BiblioVault - Books about Lake Superior

The Cadottes

A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior

Robert Silbernagel

Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2023

The Great Lakes fur trade spanned two centuries and thousands of miles, but the story of one particular family, the Cadottes, illuminates the history of trade and trapping while exploring under-researched stories of French-Ojibwe political, social, and economic relations. Multiple generations of Cadottes were involved in the trade, usually working as interpreters and peacemakers, as the region passed from French to British to American control. Focusing on the years 1760 to 1840—the heyday of the Great Lakes fur trade—Robert Silbernagel delves into the lives of the Cadottes, with particular emphasis on the Ojibwe–French Canadian Michel Cadotte and his Ojibwe wife, Equaysayway, who were traders and regional leaders on Madeline Island for nearly forty years. In The Cadottes: A Fur Trade Family on Lake Superior, Silbernagel deepens our understanding of this era with stories of resilient, remarkable people.

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Lake Superior

Grace Lee Nute

University of Minnesota Press, 2000

State of Lake Superior

M. Munawar

Michigan State University Press, 2009

Lake Superior was saved from the extremes felt elsewhere because it is the top of the drainage landscape. Superior offered the prospects of greatest success because it was, in general, least altered. Many decades later, Superior serves as the best example of success in recovering from environmental adversity. This is not to say that restoration is complete or that all ecological problems are resolved. The heavy hand of humanity continues to cause important threats to the present and future state of Lake Superior. State of Lake Superior offers a polythetic view of current conditions in Lake Superior and insightful suggestions about where and how improvements should continue. The chapters range from basic reviews of what we know as a consequence of effective research to explorations of what little we know about challenging environmental issues for the future. Among these are the continuing concerns about contaminants, the burgeoning march of invasive species, and the portent of global change. We find some encouragement in the resilience of this large lake ecosystem. In many respects, it is a success story, as is shown from the insights of research merged with the mindful attention of management agencies.

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