National Park After Dark - The Legend of Hermit Island: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Episode Date: October 24, 2022

In the mid 1800's a mysterious man deemed one of the Apostle Islands as his own and left society to be a hermit. He was known to not approve of visitors and would remove them by force. When he turns up murdered, rumors spread that there is a buried treasure on the island.For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to this week’s partners!Microdose: Use code NPAD to get free shipping and 30% off your first order. Lomi: Use our link and code NPAD to get $50 off your Lomi.Blissy: Use our link and code NPAD to get an additional 30% off. For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com. So they see the full picture, my work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff,

knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Solitude. This term originated from the Latin word solitudinem, meaning lonely. But the word solitude does not necessarily mean that you are lonely.

Solitude by definition is the state of being alone or remote from society. The word carries the sense that there is joy and being alone by choice. Where do you go to be alone? Do you take shelter from the outside? world in the comfort of your home? Do you take a long drive in your car listening to your favorite songs? Do you find your solitude on an empty trail through the woods or deep into the back country? Solitude morphs its way into every person's lives in different ways. Often though, it is the simplicity and calmness of the wilderness that feeds our needs to escape from civilization. There are instances where people even decide to hide from society altogether and live out the rest of their

days as a hermit to live in solitude indefinitely. Oddly enough, these people who attempt to escape the curious eyes of society ultimately can end up attracting the most prying of eyes. Hermits are an outlier in society and it's hard to understand someone that chooses to live so differently. After all, what are these people hiding? Welcome to National Park After Dark. This one sounds very intriguing because I love to be alone. I am a hermit. I am a hermit.

So this is awesome. Same. I have in my old age, I have recently, I say in my old age, but I have really enjoyed my personal alone time for quite a while. Between solo hiking or just being in my room by myself or whatever it is, I very much enjoy it. Although for this story, we're going to be diving deep into this very old legend of a hermit that escapes society altogether. And I don't know if I am that much of a, I don't know if I like solitude that much.

You're not a hermit extremist. You're a part, you're a partial hermit. A hermit extremist. Well, before we get into that, we do want to remind everyone that we are doing a Spotify live event in a few days now, right? This air is on Monday. It'll be coming out, which is tomorrow if you're listening to it on Monday. So this will air on October 25th at 7 p.m. Eastern time, 4 p.m. Pacific Standard time on Spotify. And if you download the Spotify Live app, this is all free.

If you download the app, then you can chat with us during the live as well. Yes, we're super excited. So download the Spotify Live app for your chance to speak with us. We're going to be talking about some Trail Tales doing a Trail Tales episode. But at the end of that, we're going to be doing. a question and answer segment. It's going to be really fun. We're going to get to chat with you guys. So download the Spotify Live app. If you do not have the Spotify Live app, you can still listen through the Spotify platform. You just won't be able to interact. Exactly. Well, for this episode,

we'll go right into it because we are going to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, which I'm very, very excited to talk about because it's on my list, but because it is somewhere that I really want to go And it's in Wisconsin, which I feel like we haven't been in this area of the country for our stories in quite a while. So I'm excited to head over here. When you said Wisconsin, I used to work with, for some reason, the year that I was an intern at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center before I was on staff. For some reason, we had like two or three interns that year, that round that were all from Wisconsin. And working with them was so funny because they'd be like, Wisconsin. They were, they had Wisconsin.

Wisconsin. I think you have to say it like that. I just learned the way I remember how to say Wisconsin, Wisconsin is remember that T-Pain song, and it was like, I'll build you a mansion up in Wisconsin. Blast for the past. Oh, my God, yeah. Well, T-Pain, an educator, and he didn't even know. An educator, yes.

And we are going to be going to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, which is located on the northern tip of Wisconsin and it's along the shores of Lake Superior. And I haven't personally been here yet. It's actually the last state that I have to. And that's my 50th state. So I really want to go there. And I really want to go there for this because I feel like, especially as someone not in the area of Wisconsin, I feel like Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin is super underrated because this place is beautiful. I would agree with that. There's a lot of cool places that I end up stumbling upon and I look at. like Michigan, Wisconsin area. Always. In Minnesota. Yes. Yes. There's a lot going on up there. And it's because the Great Lakes are up there and the Great Lakes are just so beautiful.

So Apostle Islands National Lakeshort is managed by the National Park Service. It is the National Park and it consists of 21 islands and it encompasses 69,372 acres or 28,074 hectares. These islands have been nicknamed the Islands of Wonder because this place is full of history and incredible landscapes. These islands were formed over a million years ago by glacial ice, wind, and waves from Lake Superior, resulting in giant sandstone cliffs, sea caves, and miles of incredible beaches. The Apostle Islands have been used for thousands of years with its first inhabitants to be indigenous tribes. Many Ojibwe legends and history are present on the islands. It was first established as the National Lakeshore on September 26, 1970.

and it was established to be able to conserve the area and also provide recreation use. Many of these islands offer public docking for your personal boats and serve as a popular summer destination for fishing as the waters have a bunch of different species of trout and salmon. Camping is also a popular recreational activity as 18 of the 21 islands allows it with permits and reservations ahead of time. Many people come here to swim, kayak, and scuba dive around the islands as well. well. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is home to more lighthouses than any other national park unit within the United States. They have eight historic lighthouses on six different islands.

These lighthouses have been guiding boats and ships through rough waters of Lake Superior for generations. However, there are about 80 known shipwrecks around Apostle Islands, with many of them never being found also. So 80 that we are aware of. Yeah. And are accounted for. No, not even all are accounted for. They know that the ship's wrecked, but they never found them. Okay. So I guess my question is, is there 80 of them that we know the location of or 80 that we know wrecked in that area in total? 80 that we know wrecked in the area. Okay. Do you know if some of the scuba diving operations around there is in search of these wrecks? Yeah. Yeah. There's people constantly that are looking for them. A lot of the scuba diving is also to see the ones that we do know about to just check them out. Take a peek around.

Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot. And there's a lot of stories of shipwrecks here. And this isn't a shipwreck story. Spoiler alert. But I feel like at some point we're going to come back because there are some pretty heavy shipwrecks that are here as well. But I found this story and I was really intrigued by it.

And it was different than anything we've covered. So, but there are a ton of shipwrecks. And there are 21 islands on the national park, which I mentioned. But we are going to be heading and focusing on only one of those islands today. And it is called Herman. Hermit Island. Okay. Over, because of a hermit, a person that was a hermit?

A person that was a hermit. It was named after. And we're going to go all into that person's story because it's very interesting and it has become a big legend around a lot of the visiting of Apostle Islands. Hermit Island is known for its impressive sandstone cliffs and it also serves as a popular rest area for kayakers. There's no campsites here, but because it is close to the mainland, It is common for visitors to hang out for a little while.

This island is known to see black bears because it is such a short swim for them as well. It has gone by other names in the past. It was originally known as, I'm going to try and pronounce this, but it's hard. Ashu Wogendig Minis, which was named by the Ojibwe people, meaning the further island. It was eventually renamed after Hermit, who once inhabited the island during the 1850s. He had retreated to the island and built his own cabin there away from all the other people. And he was known to be a person that you should never approach. And this story is filled with some violence, some romance, murder, and a lot of money.

As most stories involve one of those things. We got them all. We got them all. So hermit, does he have a name? I'm assuming it's a male. That's just... Yes, it is a male. and this hermit's name was William Wilson, or so we think, he was a very mysterious man and no one actually really knows about his early life.

That's definitely an alias. William Wilson? Come on. It's super bland. He's like how many William Wilson's could be out there? That's like, I can't even think. Someone named William Wilson is listening to this and is like, that is not bland name. That is not an alias.

It's my real name. I'm sorry. It's unique. Bill. Yeah, I think you would go by Bill Wilson or like W. Dubya. William Wilson. God, that's so fake.

Anyways, go on. So even though there wasn't much known about William Wilson, some say he was born in Canada in 1792. This hermit of what was later known as Hermit Island has become a bit of a legend in Apostle Island's National Seashore. And that is because nothing was ever written about him while he was alive. All historical events about him are in writings that happened after he died. Okay, so the accuracy is questionable. Mm-hmm.

Okay. There are many different versions of his tale, and we can't say with complete accuracy which one is 100% certain. But what we do know is that William Wilson, or whatever his name truly was, he did exist at some point, and he did inhabit Hermit Island long before it was given that name. It is believed that William first arrived in Wisconsin in the year 1837. He was 46 at the time and he had settled in the village of LaPoint. LaPoint is a small town on the western shore of Madeline Island, and it still exists today,

this area. Madeline Island is the largest of all the Apostle Islands. And while it is the largest island in this area today, this part is actually not part of the national park at all. This area is used for tourism and commercial use and is a very popular vacation. destination. However, this wasn't always a vacation destination. It originally started out as a sacred spiritual center of the Lake Superior Chippewa, which are a large number of Ojibwe people who lived around the area. Madeline Island is named after an Ojibway chief's daughter, Madeline Cadet. And in the mid-1800s,

when William moved there, it was largely inhabited by indigenous people for traders and missionaries. William had moved there to work for the American fur company, and his primary job with them was to build sturdy wooden containers for them to transport and sell their fur goods in. William was a very experienced and talented craftsman, and because of his skills, he was able to make good money working for the American fur company. During his time there, he built kind of a prestigious reputation. Everyone knew who he was. He made a lot of money. He was just a big person in this small village. After about 10 years of living and working on LaPoint, William suddenly up and rerouted his life to live on Hermit Island, which at the time was called Round Island. This is a two-mile-long

piece of land in Lake Superior that had absolutely no one else on it. Why William abruptly left to live in solitude is unknown, but there are two theories that have been written throughout history. In some written accounts, they speak of an altercation between William and a man named John Bell. John Bell was a man who also worked for the company and was also a very skilled craftsman. They worked in the same company and along, not with each other, but in the same region of each other, but they were rivals. They didn't get along. And one day in 1847, during a heated argument, and they were in front of people, John Bell

swung at William and with one punch he knocked him out cold. Some believe that he was so humiliated that he set off to his own island where he didn't have to face anyone anymore and because of his own ego he could be the alpha person there okay what's the second theory because i don't buy that first one i don't buy that either i believe that there was a rivalry but i'm like you don't just up and move unless it was like the straw that broke the camel's back you know right like i've hated people so much and now i just got knocked out in public i'm good that's it i'm off to round island yeah it's like i'm off to live on my own peace out everyone yeah where he can be the only one there, like, King of the Castle, King of the Gasol, I have a chair.

Yeah, I like that. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting.

Watch only on Prime. The other theory is that he was actually heartbroken. There isn't documentation of a marriage, but there were many writings and rumors that he did have a wife who had suddenly fell ill. And when she died, he fell into this deep sadness and he ran away from everybody. And he decided to live in solitude on Round Island instead, which I think sounds more plausible. I a thousand percent agree with that. And it's interesting that you bring this up because I did something very random yesterday. So I guess my first question is you said there's no documentation of a marriage,

like no marriage license, written records in regards to like in that way. Do you know if there's any like correspondence like letters between him and another woman and a woman? It doesn't sound like they found anything like that. And it doesn't seem like there's really anything cohesive that shows he was married or in a relationship. but there are writings that date so far back that have to do with a woman. And there was also some writings of someone coming up to him while he was on the island later in life and he was asleep sitting next to a tree and he was just like in his sleep, he was like whimpering a woman's name.

Okay. Which is part of why this I think started circulating as well. Okay. Well, I just asked that because yesterday, this is so random. But have you seen Sex in the City, the movie? Yeah. The original one, not the second one. I've seen both.

Okay. Well, in the first one, when Carrie and like, what's the guy's name, John, her husband, the big. Big. Big. I was like big. Yeah, him. He reads from this book, like this love letter book to her. Remember that?

Yeah. Fagely. It's been a long time since I've seen it. Well, apparently that wasn't a real book. It was called like great, great love letters from great men or something. something along those lines. And it was, it's not real at the time that the movie was made. But it's real now because of the movie.

And I was like, wow, I'm really interested in that. And I looked up the book. There was one one copy in a Barnes & Noble like 40 minutes from me. And I went and got it. And I've been powering through it all last night. And it's really cool because so there's, it's just all these different love letters from great people throughout history, like going back to the 1400s, Beethoven's in there. Wow. And they're love letters?

They're love letters. And so they're short, you know, excerpts from different love letters. But the book will preface each letter with who's writing it and the context of like who they're writing to, whether it's a mistress, a love interest, a wife, kind of like what happened. Like if they're out at war or something like that. Yes. And it's so interesting because, oh my God, it just hits you in the heart, you're like, wow, this is so amazing. Like, I wish literally anyone would talk to me like that, but also just the history behind it and then to hear like what eventually happened between those two people that the writings are about. And sometimes, you know, it was never their wife according to history. Like there would have been no record of them being together because on paper they

weren't. But they know that they were together or having an affair or something like that through these love letters found. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, that's why I asked. Love letters are so underrated. I mean, they're. Oh, my God. I have, I took a highlighter. Literally, I'm highlighting, like, sections of these. I don't know why. Like, why am I doing this? You're just like, I just like this. Yeah, it's really romantic and just so expressive in a way that we aren't used to. Because we have texting and FaceTime and, you know, even. You up. Sup. U-Up.

Oh my God. It hurts. It hurts my heart. It's like anyone who's receiving a U-up text right now, just block them. Block them. That's the answer. Love letters only. Yes.

Just forward them that book. Love letters from great men. Like block. Like are you a great man or not? Or not. Or not. Okay. Go back to the hermit, please.

Anyway. So that was the other, essentially what we were saying was that the other theory is that he left to live a life in solitude because he lost his wife. When he arrived on the island with all of his craftman skills, he actually built himself his own cabin. He built a garden for food and he also built an area where he could make his own hay so he could sell it. And he also created an area for chickens. While he tended to his small farm and solitary life, he didn't completely leave the fur company. actually still continued to work for them and make money, but he did his work from the island. However, even though he was still working for this company, he didn't allow any visitors to the

island. The only people allowed had to be buying some of these barrels he made or these wooden chess or boxes. And if anyone did come to the island and he was not aware of it, they were met with Wilson's gun, which he not only threatened to use on people, but he actually shot people on several occasions. And there's no reported fatalities, but he was not messing around. He did not want anyone around him. That's extreme. Yeah.

He's like, get off my island. This is my space. I am shooting you. Please leave. There's not even like a no trespassing sign or warning sign. I don't know. Not that I read, but word spread pretty fast that he had taken over the island. Probably after he shot someone and they came back and they're like, hey,

He's armed and he doesn't want anyone here. And like I said before, he was also a prominent figure in the area. So people weren't going to mess with him. They knew him already from before. He had money. He was probably the talk of the town, to be honest. I'm sure. Like Will Wilson.

What is the name? William Wilson. William Wilson just is straight up, you know, going off the grid and shooting at people. Yeah, he took over Round Island. And Round Island isn't very far from Madeline Island. It was pretty, it was. within like two miles, I think. I mean, it's Black Bear swimming distance. You can see his island from the other islands surrounding him. So it wasn't that far away, but people got the point that they

weren't allowed. And it became pretty accepted that this was his island. And it became so accepted that people stopped referring to it as Round Island. And they began calling it Wilson's Island. While William Wilson was private and aloof and he kept most people at an arm's distance, he did maintain one friend. His name was Benjamin Armstrong and he was a man that he had known on Madeline Island who had also decided to move his family to the nearby Oak Island. He built a small trading post on the island and was quickly known as a person who could get anyone, anything that they wanted.

Later Benjamin Armstrong became a prominent person in the Apostle Island's history, and he had actually moved there from Alabama, and he learned the language of the Ojibwe people. So he often served as a government translator to make deals between the groups. But for William Wilson, he knew him for his whiskey, and Benjamin Armstrong was able to supply it in large demands. While typically people would order a bottle or two at a time and then return to Benjamin to ask him for more, William wanted to avoid interactions with people as much as possible. So he placed an order with Benjamin for an entire barrel filled with whiskey. Well, and he is also on an island.

So logistically wise, you got to stock up. Yeah. You know, it's just the smart crossing the... Right. Like, oh, I'm just going to get one bottle at a time and go back and forth and waste my fucking time. You know what I mean? It's like just stock up. But a barrel for one person?

It's like going to Costco. I would imagine. I've never been to Costco. This was the old Costco. The original Costco. But I will say, so Ian's family has a, I mean, it's been in their family for hundreds of years. And they have an island in Maine on one of the lakes in Maine. And to get there, you have to get there obviously by boat.

And it's kind of a, I mean, it's nothing crazy. Like, it's not like you have to stock up. And once you're there, you're there for weeks at a time because it's so out there. But it is a process to get there. I mean, the island doesn't have electricity or running water, but it's awesome. It's awesome. It's like a compound. It's not just one house.

There's like a lot of, they built it up over the last, you know, a couple hundred years. And it was so cool to go to. But yeah, like, they always said, like, you pack what you need for the next however long because it's not easy. You're not leaving. Yeah, you're not leaving. So I would imagine, I mean, they basically brought shitloads of alcohol into that. By the barrel. We also had barrels.

also had barrels. That's so funny. Well, this is pretty much how William became friends with Benjamin because he had access to bring him this huge amount of whiskey that he wanted. And while William became fond of Benjamin, that wasn't the reason that he was friendlier to him than anyone else that he had interactions with. William had never been taught how to count. And specifically, he had never learned how to count money.

And one day, when Benjamin came to deliver his whiskey and told William the price, William handed him an assortment of coins he estimated should be about what he had asked for. But Benjamin was shocked when he handed him the money. He had handed him almost three times as much as he had asked for. And instead of taking the money, he gave the excess amount back to him. And at this point, William admitted that he didn't know how to count it and that he had been living his life assuming that people he paid for services were being honest with the amount he was paying them. Wrong. Definitely not. No one was being honest. He was the first one that was honest. I was just going to ask,

how the hell did he get through life? Fake it till you make it. Well, apparently he was taking advantage of, I'm sure. Thousand percent. Of course. But he did have money because after seeing how honest he had been, William actually asked Benjamin if he would count the amount of money that he had brought with him to the island. And he also asked if he could teach him how to count it himself. So Benjamin sits down with him, counts all of his coins, explains to William how to count it, and also gave him some tips on how he should manage the money that he did have. And when he was done counting everything, he found that William had $1,300 on him, which to put in today's money is over $40,000.

He's like, just so you know, you're rich. Like, you have a shit ton of money. Surprise. You have 40 grand just like sitting in your living. room right now. Benjamin also informed him after this how dangerous it was for him to have that amount of money just sitting around his house and that he should not so freely show people that he had it ever again. Well, and it's like, I don't know how much this is. Someone could have been like, this is like $5. It's like this isn't anything. This isn't anything. And you actually owe me more and then take most of it.

Yeah. Or just someone knowing that he's alone on an island with that amount of money just sitting there. And Benjamin was a good friend. You know, he's like, hey, man, that, luckily, it sounds like Benjamin was pretty well off himself, so he wasn't interested. So he's just like, hey, it's not safe. Not only should you not have it just sitting out, you shouldn't tell people and you should also hide it. And with that, William agreed that he was going to store it in a really safe place where no one would be able to find it. And he vowed that he would never talk to anyone else about it any further. Over the years, the two of them became friends. And Benjamin, felt the need to look out for William. William would occasionally go to his island to visit, but he would never stay there longer than an hour, but he was pretty much the only person that he would actually have friendly visits with. William mostly kept himself on the island, but he would run out occasionally for errands or to sell products from his hay or his chickens. It was obvious when William was home, because there would always be smoke coming from his chimney. Benjamin began to use this as a way to check on William. He would make sure he was okay and he was still

alive as the years went by because he was concerned he was living out there by himself there was harsh weather during the winter time especially so he would pretty consistently check to see if there was smoke coming from the chimney if there was he knew that things were running smoothly he was okay he was there and it wasn't too long before locals caught on to that as well if they saw smoke coming from the chimney they would assume he was home and if it was not it meant that he was off running errands and sometimes he would even be gone for days but it was in the winter of 1861 that people living on the nearby islands began to take notice that they had not seen smoke coming from the island for quite a while. No one could pinpoint exactly how long it had been,

but as the days went by, people began to watch closely for any smoke, but day after day, there was nothing. People began reporting this news and eventually Benjamin went to John Bell, who was that original guy, that they had gotten into a fight, him and William Wilson, and he had punched him, but they worked together. Yes, the rival, quote unquote. Yeah. And he asked him if he had seen them because even though they weren't friendly, they did have an active relationship because they both worked for the fur company. He asked him if he had seen him and he noted that it was unusual that William would have left the island for such a long period of time. But John Bell reported that he had not seen him in about two months. With this, the two of them and a couple more men grabbed a boat and

headed to the island to check on him. As they approached, it was eerily quiet. They called out his name several times, as William was known to shoot trespassers. They didn't want to accidentally surprise him, but after each call, there was no response. When they stepped onto the island, they immediately noticed that it looked as if nothing had been touched in a long time. Snow had blanketed the area, but there were no footprints. Tools were out in places and just abandoned there. As the group of men stepped closer and closer to the cabin, they couldn't help but feel a stinking feeling that something was horribly wrong. They knocked on the cabin door, and still, with no response, they found the door to be unlocked, and they stepped inside. Immediately, they were met by the smell of death and decay. Lying face down on the

floor in front of them was William. It had been obvious that he had been dead for some time, but not only that, It was clear that he had been murdered. A pool of dried blood surrounded him, and he had a wound on the back of his head. It looked as though there had been a struggle throughout the cabin. Furniture was knocked over, and his belongings were strung around the room. It looked as though the place had been ran stacked after the attack. Benjamin immediately thought of the money he knew to be hidden there. It had been years since he had last seen it, and the amount was sure to be much more than the $1,300 he had seen.

He told John of it, and he said he thought it was hidden somewhere inside of the house. With the prospect of over, in today's money would be $40,000, the group of men began tearing apart the cabin as well. They smashed open boxes and chests that William had handcrafted himself. They searched inside the walls, under the floorboards, and into the ceiling. Eventually, their search yielded a secret hiding place behind a clock on the wall. There was a secret compartment with a small buckskin bag, but inside of it was only $60. which in today's money is $1,774. With this, did the person who murdered him find the money,

or was it hidden somewhere else on the island? The news of William's murder spread through the community fast, but the news of a possible hidden treasure spread like wildfire. Within days, large groups of people arrived on Hermit Island in search of the treasure. They tore up the landscape of the island in search of this mysterious treasure by digging, cutting down trees, tearing apart structures, and while it was agreed that whoever murdered him, most likely came for his treasure,

many didn't believe that the murderer actually found it. Some believed it was on the island, while others believed he might have kept it offshore or maybe even in deeper holes than they had dug in the first place. Now, while there was an initial investigation into his murder, and even many people believe that Benjamin Armstrong was the biggest suspect, as he was the only known person who knew of Williams' treasure, nothing ever came of the case.

It seemed that more people were focused on the prospect of hidden treasure than finding the person who had killed him. I was going to say, well, hold on. Suddenly, there's tons of people on the island looking for his money instead of like, okay, well, a man was just killed. And are we interested at all in who that could possibly be? Well, yeah, I have to remember, too, is he didn't really have friends. Okay, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if you have friends or not. You should still receive the same. Care. Yeah. It doesn't matter if you had one friend or a thousand if you get killed. This is a different time, though. Everyone's just trying to survive and grow. And I mean, America was growing as a whole.

You know, people are starting to mine and log and do all this stuff. And everyone's just trying to make money. So it doesn't surprise me. I mean, it's awful. It's awful. But it didn't seem like there was really anyone that cared to investigate his murder that in depth, especially when there was the prospect of $40,000 plus dollars just sitting there somewhere. Well, you did say that people kind of pointed right away to William. Or what,

God, what's his name? The friend. Benjamin. Benjamin. Because he's the only one who know, because if he didn't say anything, would anyone assume there's a treasure at all? Like, I feel like he kind of fueled this whole thing. Maybe. And maybe he did tell someone. Or, Maybe Benjamin told someone, or maybe William mentioned it, or maybe he had grabbed his money out and someone had seen it at some point. You know, there's really, there's so many scenarios that could have happened because, again, none of this is documented until long after his death. But if he grabbed his money out in front of someone, they would have known where it is. Yeah, that's true. You know what I mean?

So I feel like, I don't know. But then also did the person who murdered him find the money? They certainly didn't find that buckskin bag that you were talking about, because why would they? they just leave a thousand or so dollars behind. Yeah, but that's a small chunk of what he had. Yeah, I guess. So if you found other money, would you keep looking? Maybe not.

Probably not. I don't know. Especially if you murdered someone, you're like, okay, I got to get out of here. Like, I'm not going to take my time looking around for other stashes. If you found a huge stash. Yeah, hypothetically. But who knows? Because for years, treasure hunters were coming to Hermit Island and search for this money.

But to this day, it's never been discovered. Well, it's not even confirmed that I was there. Yeah. It could have been hidden on a different island. Okay, what about, have we thought about this? Have we thought about that? We're assuming that he had a bunch more money over time. But what if he didn't?

What if somehow it was just being slowly depleted over time? And that one little bag he had really was all he had left. And someone killed him, think he had much more, couldn't find it, and left. and there really truly isn't any more at all. I guess it's possible, but from the lifestyle he was living, I just don't see how he could have spent that much money. Gotcha. You know, he was creating his own food.

He was logging his own island to create his own shelters. He left very infrequently for supplies. I just don't see, and he was still working and being paid. Okay, yeah. So there's an influx of money and not, he's not really spending it. So, yeah, where is it going? Okay. I didn't consider that.

After William's death, a man by the name of Frederick Prentice, who had earned the nickname Brownstone King, took advantage of the unoccupied island, and he noticed that the island was rich in brown sandstone and established the Excelsior quarry, which employed over a hundred workers and was used to chip away the brownstone to use in big cities such as Chicago and Minneapolis. Several housing cabins were built on the island along with a mansion called Cedar Bark Lodge. This was a mansion that Frederick built for his teenage bride. It was expensive and elaborate to build, but ever since the murder of William, the island seemed off. Many people of the island reported a heavy feeling, and it was often that those people

who walked around the island would get an overwhelming feeling of being watched. People who came on to the island could not shake the feeling that they were not supposed to be there. And when Frederick's wife arrived to see this beautiful mansion on the sandstone cliffside of Hermit Island, it was standing at three stories high with multiple balconies, beautiful sandstone fireplaces, with an observation tower that offered beautiful views of the chain of the islands. But she took one look at it, turned around, and went back to New York forever. She didn't want to be there and didn't like it. The vibes are off.

She's like, I don't like it here. That seems a little snooty. A little. Kind of like an old school Alexis Rose. Do you watch Schitts Creek? No. Then why'd you laugh? I know who Alexis Rose is because I watched the first episode.

Oh, okay. Ew, David. Ew. And some people say maybe she just left because she was from New York City and she's like, I don't want to live on this island. I don't care about this mansion. What is this? But other people said the island was kind of scary.

there was just this really off vibe that was there, and maybe she felt it. And with this, with her not wanting to be there, Frederick left the home abandon and returned to New York as well. The quarry was in his business for several years until the economy crashed and cities no longer wanted this brown sandstone because there were new trends of stone that were becoming more popular. Now during this period, strange things kept occurring to the residents of the island. They continued to have these overwhelming feelings of being constantly watched, but it would especially happen when they would walk alone. And several occurrences workers reported to see William Wilson. On nights where the moon lit up the island, they reported seeing him walking the shores with what looked like to be a shotgun in his hand.

He never came too close and he would mysteriously disappear. On top of this, the quarry was running into some bad luck and some severe financial issues. Frederick eventually sold the quarry in 1897 to a wealthy investor from Minnesota named Elias Drake for $10,000, which would be about $313,000 in today's money. That is not bad. No, companies sell for millions now. That is not bad. You can't even get like a one bedroom, one bath for $313,000, let alone a whole damn island.

Yeah. It's like here's a whole business and an island for this amount. And when he took over, the quarry started producing mass amounts of brown sandstone, and it was doing extremely well financially. And this island that at one point, when William Wilson was there, was totally abandoned, it was now filled with workers and people. It was no longer this quiet piece of land that William once lived on. It was filled with people and noise.

Large areas of the land were clear cut for dig sites, and there were constant sounds of drills, sledgehammers, and pickaxes that were tearing away at the stone. And the amount of noise that was coming from this island was almost unbearable at times. And after only a small amount of time of these new workers occupying the island, strange things began to occur once more. The feelings of being watched again started, and they too reported seeing a dark figure walking along the shores at night. But it wasn't only that. These workers seemed to be riddled with bad luck. Accidents on the job were frequent, and machinery was prone to break much faster than expected. And then more financials began when the sandstone

again became less popular to use. In 1909, the island was sold again to the Lake Superior Land and Development Company with the hopes of the island to become a resort for vacationers. They renovated the Cedar Bark Lodge to accommodate for visitors with luxurious rooms and they made it able to hold 25 guests at a time. But almost as soon as the business opened, it was shut down. Another family started a farm and an apple orchard on the island, but they were constantly riddled with bad luck as well. Between weather, their crops dying, and machinery mysteriously breaking, they had to shut down by the 1930s and abandoned the island altogether. Another person tried to reopen the resort, but again, had to shut down almost as soon as it opened. Over the next 40 years, ownership transferred several

times with people trying to build some structures or start recreational uses for the island, but nothing was ever able to stay established. Ventures were abandoned time and time again. The only owners who have ever been able to maintain their ownership of the island since William Wilson was murdered is the National Park Service. In September of 1970, 21 islands were given protective status along with one-fourth of a mile of shoreline off each island. The National Park service reverted Hermit Island back to its wild state, one that most likely represents more of what it was like when William Wilson lived there. They demolished the Cedar Bark Lodge, along with the old cabins of the quarrymen. William Wilson's cabin had long been destroyed over the years of use,

and although if you look closely, there are small signs of history that took place here with some leftover cut sandstone and some pieces of old boating docks off the island, it has been mostly returned to its wild state. It is now mostly considered a home for bears. There are no campsites here and people who visit only stay for a quick stop on the island. While the overall feeling of the island seems to be more peaceful, occasionally a visitor will report seeing a strange figure standing on the shore at night or a feeling of being watched. But overall, it seems that William Spirit has finally found peace, knowing that the island will remain in a peaceful and natural state. I was just going to say, It seems like all as well now that it's back to its most natural state.

And isn't it so crazy how all of that can happen? All of that activity can happen. And looking at it today, you would never know. It's just an island. An island with some rocks and some trees. Just everything's being reclaimed. Remember that show? Oh my God.

I think it was on like discovery or history maybe. And I'm not even sure 100% of what it's called. I think it was like 100 years later. or something later. And it was basically a hypothetical post-apocalyptic world, like what it would look like after a certain amount of years of people not being here. Yeah. And they showed how plants would retake over and they'd like grow up through the concrete.

And how the animals. And animals would return to the areas that they were before. That's what this reminds me of kind of. It's really cool. Well, it's essentially what happened is the island did because there was a lot of logging on this island too. And I'll post pictures of it on our socials and stuff, but there are lots of trees were cut down. There were holes dug up everywhere. And there's trees on the island now. And there's life on the island. And there is a small part that the National Park Service, right around where the

Cedar Lodge used to be, that remains open. But it's mostly so visitors can get on the island easier. Right. I don't think there was any other treasure. You think that after all these years, all that activity, everybody purposefully looking for the treasure and inadvertently digging up the area and stripping everything down and nothing was ever found. Like, I don't know, man. I just, I feel like, I don't know. It's a cool story and it is a interesting legend and one that I understand the allure of it and the interest of like, oh, but he was like this, you know, kind of out there guy. He was to himself. He had a lot of money, but there's a murder, etc. But I don't know. I just don't think that that there's really anything there. I have a feeling that the people who murdered him

may have found it and left or, or, I mean, it's possible he could have taken a hole so deep on the island. I mean, the island isn't just like the size of your bedroom. Right. You know, like it's in, it's not like every ounce of the island was ever dug up. So I guess it's potentially possible, but you would also think it sounds like he had a little storage of. You know, money in behind his clock. But you would also think that if he was continuously coming back to put more money into this area, if it was buried somewhere, there would be some evidence of a hole there or, you know, I don't know, I think it's possible. I'm not going to say it's not. Maybe it's this big treasure hunt that 20 years from now, we're going to see an article that says, someone found

the treasure of Hermit Island or maybe it's gone forever. Well, I will say I don't think the park service condones people going there and digging shit up. That's a really valid point. I think that's important to say. Don't do that. It is preserved. You can't do that.

Yeah. Maybe if you have some like weird one of those infrared metal detector camera things, you can look at the island and see if you see a buckskin bag of thousands of coins. All these points. I love. I have this thing of like I get really into something wholeheartedly, like go from zero to 100 and I just dive into an interest and then I'm in it for a little while. And then I go from 100 to zero real quick again and don't care anymore.

Like never mind. Never mind. One of those things, which actually I should say I do still care about it and I think it's cool, but I just don't do it anymore is metal detecting. I love metal detecting. I used to do it all the time. Have you ever found anything cool? Not really. I mean, depending on what your definition. No, never. That's why I gave it up. I never got rich, obviously, from it. I don't know. Just like, obviously, because in New England, everything is so old, you know, there's just bound to be, especially in town. I remember going, there was this house where I grew up, the town I grew up, and I would pass it on my way to work every day. And it was beautiful. And it had one of those plaques, like circa 17, whatever. And I would see the man out in the property all the time. He was an older gentleman. And I would. I'm like, I feel like his property has something on it because there was ruins of a shed and stuff on part of it, but the home itself was beautiful. And I finally got the courage to go to his front door and ask him. I knocked on his front door and I asked him if I could use the metal detector on his property. And he said, yeah. And he's like, just share anything you find. And I didn't find anything amazing. I found like a couple old bullets and a horseshoe. But other than that, nothing of note but yeah it's just it's the thrill of it but I will say what stopped me is like you see

it you know you see people all the time on the beach like looking for stuff especially after storms like in the keys that's the best time to go because you never know what gets stirred up but um it's really there's a lot of restrictions on where you can and can't legally metal detect yeah because I'm sure they don't want people just digging up areas and like if there's anything of archaeological significance. Like you can't just have like me digging around. Ripping up. Yeah. So I understand why those rules are in place. And there are, you know, legal ways to do it in different clubs you can join and things like that. But I just dropped it. I was like, okay, well, it's not easy to do. So I'm just not going to do it right now. Classic. Classic. But it was fun at the, at the time. And if anyone is a

metal detector out there and has found anything really cool, I would love to know. So please. email us selfishly, I want to know. But don't do it on Hermit Island. Don't do it on Hermit Island. That's a no-go. You can go there. But if people have been there and you get to kayak and stop there and it looks like a cool spot. I mean, Apostle Islands looks beautiful because one, you have all these islands. The water is turquoise blue. They have all these island caves that you can kayak into. Yeah. And Lake Superior is huge. It's like you're on an ocean when you're there. And it even looks really beautiful to visit during the wintertime because you can walk across parts of the lake and you can walk into these caves. And it's just the whole island looks amazing. There's

lighthouses that are really historic that are there. There's so much history outside of just this legend of this island. But it definitely seems like a really cool place to visit. I would love to go there. But yeah, that's everything that I have for today's episode. Well, if anyone finds themselves there, be sure to enjoy the view. But watch your back. Bye. Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale you'd like to share, send us an email at NPAD Stories at gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National Park After Dark and on Twitter at NPAD podcast.

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