Belle Isle Park, known simply as Belle Isle , is a 982-acre island park in Detroit, Michigan, developed in the late 19th century. It consists of Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, as well as several surrounding islets.
According to Charles Skinner, a 19th century folklorist who published anthologies, Native Americans said that a god kept his most beautiful daughter in a boat in the Detroit River, but after the winds fought for possession of the girl, he moved her to Belle Isle — known as "Rattlesnake Island" and then "Hog Island" before attracting the more lyrical soubriquet "Belle" — and placed a ring of rattlesnakes around the boat to discourage further wind action.