HORTON'S BAY

The Place
Named for pioneer settler Samuel Horton, this village was founded as a lumbering community in 1876. Young Ernest Hemingway frequently came here to fish and camp on "The Point." This area is the setting for several of his famous "Nick Adams" short stories. Hemingway was married here in 1921. Hemingway spent his first 19 summers In Horton Bay where he delighted in fishing for trout in the Waloon Lake.


A map of Horton's Bay

The Story
In "The End of Something" , Nicks goes on a trout fishing date with Marjorie in the Waloon Lake. Nick shows Marjorie all the intricacies of tout fishing. At the end of the story, Nick, being the heartbreaker that he is, tells Marjorie that their relationship is “no fun anymore.” Marjorie proceeded to leave him. "Summer People" also takes place in Horton Bay. This story begins in some spring where Nick and a bunch of people, including Kate, were swimming. It is apparent in this scene that Nick and Kate have some sort of romantic interest for each other. After they are done swimming, Nick and Kate spend a romantic evening together in the woods. Nick, remaining consistent in his non-chivalrous ways, says, “Come on, get dressed, slut” to Kate when it is time to leave.
Waloon Lake

The Hemingway Connection

According to Michael Reynolds, Hemingway violated a major axiom: American authors write about their hometowns [1-125]. Hemingway chose to use Horton bay as a setting for many of his stories instead of Oak Park, Chicago, the place he grew up in.

As a youth, Hemingway went up to Horton Bay with his friends mainly to be independent, drink, and have sexual and romantic experiences. These experiences perhaps influenced many of his stories such as "Up In Michigan", a story about a drunken Blacksmith named Jim Gilmore who seduces an inn waitress named Liz Coates, and "Summer People", a very sexual story. The Michigan Woods could be a metaphor for Hemingway’s lost innocence and expression of his troubled feelings associated with forbidden sexual experiences. Horton bay is the setting where Hemingway had romances with Prudence Boulton, Marjorie Bump, Kate Smith, and of his marriage to Hadley Richards in 1921 [1-125].