Qualla: Pie Island https://qualla.com/pie-island en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Pie Island https://qualla.com/pie-island Pie Island: Introduction https://qualla.com/pie-island/ Photo credit User:P199, CC BY-SA 4.0. The French traders who navigated Lake Superior's north shore looked at the island's flat-topped mesa and saw a meat pie with a crust. They called it Le Pate, and the English name -- Pie Island -- stuck. It is an oddly whimsical name for a place shaped by some of the most serious forces in Canadian history: silver fever, treaty promises, and a land claim that took over a century to resolve. Sitting in Lake Superior south of Thunder Bay and north of Isle Royale, Michigan, the island is readily visible from the city's shoreline and high points, its distinctive silhouette a constant presence on the horizon.

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Image: User:P199 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/f08d-pie-island-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Pie Island: A Mesa in the Lake https://qualla.com/pie-island/ Photo credit User:P199, CC BY-SA 4.0. Le Pate, the westernmost mesa on Pie Island, is also its highest point. Formed by a diabase sill -- the same type of volcanic intrusion that shaped much of the region's dramatic geology -- the mesa is cliffed on all sides. Its top is mostly flat but slopes near the edges, cut by ...

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Image: User:P199 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/f08d-pie-island-a-mesa-in-the-lake.mp3 0:06 2 full Pie Island: Silver Dreams and Hay Fields https://qualla.com/pie-island/ Photo credit User:P199, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the 19th century, Pie Island drew prospectors hunting for silver. Algoma Member of Parliament Simon James Dawson operated a mine on the island. Augustine W. Daby of Massachusetts took charge of the Pie Island Silver Mining Company in July 1881, but the venture ended badly -- t...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/f08d-pie-island-silver-dreams-and-hay-fields.mp3 0:06 3 full Pie Island: The Light on the North Point https://qualla.com/pie-island/ Photo credit User:P199, CC BY-SA 4.0. A lighthouse was established on Pie Island in 1895, originally placed at the western end to guide shipping through Lake Superior's treacherous waters. But the location proved inadequate. In July 1904, the Dominion government moved the lighthouse to the island's north point, where...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/f08d-pie-island-the-light-on-the-north-point.mp3 0:06 4 full Pie Island: A Promise Fulfilled https://qualla.com/pie-island/ Photo credit User:P199, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pie Island's most significant story is one of patience. When the Robinson Treaty of 1850 allocated reserve lands to the Fort William First Nation, the government surveyor recommended in 1853 that Pie Island be included as part of the reserve. His recommendation was never acted up...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/f08d-pie-island-a-promise-fulfilled.mp3 0:06 5 full Pie Island: Island Ward to Island Home https://qualla.com/pie-island/ Photo credit User:P199, CC BY-SA 4.0. When the Ontario Legislature created a municipality in 1873 to govern settlements around Thunder Bay, Pie Island was folded into the Municipality of Shuniah as part of Island Ward. For over sixty years, this remote island in Lake Superior was technically a municipal ward -- a bur...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/8/d/pie-island-wp/f08d-pie-island-island-ward-to-island-home.mp3 0:06 6 full