La Pointe, Wisconsin
| La Pointe, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
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|
 Location of La Pointe, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates: 46°49.0′N 90°41.8′W / 46.8167°N 90.6967°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Ashland |
| Town | La Pointe |
| Area | |
| • Total | 78.0 sq mi (201.9 km2) |
| • Land | 77.6 sq mi (200.9 km2) |
| • Water | 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 774 ft (236 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 246 |
| • Density | 3.2/sq mi (1.2/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code(s) | 715 & 534 |
| FIPS code | 55-42562 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1583529 |
| Website | Official website |
La Pointe is an unincorporated community in the town of La Pointe, Ashland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is on the western shore of Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands. Downtown La Pointe is adjacent to the Madeline Island Ferry dock. La Pointe has a post office with ZIP code 54850.
While the area encompassing the Town of La Pointe is made up of the entire Apostle Islands archipelago, the residents of the community live almost exclusively on Madeline Island because it is the only Apostle Island open to commercial development. There were 261 year-round residents in the unincorporated community at the 2010 census.
La Pointe was originally the site of a fortified French trading post from 1693 to 1698 and from 1718 to 1759. The current city began to develop in the late 18th century as an American Fur Company outpost under the leadership of Michel Cadotte.
According to William Whipple Warren's History of the Ojibway People (18xx), Moningwunakuaning "is the spot on which the Ojibway tribe first grew, and like a tree it has spread its branches in every direction, in the bands that now [1885] occupy the vast extent of the Ojibway earth; and also that 'it is the root from which all the far scattered villages of the tribe have sprung.'"
Warren, whose mother was French-Ojibwa, learned from maternal tribal elders that the Ojibwa originally lived near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. At the time of great sickness and death, the Great Spirit interceded through Manabosho, a common uncle of the Anishinubag (spontaneous people). Through the discovery of the snakeroot they were granted the rite, enabled through their Medawe (religion), "wherewith life is restored and prolonged." The great Megis (seashell) showed itself as a glossy thing reflecting on the sea. It led them first to a place near Montreal where they stayed for some time. Next it led them to Boweting (Sault St. Marie); again they stayed for some time. At last it led them to Moningwunakauning (La Pointe, Madeline Island), "where it has ever since reflected back the rays of the sun, and blessed our ancestors with life, light and wisdom," says Warren. So the flickering shaft of light is the Megis, and La Pointe is the center of the Earth for the Ojibwa.
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Wikipedia