Charlevoix, MI - part 2

This ferry boat, the Emerald Isle, runs between Charlevoix and Beaver Island. What, one wonders, is Beaver Island. Apparently it was settled by a Mormon splinter group in 1848 and declared a "kingdom" by James Strang, the divinely appointed king. The non-Mormon population was Irish Catholic. Strang's rule of the island became increasingly bizarre and heavy handed (for example, he demanded that all women wear bloomers and flogged the husbands of the noncompliant). Eventually his excesses led to his assassination and the Strangites were expelled from the Island. The Irish then enthusiastically filled the void and dubbed their home "America's Emerald Isle". So there you have it, briefly.