The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1886-08-19
APOSTLE ISLANDS.
The Charming Beauty of q Group of Isles
in Lake Superior.

in Lake Superior.
On the southern shore of Lake Supe-
rior, that great ''unsalted sea- and
nearing its head, nestle the Apostle |
Islands, dotting the entrance to Che
quamegon bay. Some twenty in num-
Der they are of various sizes and shapes.
Long reaches of white sand form here
and there white beaches, while near by
red sandstone cliffs rise perpendcularly
from the water to magnificent heights.
Again the shores are lined with huge
powders ground round by the ceaseless
roll of the surf. Yawning chas ms
within whose wind-sheltered walls boats
glide over the still water; waterfalls
dashing down precipitous hills; huge
pillars seeming as though formed by
the hands of giant stone masons; great
wave-worn assures; immense blocks OF
stone fallen from the cliffs and forming
other little islands upon which the
hardy pine has found root and grows,
are some of the natural beauties seen
in passing through the island channels.
The charm of the group lies more,
however, in the ever-varying views of
| their wooded slopes. On a summer
day in that clear atmosphere, when
| white clouds fit across an otherwise
brazen sky, perfect picture is formed.
In the foreground the clear, pure waters
of Chequamegon bay; in front and on
either hand lie the islands as far as the
eye can reach. On the water shade
is cast here, giving it a deep green
color; yonder the sun lights it up and
it is molten silver; flashing across
wooded hill, all the vivid colors in the
laboratory of nature are brought out, a
shade from a cloud deepens the
emerald-green of spruce and pine, and
as the white-winged boat is waited
along, the scene is changed, ever chang
ing. With balsamic odors waited from
deep, woody shores; with refreshing
breezes from the bosom of old Superior,
mellowed by the rays of the sun and
tempered by the winding hills, that
lull their boisterous blasts, life is .
lullaby ended all too soon.
The Jesuit Fathers, Raymbault and
Jaques, who sought but never reached
the head of the great lake; Mesnard,
who put his trust sin that Providence
which feeds the little birds of the air, and
clothes the wild flowers of the desert, T"
but who wandered into the trackless
woods whence no word, or sign, or
sound ever came from him; and Alloiie,
who made his way along the shore.
through the labyrinth of islands and
planted the standard of the cross on the
largest of the group, had their hardships,
it is true, but what a glorious life they
J led, with nature in her majesty, her
!; beauty, her purity, ever present. That
was more than two centuries ago, and
there sit those islands to-day almost as
they were when the devout and daring
, Jesuits with their Indian guides first
looked upon them in their beauty
] Civilization has gone around them; the
! despoiling hand of man has been stayed
t Save here and there cleared spot, ;
fisherman's cabin, some three or foul
lighthouses to guard the great com
{ merce which flows past these solitar.
! abodes of a few, they are now as the.
+ were when earth was young.
] Long voyages are made to view thu
beauties of nature; our people flock tt
the shores of many seas in search o
+ scenes with which to store life's memor.
G but these northern and easily accessible
s isles equal if they do not surpass. tn
: most famed groups of the Old World
Y -.JanleS p. ADpleOGte, in Current.