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History Mysteries: Imaginations running wild!

By exploring primary sources, such as old newspapers, personal letters, or maps, maybe you can unravel an unsolved mystery in your own town? Wouldn't that be cool? Contact us if you need some ideas for developing a writing and/or arts-based mystery in your own neck of the Great Lakes!! Below is a fine examples of how one community in Northern Michigan pulled together to produce the Wild Writers of Northern Michigan Mysteries, a highly successful two-day event which energized a number of young artists.

Young Writers’ Imaginations Run Wild at Summer Writing Program

In July of 2010 the first edition of Great Lakes History Mysteries officially commenced when Nick Torsky, the local conservation officer at the Otsego Conservation District Garden posed a mystery set in the shadows of the Pigeon River State Forest. Eager 4^th through 8^th graders were presented with a tattered map of Green Timbers section of the forest. Words were scrawled on the opposite side of the map by some odd figure named Raven, a person who years before had alledgedly made his nest in that very woodlands. The letter goes on to reveal the story of Raven's unselfish attempts to safeguard the forest from hikers and visitors who paid little regard to the natural environment.

“Please come and enjoy the many splendors this land holds, but I beg you, leave no trace. I’m watching,” were the final words Raven
scratched on the mysterious map.

The Wild Young Writers used guidebooks about wildlife, plants, flowers, and wilderness survival to decipher different facets of the mystery. Young people were given the option of writing poems, short stories, news reports, essays, skits, nature journals, and other forms of creative writing .

At one point participants reported a barefoot man wandering about the woods: “humming a song and studying the plants.” Some speculated that perhaps it was Raven himself.

In the end one young person summed it all up best with the words “Nature can inspire you."

Wild Writers is made possible by the Otsego Conservation District, the Otsego County Library, and Great Lakes Young Writers.

This year’s program was sponsored in part by Wal-Mart of Gaylord.

Update 2011: Taking things to the next level

For the past several months Tom Leonard, Director,Arts Across the Waters, has been working with Michelle Hamilton, University of Western Ontario, and Gregory Klatz, University of Guelph, in furthering Great Lakes History Mysteries. Gregory previously worked with the nationally award winning Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History www.canadianmysteries.ca. Surely Gregory's past background and Michelle's role as Director of Western's Public History Department adds a wealth of experinece and credibility to the effort. Gregory soon expects to send a formal proposal to the Department of Canadian Heritage which would provide funding to develop several mystery pilots on the Canadian side of the waters (one of which deals with the mystery surrounding the burial place of the great First Nation leader, Tecumseh).

Are there any Yankee historians who would like to see a similar effort developed on the US side of the waters? If so, let us know by contacting artsacrossthewaters@gmail.com.

History Mysteries: Imaginations running wild!

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