement in this location. The area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
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