View source for Ile Aux Galets

{{Infobox islands
| name             = Ile Aux Galets
| local_name      = Skilligallee Island
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| pushpin_map             = Michigan#USA
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| coordinates      ={{coord|45.6763965|-85.1731233|display=inline,title}}
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| location         = [[Cross Village Township, Michigan|Cross Village Township]], [[Emmet County, Michigan|Emmet County]], [[Michigan]]
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| waterbody        = [[Lake Michigan]]
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| elevation_ft     = 581
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| country          = [[United States]]
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'''Ile Aux Galets''', also known as ''Skillagallee'' or ''Skillagalee Island'', is located in northeast [[Lake Michigan]], between [[Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)|Beaver Island]] and the mainland, approximately {{convert|7|mi}} northwest of [[Cross Village Township, Michigan|Cross Village]] in [[Emmet County, Michigan]].  The island's [[Ile Aux Galets Light]] warns passing ships of a dangerous gravel [[shoal]] extending almost {{convert|2|mi}} to the east and {{convert|.5|mi}} to the northwest,<ref>[http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/SPECIAL01/80519001 Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.]</ref> that poses an imminent hazard to navigation.<ref name="terrypepper.com">[http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.]</ref>
==History==
The islet is home to a significant colony of [[ring-billed gulls]].  Its name, given by early French explorers, means "Isle of [[Pebble]]s."<ref name="lighthouse.boatnerd.com">{{Cite web |url=http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/skillagalee.htm |title=Wobser, David, boatnerd.com, Ile Au Galets, Skillagalee Island Lighthouse. |access-date=2014-03-20 |archive-date=2014-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112032912/http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/michigan/skillagalee.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>  It is said that the English speakers found the French name unpronounceable, and "Ile aux Galets"—soon misheard, misunderstood and mispronounced—transmuted into "Skillagalee" (or some variant) which took hold.  By the "mid 1800s references to the original French name all but disappeared."<ref>[http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/slillagallee/skillagallee.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.]  This is similar to the mutation of "[[Seul Choix Light|Seul Choix Harbor]]" into 'sishwa' or the development of the peculiarly named [[Waugoshance Light]].</ref>
There are many wrecks near Skillagalee island.  However, on September 27, 1850, the loss of the ''A.D. Patchin'', a wood [[sidewheeler]] {{convert|226|ft}} long and built in [[Trenton, Michigan]] in 1846, led to the construction of the first light on the island.  Loaded with general goods, the ''Patchin'''s course into Grays Reef Passage was disrupted by currents that pulled her onto Skillagalee's shore. Her crew escaped and was rescued, but foul winds and weather thwarted many attempts to set her free.  She was "pounded to pieces, becoming yet another of Lake Michigan's many victims."<ref name="terrypepper.com"/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Lake Michigan Islands}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Michigan]]
[[Category:Islands of Lake Michigan in Michigan]]
[[Category:Landforms of Emmet County, Michigan]]