• Sunday-What'sUP August 18 - 01:11 pm

We are all eagerly awaiting the opening of the Time Capsule in Eagle River on Saturday, as the Keweenaw Historical Society celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the memorial at the entrance to the Village. As we count down the days, a unique perspective of the Keweenaw comes to us this week from pilot Tom Wachowski...

I’ve visited the Keweenaw my entire life, most recently spending time in Eagle Harbor. I’ve ventured to many corners, beaches, mines, trails, lakes, views and more across the peninsula in over three decades, including a few plane rides with Neil Harri.

But this past Wednesday I was lucky to catch a Keweenaw view I’ve always dreamt of seeing… the entire peninsula from high altitude (38,000’). I’m a corporate pilot and on this particular day our route took us north over Lake Superior, providing a spectacular view of my favorite place on Earth.

The first picture was taken over the lake, headed west / northwest, approaching the Keweenaw from the direction of Sault St. Marie.

The second picture was taken just south of Keystone Bay and shows Lac La Belle, Lake Medora, Eagle Harbor, Sand By, and south to Hancock.

The third picture was taken just offshore from Eagle Harbor headed towards Isle Royal.

Here’s a link to the actual camera platform on this day, the Challenger 604 business jet that I was flying, made by Bombardier in Montreal, Canada.

As a weekly viewer of the Pasty Cam, I thought you may enjoy these photos and story for your collection... and that the readers would enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

All my best,

Tom Wachowski

Great pictures, Tom. And thanks for telling us
exactly what we were looking at. How awesome for
you! I don't really like to fly, especially in
small planes, but what a great adventure!

Thanks for sharing!

Nice perspective...thanks for the ride! Now, if we could only talk you into taking us UP on the weekends :-)

Awesome shots tom..lucky you...that view is
priceless...Excellent video also on Douglass
houghton and history charlie. The time capsule will
be certainly interesting too open..i once bought a
copy of the book keweenaw character..incredible
history of the keweenaw peninsula and the many many
people who settled there..

I especially like the top 2 pics.

The Douglass House was named for C.C. Douglass. Proprietor and brother in law of Ransom Sheldon.

I appreciated your excellent video about Douglass Houghton,
Charlie. How young he was when he died, and how much he had
already accomplished. I hadn't realized he was a professor at the
University of Michigan.

lookielu (Eyeswideshut):
"The Douglass House was named for C.C. Douglass. Proprietor and brother in law of Ransom Shelden."

Apparently the notion that the Douglass House was named for Douglass Houghton ranks right up there with the similar misconception about Houghton Douglass Falls.

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Quote:

The falls were named after both Douglas Houghton and [the same] Christopher C. Douglass.

C.C. Douglass [Ransom Sheldon's brother-in-law] was a member of Houghton's survey party and stayed in the Keweenaw where he was one of the founders of Houghton and Hancock along with being an officer for many mines.

[In naming the falls,] the names were evidently deliberately reversed from alphabetical order to avoid the unfounded conclusion that the falls were named after Douglas Houghton!

Once the old sign disappeared in the '60's, the name Douglas Houghton stuck.

[Paraphrased from (click →) Paul in Illinois on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 - 07:19 pm:]

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C.C.Douglas, (Columbus Christopher)was also a cousin of Douglas Houghton and took over lot of his survey work after Houghton's death.