Cal Patterson

The Old Man of Flynn's Island: the Hermit's Tale Cal Patterson

It begins in 1863, at the Battle of Chickamauga with the apocalyptic experience of a young Michigan artilleryman. It ends in 1913 with a vision of the same man, an indomitable spirit now known as "The Old Man of Flynn's Island," life now passed, walking hand-in-hand with the love of his life, at peace. It is the story of his life and included are vivid events of his time. Join John Chambers as he flees the battlefield, becomes a bounty jumper, later a prisoner, a prison escapee, and finally a fugitive. See through his eyes the Chicago Stockyards at War's end, Grand Rapids, Michigan and the furniture industry of 1865, and join him as he endures imprisonment at Leavenworth. Experience the building of the transcontinental railroad, the Great Chicago Fire, and the life and times of a lumberman in northern Michigan's White Pine forests. Discover with him the beauty of the idyllic island home he finds in Higgins Lake, a jewel of spring-fed loveliness in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. Journey to Fayette, site of iron smelting on Michigan's Garden Peninsula near Escanaba, and to the Copper Country of the Keewenaw Peninsula. Return to Chicago and the Great World's Fair, the Columbian Exposition of 1893. Finally, walk with John Chambers in the years he was known as a hermit, again living on his island in Higgins Lake. This is a story of specific local interest. It is based upon the known existence of a hermit that indeed lived on this island in Higgins Lake. As such it will appeal to folks with connections to Higgins Lake, Houghton Lake and the surrounding Roscommon County. In addition, it is a story of general interest, covering, as it does, experiences of our forefathers in the years from the Civil War to the early Twentieth Century. It is a good read for anyone with a lively interest in the history of these times.