Tribal leader calls out decades of deception at famed Michigan spring

John Bellaire’s Conservation Legacy and Carole Hare’s Truth

In 1920, John Bellaire found a trash-filled spring in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The store owner saw past the lumber camp debris to spot its true worth.

Instead of buying it himself, he got the land sold to the state for just $10 in 1926, with one rule – it must stay a public park forever.

Bellaire then went all out, painting white rings on phone poles to guide folks to Kitch-iti-kipi. He even made up fake Native tales to draw crowds.

But in 2020, Ojibwe tribal member Carole Lynn Hare set things right. Her book shared the true spring legend, passed down through her family for two centuries.

The story behind Michigan’s largest freshwater spring holds both deception and truth waiting to be discovered.

Farm Boy Becomes Store Clerk in Michigan’s Lumber Country

John Ira Bellaire was born in Indiana in November 1871. His family moved to White Pigeon in northern Michigan when he was small.

The Bellaires struggled on their tiny farm, forcing young John to work odd jobs to pay for school. After graduating in 1891, he taught for a year near South Boardman with a basic teaching certificate.

Seeking better pay, John answered a help wanted ad in spring 1893 and got a clerk job at a general store in Seney, Michigan for $35 a month.

He Built a Life Among Rough-and-Tumble Lumberjacks

The young clerk proved himself quickly and became general manager of the Seney store by 1895. Two years later, he got the Postmaster job at Seney.

John married Sarah Boynton on September 24, 1896, starting a marriage that lasted over 60 years. His smart money moves let him buy the general store in 1899.

Living in Seney during its wild lumber boom, John watched the colorful characters of the infamous town for over ten years.

Manistique Became His New Home After Lumber Era Ended

As big pine logging slowed down, John moved his business to Manistique around 1925.

He bought the failed Riverside Coal and Produce Company and opened a five-and-dime store in 1927.

His shop gained fans for good products, fair prices, and friendly service. Business boomed so much that John opened a second store on Manistique’s west side by 1938.

Beyond selling goods, he became known as a community booster and local historian who collected lumber camp stories.

A Hidden Gem Lay Buried Under Logging Trash

In the early 1920s, John found Kitch-iti-kipi spring hidden under fallen trees and trash. A nearby lumber camp used the beautiful spring as their dump.

Where most people saw a black hole in a mess of timber, John spotted the green-bottomed pool with its amazing flow of 10,000 gallons per minute.

The spring grabbed John, who started visiting almost daily to watch the sand bubbling from underground pressure.

He Could Have Bought It Himself But Chose Public Ownership

John could easily have bought the 90-acre property himself. Many businessmen would have seen money-making chances and made a private attraction.

But John believed the spring needed public ownership for proper protection. He wanted to save this natural wonder for future visitors rather than make quick money.

With this goal, John talked to Frank Book, a partner in the Palms Book Land Company of Detroit, to set up a sale to the state.

Ten Dollars Saved a Priceless Michigan Treasure

In 1926, John arranged one of the best land deals in Michigan history. The Palms Book Land Company sold the spring and surrounding 90 acres to Michigan for just $10.

The deed came with key rules – the land must be “forever used as a public park, bearing the name Palms Book State Park.”

Over time, the state added more land through tax sales and land swaps, growing the park to over 300 acres.

One Man’s Publicity Campaign Put the Spring on the Map

John worked hard to promote his beloved spring. He often closed his store to personally guide tourists to the site.

To help visitors find their way from Manistique, he painted white rings on telephone poles and told folks to “follow the ringed telephone poles.”

John sold bottled spring water and sand in his store as “magical” items, calling the sand “Juggler’s Sand” and the water “Juggler’s Laughing Rain.”

Tourist Tales Replace True Native History

John made up several Native American legends about Kitch-iti-kipi.

His most famous story told of a young chief who drowned while trying to prove his love. Before he died in the 1950s, John admitted he created these fake legends just to draw visitors.

Oddly, these made-up stories got picked up by the state park system and spread as “authentic” Native American folklore for decades.

A Tribal Member Steps Up to Correct the Record

Almost 70 years after John’s marketing trick, Carole Lynn Hare (whose Ojibwe name is Miskwa Anang Kwe) took action.

As a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, she felt shocked when she visited Big Spring and heard the fake stories shared as Native American heritage.

In 2020, she published “The Legend of Kitch-iti-kipi” and contacted the State Park Historical Division to replace John’s stories with real cultural information.

An Old Manuscript Found in a Family Barn

The true legend came from a surprising source.

Carole’s great-great-aunt Pearl wrote down the family story in 1963, printing it at a local newspaper office before her death in 1969.

Pearl first heard the authentic tale as a child from her grandmother, who once saved an elderly Ojibwe woman named Mary from freezing to death.

Mary later shared the tragic legend as a warning when she spotted a young brave getting ready to swim in the dangerous spring.

Years later, the Thompson family found Pearl’s printed manuscripts in a barn and gave them to Carole’s father Jerome, a respected tribal leader.

The Real Story Finally Returns to Kitch-iti-kipi

Carole’s 2020 book presents the authentic legend – a Romeo and Juliet-style tragedy involving characters named Young Eagle, Little Fawn, and a jealous Chief Big Buck.

Unlike John’s simple romantic marketing tales, the true story serves as a moral warning about destructive emotions and their consequences.

The authentic legend reflects traditional Ojibwe storytelling with both positive and negative elements representing the battle between good and evil.

Thanks to Carole’s cultural preservation work, visitors to Kitch-iti-kipi can now learn the true Ojibwe heritage of this magical place rather than tourist-friendly fiction.

Visiting Kitch-iti-kipi, Michigan

You’ll find Kitch-iti-kipi 15 miles northwest of Manistique on M-149 north to County Road 455. You need a Michigan Recreation Passport to enter.

The self-operated observation raft takes you across the spring on cables for 10-15 minutes. The park opens year-round from 8 a.m. to dusk, and the water stays 45°F.

The seasonal gift shop sells Carole Lynn Hare’s book with authentic Ojibwe legends that corrects John Bellaire’s made-up tourist stories from the 1920s.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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