There are 101 allotted spots for boathouses around Latsch Island in Winona, Minnesota, a place where some people live year round off the grid. Over time it’s become an iconic symbol of the town, but it wasn’t always seen in such a celebratory light.

Check out a bonus song Gina recorded to accompany this episode.

Back Channel Radio is a storytelling project committed to preserving and sharing oral histories from beyond the mainstream. This first season, “A Wolf Spider Island Story,” chronicles the legal battles a group of river rats had to wage to keep their small boathouse community on the Mississippi River afloat.