Major Gilbert Field Airport -(4R5)

La Pointe was a trading post established by the French in 1693 on an island in Lake Superior. In the late 18th century, the American Fur Company took over and appointed Michel Cadotte the manager. Mr. Cadotte was married to the daughter of an Ojibwa leader. The chief's name was White Crane and the daughter Madeleine. Mrs. Cadotte most likely had an Ojibwa name, but the location of La Pointe became known as Madeline Island.

Madeline or Madeleine is a French name derived from the Greek Magdalene. Magdalene is a Christian saint. She was one of the apostles of Jesus, the chauvinistic attitude of the church notwithstanding. Appropriately, Madeline Island is one of the Apostle Islands, and they are a spiritual center for Lake Superior Chippewa.

Madeline is not part of the Apostle Islands National Sea Shore. Development is permitted, but more than a third of the island is park or public land. The modern village of La Pointe is at the site of the old trading post. The islands are popular for canoeing, kayaking, and sailing. You can fly to this bucolic place thanks to the Madeline Island Airport, which is owned and operated by the Town of La Pointe. It has 3000 foot long paved and lighted runway. There's a generous parking area, automated weather station and a terminal building for flight planning, etc.

Other public access is by ferry when Lake Superior isn't frozen. Once that happens there's an ice road that is the only one of its kind with a designation (Ashland County Road H). When Lake Superior ice keeps the ferry in port, scheduled surface transportation is by "Windsled." Both the ferry and windsled service are also operated by the Town of La Pointe.

Windsleds are a local invention that have runners on a boat like hull. Driven by propellers and steered with airfoils, they use aviation technology but don't fly. One was built with a modified aircraft fuselage and many versions use aircraft engines. The sled-boat combination means windsled operations are not deterred by open water or thin ice. "Retractable" landing gear assists moving over obstacles and that feature too has an aviation origin, the first such installation using a wheel and strut from a Twin Beech.

The absence of a land connection makes the airport on Madeline Island important for both the economy and emergency services, so the airport receives federal and state financial assistance. Surprisingly, records of both the FAA and State of Wisconsin show no aircraft based at Madeline Island, yet there are 16 hangars at the airport and plenty of airplanes around. Documentation compiled by the Town of La Pointe indicates 22 aircraft occupy those hangars. They're all owned by seasonal or part-time islanders and the aircraft are "officially" registered elsewhere. The aircraft based at Madeline Island are an eclectic mix. There's a jet, four or five turboprops, a couple float planes, and two or three "tail draggers." The owners may register their aircraft elsewhere, but they all have property on the island. Hangar space is fully occupied and upgrading the terminal building is being considered, so a planning study is underway to address those needs.

Gordon E. Gilbert was a La Pointe native and pilot with the 554th Base Unit during World War II. Gilbert joined the Army in 1940, completed pilot training in 1942 then flew B-24s in Burma, China and India. After surviving 125 combat missions, he returned to the U.S. and instructed new pilots for eight months, was promoted to Major then did another combat tour in the Mediterranean which brought his mission total to 141.

After the war, Gilbert returned home and did some bush flying, crop dusting, commercial fishing and dredging. He was a volunteer in the Civil Air Patrol and a scuba diver with a reputation for rescue work.

In 1949 Gordon Gilbert helped get the airport started. It's on land that was once part of his family farm, and it opened as a turf landing strip. In the middle of the 1960s it was upgraded to its current configuration and dedicated as Major Gilbert Field in 2019.

The La Pointe economy has been based on furs, lumber and fishing. Currently, tourists are the best source of revenue. They get there by ferry boats, ice roads and windsleds which are all interesting transportation media. Flying is faster, more direct and would include an aerial view of the most beautiful islands in North America.