 Ornithologist Henry L. Ward, then-curator of the Milwaukee Public Museum, visited the area numerous times to study the herring gull populations.While visiting Gravel Island in 1906 and 1907, Ward noted very large colonies of herring gulls as well as Caspian terns while observing their behavior and collecting specimens from the island.In 1913, the refuge was formed by executive order from Gravel Island and Spider Island to protect the breeding grounds of birds living there.