Summary

John H. Forster’s 1886 reminiscence says he was part of the 1855 Lake Survey party that worked on Beaver Island. Its field-observation layer describes good roads, cultivated farms, fences and outbuildings, and a St. James cluster with a large unfinished log temple, store, homes, dock, warehouse, and wood piles. It also says cordwood sales to passing steamers were profitable.

The memoir is three decades after the claimed visit and is vividly partisan against James J. Strang and the Saints. This entry therefore keeps the author, publication date, and source perspective visible: it can corroborate that a survey visitor described material conditions in 1855, but it is not an official survey report, a neutral social account, or evidence for its polemical claims.

Sources

John H. Forster, “Reminiscences of the Survey of the North Western Lakes,” *Michigan Historical Collections*, vol. 9 (1886), pp. 100–107, especially pp. 106–107, Internet Archive item michiganhistoric09mich.
Described in this archive: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society collections corpus.
Printed pages checked. Forster writes retrospectively in 1886 that he was ordered with W. H. Harding and others to survey Beaver Island in spring 1855. His account reports roads, farms, fences, crops, St. James buildings, a dock, warehouse, wood piles, and profitable cordwood sales to steamers. It is an observer’s retrospective, published three decades after the visit; its anti-Strang and anti-Saint characterizations, uncorroborated allegations, and anecdotes are not adopted as factual claims by this project.
page_evidence · michigan_historical_collections_vol09_p106_leaf125
John H. Forster, “Reminiscences of the Survey of the North Western Lakes,” *Michigan Historical Collections*, vol. 9 (1886), p. 107, Internet Archive item michiganhistoric09mich.
Described in this archive: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society collections corpus.
Continuation page checked. It records the writer’s recollection of fieldwork access and personal meetings, while also displaying the memoir’s strong editorial hostility. It is retained to make that bias reviewable rather than to support its allegations.
page_evidence · michigan_historical_collections_vol09_p107_leaf126

Added 2 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Michigan Historical Collections, volume 9, 1886”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/documents/michigan-historical-collections-volume-09/, accessed [date], citing John H. Forster, “Reminiscences of the Survey of the North Western Lakes,” *Michigan Historical Collections*, vol. 9 (1886), pp. 100–107, especially pp. 106–107, Internet Archive item michiganhistoric09mich. (and 1 further source listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

BibTeX for “Michigan Historical Collections, volume 9, 1886”RIS for “Michigan Historical Collections, volume 9, 1886”