Treasure Island, also known as Mindemoya, is a large

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Lake Mindemoya Lake Mindemoya is a lake in Ontario, Canada, located within Manitoulin Island which is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake (Lake Huron). The lake is located near the town of Mindemoya, and it is the third largest on Manitoulin Island. ...

, on Manitoulin Island, which is in

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

. Aside from being Manitoulin's largest island at approximately in area, it is also notable for being the world's largest natural island in a lake on an island in a lake. The island has no permanent residents, but there are some

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

s. Treasure Island lies at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, with its highest point being about above sea level. It is about 1.4 km in length and about 400 meters wide and about 110 acres.

History

In 1883, the island was purchased for $60 by William McPherson, a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

deputy chief of police. Forty-five years later, in 1928, the island was sold to Joe and Jean Hodgson. The Hodgsons established a tourist camp on the island. Treasure Island Resort remained in business until Joe Hodgson died in 1968. Jean tried to run it but was unsuccessful. The resort was sold a couple of times and became run down. Finally, the Moeller family of Spencerville, Ohio, bought Treasure Island in 1980. It then became a corporate and family retreat.

The legend of Mindemoya

According to local tradition, Treasure Island was originally named Mindemoya, because of the distinctive shape of the island: rising at one end to a long, flat hill, with a steep drop to a short, low area at the other end. According to legend, a great chieftain or demi-god who once lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, had a wife who would not give him any peace. In frustration he eventually kicked her and sent her flying, to land on her hands and knees in Lake Mindemoya, leaving her back and rump above the water, which we see today as the island. The word "Mindemoya" supposedly means "old lady's bottom". The island lent its name to Lake Mindemoya and in turn to the village of Mindemoya, Ontario. The island was renamed "Treasure Island" by a tourist operator who built a resort there in the early 20th century.

References

Lake islands of Ontario Landforms of Manitoulin District {{Ontario-geo-stub

History

The legend of Mindemoya

See also

References