Ella Skrocki of Empire loves North Bar Lake, not only for its beauty and wildlife but for its dark history. Ella’s grandmother, Faith Lewis, once lived on Lake Michigan near the North Bar Lake channel. She would talk about the “land pirate” who used to live there. Skrocki’s mother, Beryl, passed the tale on to her children. Ella says that knowing this makes it even more fun to paddle and swim there. That may be true for you, too, once you know what happened.