GC7HK80 SwtM - Harsens Island (Traditional Cache) in Michigan, United States created by The Mitten Crew

This cache has been archived.

The Mitten Crew: Year Nine of Smitten with the Mitten series has come to a close.

Thanks to all who visited the caches in this summer series and learned a bit about Islands in Michigan.

The caches will be picked up over the next few days.

We cannot guarantee they will still be there if you go out for them, but to quote the movie Dumb and Dumber, "So what you're saying is ... there's a chance"

Be sure to get your pathtag requests in by September 11th.

GC7HK80 ▼

A cache by The Mitten Crew Message this owner

Hidden : 5/1/2018

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Please be respectful of the Wittenbach/Wege Nature Center and stay on the trail while walking to the next cache. If you go cross country you could encounter a swamp. Stay on the trail system and cross the bridge over the creek.

Harsens Island is a wet marshy island located at the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair. The island was named by Americans for its first Euro-American settler, James (or Jacob) Harsen, of Dutch descent. Harsen migrated from New York state in about 1779, during the American Revolutionary War, with his daughter and son-in-law Isaac Graveraet (or Graveret). Harsen bought the island from the local Native Americans in 1783. It was also known as "Jacob Island" (also James or Jacobus Island) as late as 1809. The name of the post office, Sans Souci, was changed to "Harsens Island" in 1960.

Great Britain and the United States disputed the island's jurisdiction for many years. The 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, described the international boundary line with imprecise terms in several places, including the mouth of the St. Clair River. The area had not been surveyed at that time. In the most commonly known map of the area from that period, made by John Mitchell in 1755 and which was used in negotiating the treaty, the delta and all the islands at the mouth of the St. Clair River are absent.

According to the 1783 treaty, the boundary line was to run through the middle of Lake Erie until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron, "thence along the middle of said water communication into the Lake Huron". Due to this vagueness, all of the delta islands, including Harsens and Dickinson, were claimed by the British. Some persons located in the new United States who did not want to renounce their status as British subjects following the war moved to make their residences there. The area was administered by the Hesse District of Upper Canada, which also awarded land grants in the islands. In 1809, surveyors for the British government placed the boundary line in the north channel, which placed all of the delta and islands under British control.

The 1814 Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, acknowledged the ambiguity of provisions in the 1783 treaty and provided a new definition. By this definition, both Harsens and Dickinson islands were placed on the U.S. side of the boundary.

In 1870 a case arose involving Hiram Little of Wallaceburg, Ontario, a captain who was given a contract to provide cord wood and supplies to a work crew. At the time, a ship canal was being dredged through the marshy areas near Lake St. Clair. By this time shipping was increasing and the need for a deep, free-flowing canal was required. During one trip to the work area, Capt. Little's ship was seized by U.S. officials who claimed he was operating illegally since he was in U.S. waters. Little protested, claiming he was in Canadian water, and challenged U.S. officials to prove their contention. After searching of documents, including contact with the Crown in England who supplied early charts of the area, Capt. Little was ultimately proven correct. To avoid further embarrassment, the U.S. officials moved the international boundary east, further infringing on Canadian (and First Nations) land.

The present St. Clair River, from Russel Island to Lake St. Clair, has been the international boundary line between Canada and the United States ever since. Some observers still disagree as to which nation should legally "own" Harsen's Island and the St. Clair delta area. The Walpole Island First Nation claims that Harsen's Island is unceded territory and properly belongs to them.

Harsens Island is the only U.S. island in the Flats that can be reached by automobile ferry, and is the only one with roads and an unincorporated community, Sans Souci. The island community had a public school, which has closed and been replaced by a restaurant. Other tourist attractions include shops, an art gallery, and a small airport. All the other U.S. islands—there are scores of them—are accessible only by boat. The State of Michigan owns about 75% of the area of Harsen's Island, and manages waterfowl and wildlife sanctuaries throughout.

Visit 14 geocaches in the SwtM series. At each geocache collect a letter and number combination. Insert them into the phrase: FiTS LIKe A GlOVE Use the coordinates from the phrase to find the final geocache and become a Mitten Master
Power Island	North Manitou	South Manitou
Belle Isle	Mackinac Island	Isle Royale
Sugar Island	High Island	Harsens Island
Garden Island	Fox Islands	Drummond Island
Grosse Ile	Beaver Island	Mitten Master