MARQUETTE, Michigan – A new exhibit titled “Scattered to the Winds: The Vanished Community of Cable’s Bay and Beaver Island” will open Thursday, May 3, at the Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University. An opening reception featuring ethnic foods and songs from the island’s inhabitants is scheduled at 5 p.m. in 105 Cohodas Hall. Admission is free. The exhibit runs through Sept. 1.
NMU students in a sociology class on museum studies contributed to the creation and design of the exhibit, which showcases artifacts and data collected during the NMU archaeology field school excavations conducted on Beaver Island in 2010-11. Items are also on loan from the Beaver Island Historical Society, Marquette Regional History Center and the State of Michigan.
Cable’s Bay is one of two historic sites that were investigated. This early fishing village was located along the southeast side of the island and was briefly occupied from 1838-58 by fishermen and their families, traders and coopers, Native American women and Mormons. The story of this little village is a tale of hardship, forced exodus and eventual failure.
The other site explored during the field school was Burke’s Farm. Located along the east side of the island, the farmstead was briefly occupied from 1852-56 by Mormon farmers, who created the cabin and barn from timber on the property. Because of a forced exodus a short time later, the farmstead came under the ownership of Irish immigrants and later by other Euro-American families. By the mid-20th century, it began to return to nature’s grasp.
“Scattered to the Winds” is made possible by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council.
The Beaumier Center’s hours will change during the summer. In May, it will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. In June, July and August, the hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday. For more information, call 227-3212 or e-mail heritage@nmu.edu.
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