Pettibone died before the park could formally be gifted to the city as he intended, because of a border dispute between the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota which was not fully resolved until 1919.

[3] Pettibone had been mayor of La Crosse for three terms and made his fortune through the city's lumber trade.

A local newspaper referred to the island as "a low, marshy, unsightly tract of land covered with vines and underbrush and whose only redeeming feature was its location and wealth of beautiful trees."

In an effort to convince the state to cede the island, a committee of five residents was appointed by the La Crosse City Council to appear before the Minnesota Legislature.

[8] Because of the island's originally swampy nature, it is prone to seasonal flooding along with rising water levels of the Mississippi.

The park's original landscape architect, Frank Nutter, installed some level of flood protection during initial construction, but these proved insufficient.

Its members readily agreed to turn full control of the park and its remaining trust fund over to the city of La Crosse in 1969.

[8] The city's Common Council Finance Committee voted unanimously to fully incorporate it into its Department of Parks, recreation, and Forestry in order to fund and oversee its repair.

During the 1920s, the park's commission began leasing land on the southern part of the island for the construction of cottages.

Their original agreement granted the club land for a clubhouse and a marina for only one dollar a year in addition to providing a $15,000 loan.