Along the southeastern shore of Isle La Motte lies a diminutive island bearing an intriguing title: Cloake Island.
Most people who boat past it see nothing special—just rocks, trees, and shadows. But those who know its story never look at it the same way again. The peculiar name sparks curiosity—what could have inspired such an unusual designation for this small piece of land? Tara Liloia's work, Champlain Islands, provides the fascinating backstory behind this mysterious nomenclature.
Historical records, including a reproduced map from the 1857 period documenting Lake Champlain and its surrounding islands, reveal that this modest landmass was initially called Hill's Island or Hill Island. Following the typical naming convention for Lake Champlain's islands, it likely bore the surname of its proprietors.
This is the tale of Eleanor Fisk, a woman who vanished without a trace, and the ghostly cloak that gave the island its name.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Fisk
Long ago, when people traveled by horse and buggy instead of cars, Eleanor Fisk lived near Lake Champlain. She was an ordinary woman living an ordinary life—until the day she didn't come home.
Nobody knows exactly what happened. One day Eleanor was there, and the next, she was gone. Her family searched. Her neighbors searched. Everyone in town searched. But Eleanor had vanished as completely as morning mist on the lake.
The transformation to its current name stems from a tragic tale dating to the 1770s. Legend tells of Eleanor Fisk, who had grown weary of her husband's volatile disposition following a heated domestic dispute. Determined to escape, she harnessed her horses and began the treacherous journey across the ice-covered lake toward Alburgh. She never completed her intended voyage. Searchers, upon discovering her crimson cloak entangled among the island's vegetation and stone outcroppings, renamed the location Cloak Island forever.
In those days, there were no helicopters to scan from above. There were no diving teams or sonar machines to search the deep waters. Instead, the townspeople turned to something else—an old superstition passed down through generations.
The Floating Cloak
The people gathered at the lakeshore on a gray morning, carrying something precious: Eleanor's cloak. According to ancient belief, if you cast a drowned person's clothing onto the water, it would float until it reached the spot where the body lay below. Then it would stop and sink, marking the location like a grave marker.
With heavy hearts, they threw Eleanor's cloak onto the lake. Everyone watched in silence as the dark fabric spread across the water like a shadow. They waited for it to sink.
But the cloak didn't sink.
Instead, it drifted across the waves, carried by invisible currents. The watchers followed along the shore, their eyes never leaving the floating garment. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the cloak washed up on the shore of a small island.
When the searchers reached the island and found the cloak draped across the rocks, they felt a chill that had nothing to do with the lake breeze. Eleanor's body wasn't there. Nothing was there except the cloak, wet and dark against the stones.
From that day forward, people called it Cloake Island.
The Mystery Deepens
But here's where the story gets even stranger. Some old-timers tell it differently. They say the townspeople didn't throw the cloak to find Eleanor's body—they threw it to discover how she died. According to this version, if the cloak sank, it meant she had drowned. If it floated to shore, it meant something else had happened to her.
When the cloak reached the island, these storytellers say, it was a sign. Eleanor hadn't drowned at all. She had made it to land. But then what? What happened to her on that lonely island? Why was she never seen again?
Nobody knows. They never found her body.
The Ghost of Cloake Island
Today, Cloake Island looks peaceful enough in the daylight. But when evening falls and mist rises from the water, things change. Boaters passing by have reported strange sights that make their skin crawl.
Some say they've seen a woman walking along the island's shore. She wears old-fashioned clothes and seems to be searching for something. When they call out to her, she doesn't answer. When they look again, she's gone.
Others have heard something even more chilling—a woman's voice floating across the water in the twilight. She's calling a name, but the wind carries it away before anyone can understand what she's saying. Is it her own name? The name of someone she lost? Nobody knows.
On the stillest nights, when the lake becomes a perfect mirror and you can't tell where the water ends and the sky begins, that's when Eleanor walks. That's when her voice carries farthest across the water. That's when smart sailors steer clear of Cloake Island.
A Warning from the Past
Whether you believe in ghosts, something is haunting about Cloake Island. It reminds us how quickly someone can disappear, how a life can vanish, leaving only questions behind. Eleanor Fisk was real. She had a life, a home, people who loved her. Then one day, she was gone.
All that remains is an island named after a floating cloak, and stories told on dark nights when the wind picks up and the waves lap against the shore. Stories about a woman who disappeared, a cloak that wouldn't sink, and a ghost that still searches for something-or—or someone—she'll never find.
So the next time you're out on Lake Champlain and you see a small island in the distance, remember Eleanor Fisk. Remember her cloak floating on the dark water? And maybe, just maybe, steer your boat a little farther from shore.
Some mysteries are better left alone.
Special thanks to Chad Abramovich for his research compiling this article.
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