My brother and other friends met us and took us to the Mormon printing
office, which had been turned into a hotel. When reaching there we were
met by ever so many old friends, nearly all speaking in French, and
their manner so hearty we could not help but feel their welcome. At
supper time the dining room was filled with a jolly crowd of fishermen
with a number of city people that were staying for rest and recreation
in the summer months. Several of them had been with the fishermen on the
lake that day watching the process of setting and lifting the nets, and
many were the jokes that were made at their expense. Next door was
another larger hotel, kept by Mr. David Lobdell and his wife. Mrs.
Lobdell came from Fremont, Ohio. This hotel had been full of summer
boarders, but many had gone to their city homes. This house had been
used by the Mormons as a dance hall and theater.
The summer at the island had been a very gay one. About twenty families
had summered there, living in the deserted homes of the Mormons. There
were also two or three smaller boarding houses that were all filled and
doing a good business. Fish were plenty, bringing a good price.
Everybody had money and used it freely. The fishermen were a good, kind,
jolly people as a class, borrowing no troubles for the morrow. In those
days there were no tugs used in the fishing business, neither were there
pound-nets used. There were many seines used. The fish caught were
usually very large in size, both whitefish and trout. The merchants did
a prosperous business. In winter the cord wood was chopped and brought
to the docks for the steamers' fuel during the summer season.