Audrey Casari Guest Writer Ray Olson Lt. Col. Jack D. Carpenter, WWII, Korea, Silver Star and Purple Heart Jack Carpenter was born on June 19, 1924 in Jamestown, New York. He grew up in Indian River, Michigan. His parents, Floyde and Una May [Constable] resided in...
A River Runs Through It
Articles by Audrey Casari
Local WWII Heroes Given Their Due
At the time that World War II began, Cheboygan County had a population of 13,644 people. To fight and defeat Adolph Hitler, Cheboygan County sent 1,324 of its sons and daughters. Until now the total story that these brave men and women played in winning the Second...
Beautiful Beacons in the Straits
For eons, the Straits of Mackinac have proven to be a life-supporting waterway connecting the great lakes Huron and Michigan, and, in more recent times, supporting trade from the Eastern Seaboard to the Midwest. Calm waters welcomed Native Americans, early European...
The Plaunt Family: For Love of an Island
Michiganders are blessed to have two Bois Blanc (pronounced “boblo”) Islands. Both islands were named by French explorers because of their thick stands of white birch trees. The island commonly spelled “Boblo” is located on the Canadian side of the Detroit River...
‘Lily of the Mohawk’
Today I want to share more about the life of Native American Catholic Saint Kateri (Catherine) Tekakwitha, who is memorialized by a statue at the Cross in the Woods Shrine in Indian River. Kateri, a patroness of the environment who suffered terribly in life, inspired...
Cheboygan’s Great Philanthropist and Lumber Baron
The land on which the Great Lakes Tissue plant stands today has played an important role in our economy for 250 years. Early on, the powerful currents in the Cheboygan River made it attractive for sawmills. Alexander McLeod built the first sawmill at the site in 1844....
Kateri Tekakwitha and the Cross in the Woods Shrine
After World War 2 ended in 1945, a small contingent of Catholic families living in Indian River grew tired of battling bad roads and weather to get to the nearest Catholic Church eight miles away in Afton. Soon after, Father Charles D. Brophy voiced the possibility of...
Making a Mark on Cheboygan and the World
Jacob Sammons, a cooper from Mackinac Island, was Cheboygan’s first permanent white settler in 1844. He wanted to be near the raw materials needed to make sturdy wooden barrel staves and a river for shipping them. At first, the settlement grew slowly, until logging...
Cheboygan’s Most Famous Citizen
Cheboygan’s most famous citizen was George Magellin Humphrey. He was born on March 8, 1890 to Caroline [Magellin] and Watts Sherman Humphrey. He grew up in Cheboygan. George graduated from Cheboygan Schools and the University of Michigan. Later he would earn his law...
Memories of Your Grandfathers
Do you remember your grandfather? Your great grandfather? Could they read and write? Could they speak English? Many grandfathers could not and this was a great handicap for them in the new world that they had entered as immigrants. So, it was absolutely necessary that...