Blast from the Past

From the Ely Echo archives of April 22, 1985. Making his last stand was Tommy Chosa, age 68, last of the Chippewa people living on Basswood Lake. He was in U.S. Federal Court in Duluth. He was being tried on the charge of using a snowmobile for fishing on Basswood Lake. Chosa believed his treaty rights allowed him to fish. His great uncles, Vincent Roy and Peter Roy, who are buried on Basswood Lake, signed the treaty. As Tommy said, “They didn’t have a choice.” Photo by Bob Cary.