Early Adventures at Put-in-bay, Middle Bass and Johnson’s Island

The stories in this book provide an important historical picture of what travelers to the Lake Erie Islands encountered in the 18th and early 19th centuries. I believe they are also interesting to a larger set of readers who would like answers to the following questions: Could Put-in-Bay harbor have been located on Middle Bass Island in the 18th century, and not on South Bass Island? Why were the Lake Erie Islands called the "Isles of Terror"? Who found the dead body of a French trader on North Bass Island in 1793 and buried it there? What occasion led to singing accompanied by flute music in a cavern in Put-in-Bay in 1819? How was Johnson's Island selected for the prison there during the Civil War? What was life like for the Confederate soldiers imprisoned on Johnson's Island? What did John Yates Beall, the "Pirate of Lake Erie," look like? And many more.