Fighting Island?

[Lowell]

I love doing satellite map flyovers and just finished 'exploring' Fighting Island which is almost twice the size of Belle Isle. This island always puzzled me as to why it just sat there and never got developed residential and or recreational. It seems like it would be a very attractive location. Is it polluted? Can it be visited?

Its brief Wiki:

Fighting Island is a 1,500-acre [[6.1 km2) island in the Detroit River— the largest Canadian island in the river. It is part of the town of LaSalle, Ontario, Canada, opposite Wyandotte, Michigan and downriver from Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.

Originally populated by Native Americans, it was settled by the French during the 18th century, and has had numerous owners since then. Native Americans named it Fighting Island in the late 1700s, because they used it to attack passing Britishprize fights were often held off the island. A number of attempts were later made to build a resort on the island, but all were unsuccessful. In 1918, the land was bought by John B. Ford of the Michigan Alkali Company to treat the effluent produced by the company. Michigan Alkali Company became Wyandotte Chemicals Corporation, which was subsequently bought by BASF. Today, Fighting Island is privately owned by BASF Corporation. A program is run on the island that is used by many area secondary and elementary schools to teach students about biology and ecology.

ships. In the late 19th century,

[Novine]

Horribly polluted but an interesting experiment in reclamation of the island through natural measures.

http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/n...9-9d834f1786b5

[Guideboat]

I believe you can only visit via the permission of BASF. It is very polluted with chemical salts because of Michigan Alkali/Wyandotte Chemicals activity [[as is the northern end of Grosse Ile). I know that BASF takes some employees out there for conferences and duck hunting.

This link to a Freep photo article explains quite a bit of what is going on. [[Note: you have to enter some generic personal info to see the whole phot set, but it is worth it).

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/g...arams=Itemnr=1

[MikeM]

The Corps used the island for dumping Rouge River dredgings from the early 1940s until 1959.

[1KielsonDrive]

Horribly polluted but an interesting experiment in reclamation of the island through natural measures.

http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/n...9-9d834f1786b5

Thanks so much for the link, Novine. I spent much time on Fighting Island as a kid and teen. I'll elaborate later. It's good to know of the reclamation efforts.

[1KielsonDrive]

I believe you can only visit via the permission of BASF. It is very polluted with chemical salts because of Michigan Alkali/Wyandotte Chemicals activity [[as is the northern end of Grosse Ile). I know that BASF takes some employees out there for conferences and duck hunting.

This link to a Freep photo article explains quite a bit of what is going on. [[Note: you have to enter some generic personal info to see the whole phot set, but it is worth it).

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/g...arams=Itemnr=1

Guideboat, I'm glad you made the analogy between Fighting Island and Grosse Ile. They're both former [[and maybe present) dumping grounds and brine mining operations. At some point about 25 - 35 years ago, the north end of Grosse Ile was having problems due to the brine extraction processes.The ground was sinking and collapsing, sometimes violently across vast areas, causing panic to residents of the north end. At the time the north end wasn't too heavily populated. In the ensuing years, it's developed much more. I don't know how much the problem's been repeated since then.

[1KielsonDrive]

The Corps used the island for dumping Rouge River dredgings from the early 1940s until 1959.

The Corps also built the island at the foot of Southfield Road from dredgings from various areas around downriver. That island was basically a mud flats or wetlands years ago. We called it Mud Island and Garbage Island. We also called the long, narrow island on the Canadian side between Fighting Island and LaSalle, Garbage Island. I'm not sure if I ever knew their correct names. I didn't know the correct name of Fordson Island in the Rouge River until I was a young adult. We called it Treasure Island.

[Rocko]

The island at the foot of the Southfield is Mud Island, and if one looks at an aerial image, it is roughly rectangular in shape. Immediately to the southeast of that is Grassy Island, another dredging dump ground, which borders the Fighting Island shipping channel on the American side and is an important call in point for commercial vessel traffic. I was not aware that the Corps also deposited dredging tailings on Fighting Island but that doesn't surprise me.

[1KielsonDrive]

The island at the foot of the Southfield is Mud Island, and if one looks at an aerial image, it is roughly rectangular in shape. Immediately to the southeast of that is Grassy Island, another dredging dump ground, which borders the Fighting Island shipping channel on the American side and is an important call in point for commercial vessel traffic. I was not aware that the Corps also deposited dredging tailings on Fighting Island but that doesn't surprise me.

Rocko. I'm not sure the Corps deposited dredgings on Fighting Island. It's seems I remember it though. The Corps Dredges, Haines and Lyman, worked all the channels around here and proceeded to that area to dump. I know I saw them in the Fighting Island Channel as well as the Bob Lo Boats. The Fighting Island Channel wasn't used by shipping traffic, but was, to my memory, used as an alternative, maybe emergency, route by smaller boats such as St. Clair, Columbia and Corp Dredges.

[MikeM]

The Corps definitely deposited dredging material on Fighting Island. By the summer on 1959, they had filled the waste beds to the point that any additional sediment was eroded and washed downstream. As a result they came up with a proposal to build a dike around Grassy Island and create there a 300-acre waste bed. A battle with the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife Service dragged on into the 1970s, but in the meantime the Deptartment of the Interior allowed the Corps to use a scaled back 72-acre site on Grassy Island for Rouge River dredging slurry. The more solid materials were taken to a dumping ground in Lake Erie.

[eriedearie]

Our son tells me that he and his son have been over to Fighting Island with a school class on a field trip. He also tells me that BASF management has arranged with the Town of LaSalle for them to receive the towns' collected yard waste so that they can refurbish the soil there. He said the projects they have happening on the island are very interesting from an ecological standpoint. Our son was telling us this back in the summer.

[szla]

I spent many summer evenings from about 1966 to about 1973 water skiing with my uncle and cousins in the channel between Fighting Island and the Canadian shore. He kept his boat on the Ecorse Creek west of Biddle. Sometimes when the wind was coming from the wrong direction it was a bit problematic getting out. It was usually smooth as glass for miles, perfect for skiing. Sometimes there would be a bit of a chop and we would go to the channel between [[I think) Turkey Island and the Canadian shore where it was never choppy. We walked on the firm parts of the dikes a few times but it was really creepy. Perfect place to bury Hoffa.

[1KielsonDrive]

Our son tells me that he and his son have been over to Fighting Island with a school class on a field trip. He also tells me that BASF management has arranged with the Town of LaSalle for them to receive the towns' collected yard waste so that they can refurbish the soil there. He said the projects they have happening on the island are very interesting from an ecological standpoint. Our son was telling us this back in the summer.

I love hearing about this stuff. Thank you.

[1KielsonDrive]

I spent many summer evenings from about 1966 to about 1973 water skiing with my uncle and cousins in the channel between Fighting Island and the Canadian shore. He kept his boat on the Ecorse Creek west of Biddle. Sometimes when the wind was coming from the wrong direction it was a bit problematic getting out. It was usually smooth as glass for miles, perfect for skiing. Sometimes there would be a bit of a chop and we would go to the channel between [[I think) Turkey Island and the Canadian shore where it was never choppy. We walked on the firm parts of the dikes a few times but it was really creepy. Perfect place to bury Hoffa.

That was my approximate window for skiing in that area - early 60's to mid 70's. I remember summer 1967 best, because I was working the midnight shift at Fabricon Corporation in River Rouge. I'd get out of work in time to start drinking, go down to the Great Lakes Steel Management Boat Club and head over to the beach at Fighting Island, with plenty of stops at Sunnyside. You must remember the beach if you skied that area. We would ski and party all day, then head home for a few hours sleep before going to work. The end result : I got mononucleosis and was in Delray Hospital for the beginning of the event of the century - the 1967 Riots.

[1KielsonDrive]

The beach at Fighting Island almost directly faced the Sunnyside Tavern canal - east. It was around the corner south from the Indian with the Bow and Arrow [[the old Wyandotte Chemical Trademark), the lodge and dock. You could practically swim over to Turkey[[?) Island. Is that the long narrow island separating the Fighting Island Channel from the channel closest to LaSalle? It's not like I haven't been there a thousand times and haven't read maps and charts. Anyway, the beach was very nice with a sandy bottom and good swimming because it was out of the current just enough to be enjoyable. We'd beach our runabouts and smaller boats and the larger cruisers would anchor out a bit. It was ideal - somewhat remote, but close to supplies - beer and food at Sunnyside Tavern and LaSalle. Waterskiing was great and water temps were usually bearable late June or July. That didn't keep us from skiing earlier. Some people were lucky enough to have a pretty unusual thing back then - a wetsuit. I think back and wonder about water quality and other hazards that didn't faze me at the time because I was young and immortal. We used to say the water on the American side of the river looked like chocolate milk or orange juice on good days. Between there and Lewiston, MI, I learned and skied all summer long.

[littlebuddy]

I remember a place out that way in the Detroit River, it seemed close to Lake Erie, that had a narrow entrance, just enough for a boat to get into. It seemed to have high banks, covered in brush and was long and narrow, a perfect place to waterski. At the north end there was a pond that had crystal clear water and you could look down and see fish swimming around. I don't remember much else about it. Was it a shipping canal that was never finished? This was about 30+ yrs ago.

[guito13]

My dad works at BASF. They have been working on reclaming it for quite some time. Right now they have lots of wildlife on the island and there is vegetation growing all over it. It is in MUCH better shape now than it was 20 years ago. There is a gamekeeper who works on the island and now and then they do have people on the island to hunt it [[usually big wigs and clients). Its 180 degrees from where it was in the past!

[ndavies]

I remember a place out that way in the Detroit River, it seemed close to Lake Erie, that had a narrow entrance, just enough for a boat to get into. It seemed to have high banks, covered in brush and was long and narrow, a perfect place to waterski. At the north end there was a pond that had crystal clear water and you could look down and see fish swimming around. I don't remember much else about it. Was it a shipping canal that was never finished? This was about 30+ yrs ago.

You're talking about Crystal Bay. It's directly north of Boblo [[Bois Blanc Island), east of Grosse Ile.

Crystal Bay used to be a very busy spot. Thousands of boats would be there on the weekends. That was before the OPP started heavily enforcing Ontario's open intoxicant and immigration laws. Large fines for having open beers and not calling Canadian customs.

[szla]

I'm a bit younger than you [[kielson). In 67 I was 15. I was also with my uncle. The beach was very nice but there always seem to be tiny rivelets coming from the ash pit on the whole east side of the island. We never landed on the north side of the island where there were no ash pits. It seems there were a couple of homes or buildings there and it was private property. Many times we couldn't land at the beach because there were too many boats there or just off shore. Turkey island seem to have no elevation and the few times we landed on it the whole thing seemed like a swamp. The water between Mud Island and the city of Ecorse was bright orange at times. The pollution in the Ecorse Creek was so bad we used to drop rocks into it and watch the methane? bubbles and substanceless things come up. Or were they turds in different form? After skiing you always felt you never needed a shower. It was almost like you had been bleached. My favorite beach was always Sugar Island just south of Grosse Isle. Really nice beach and it was the whole island. Into the mid 70s you could still find the foundation/footings of the old night club which burned down in [[1929?). I haven't been there in years but it seemed the very southside of Bob Lo had the most beautiful bright white sand. Does my memory serve me well? It was such a care free time in my life.

[1KielsonDrive]

I remember a place out that way in the Detroit River, it seemed close to Lake Erie, that had a narrow entrance, just enough for a boat to get into. It seemed to have high banks, covered in brush and was long and narrow, a perfect place to waterski. At the north end there was a pond that had crystal clear water and you could look down and see fish swimming around. I don't remember much else about it. Was it a shipping canal that was never finished? This was about 30+ yrs ago.

Actually, I think you're talking partially about Hidden Lake which is accessed through Crystal Bay. Crystal Bay, from what I've heard, was a natural bay that was enhanced in the process of building the Livingstone and Amherstburg Channels [[downbound and upbound shipping lanes to and from Lake Erie) by the Corps. The skiing you speak of must have been taking place in outer Crystal Bay, it's usually much too crowded in the interior for skiing. But the high banks are inside Hidden Lake which runs parrallel to Crystal bay along the west side.

[1KielsonDrive]

You're talking about Crystal Bay. It's directly north of Boblo [[Bois Blanc Island), east of Grosse Ile.

Crystal Bay used to be a very busy spot. Thousands of boats would be there on the weekends. That was before the OPP started heavily enforcing Ontario's open intoxicant and immigration laws. Large fines for having open beers and not calling Canadian customs.

Crystal Bay is still hopping. Sometimes thousands of boats gather there. You're correct that drinking and wildlife have diminished since the enforcement against alcohol possession and open drinking has been escalating over the last 15 - 18 years. I seldom go to Crystal Bay anymore because it got too crazy. You couldn't enjoy anything for all of the drunken, stoned idiots. I used to be one of them.

[1KielsonDrive]

I'm a bit younger than you [[kielson). In 67 I was 15. I was also with my uncle. The beach was very nice but there always seem to be tiny rivelets coming from the ash pit on the whole east side of the island. We never landed on the north side of the island where there were no ash pits. It seems there were a couple of homes or buildings there and it was private property. Many times we couldn't land at the beach because there were too many boats there or just off shore. Turkey island seem to have no elevation and the few times we landed on it the whole thing seemed like a swamp. The water between Mud Island and the city of Ecorse was bright orange at times. The pollution in the Ecorse Creek was so bad we used to drop rocks into it and watch the methane? bubbles and substanceless things come up. Or were they turds in different form? After skiing you always felt you never needed a shower. It was almost like you had been bleached. My favorite beach was always Sugar Island just south of Grosse Isle. Really nice beach and it was the whole island. Into the mid 70s you could still find the foundation/footings of the old night club which burned down in [[1929?). I haven't been there in years but it seemed the very southside of Bob Lo had the most beautiful bright white sand. Does my memory serve me well? It was such a care free time in my life.

szla, I'd say your memories are right on. You're in my age category so we experienced it at the same times.

[1KielsonDrive]

I went to Suger Island periodically but more often to White Sands and the lower Amherstburg Channel to a place just south of Amherstburg, called Joe's Beach. There was a nice area east around the bend from the Amhertsburg Channel called Bailey's Beach. Great white sand beach and an old wooden refreshment stand with toilets and an indoor pavilion. They've both been gone since the late 60's or early 70's. Development. Bah. McMansions. Bah.

[Lowell]

The stories you are sharing are so idyllic -- bygone childhoods and summers of fun. It is dreadful what almost unbridled pollution of this beautiful was allowed to happen. 'Flying' over it reveals still frightening industrial deserts and devastation of mother earth.

I notice a rather pleasant area [Click Here] on the NE side of Fighting Island with several buildings. In fact on the entire Canadian side of the island it seems care was taken to plant and cultivate vegetation, as if to mask the grim realities that lay behind to the west.

[1KielsonDrive]

I guess some of my memories aren't quite so accurate. It's not like I haven't been around there in recent years including this past and every summer. I kept my boat at the Holiday Harbor in LaSalle during the late 80's and early 90's. That was prior to 09/11 and border 'security'. I think the supposed border 'security' is way overdone. I'd probably still go to Windsor, Tecumseh, LaSalle, Amherstburg, Essex County and the ports on Lake Erie, much more often than I do if not for long waits and harrassmant at the border.