Many of Vermont’s wildflowers are protected. Therefore, it is suggested that all wild flowers be left in their natural environment for the next person to enjoy.
The land surrounding Burton Island and the area of Northern Lake Champlain was once the hunting grounds of the Iroquois and Algonquin Indians. It was here that these people hunted and fished for their survival. Hunting and trapping for wolves, deer, mink and elk, and fishing for salmon, trout and bass, the Iroquois and Algonquin found an abundance of game.
(Indian agriculture)
As white men increased, agriculture began to dominate this area. In the late 1700’s, Burton Island was cleared and tilled by Jesse Weldon, a settler and agent for the Allen family—Ethan, Ira and Levi.
In 1840, C.C. Burton owned the island and hired a family to live here and manage his farm.
Ida Lashaway acquired the land in 1928. During this time, the Lashaway family continued to till the land and raise livestock.
In 1944, farming operations were discontinued. From that time until the present, we have had the opportunity to see what role mother nature can play in returning the land to a natural state. The signs of farming are still here, but for the last three decades natural forces have been left relatively unchallenged.
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Today we can see the stories of the past and present etched across the face of Burton Island. An old farm in horse-drawn buggy days was left to the mercy of warm summer rains and icy winter storms. We can see the land, once a pasture, now swelling into overgrown fields and forests where wild plants and animals compete to live in a continually changing habitat.