The historical reminiscences connected with this island are of an interesting character. It appears from concurrent testimony, that the old town on the peninsula was settled about 1671, [22] which was seven years before the building of Fort Niagara. In that year, Father Marquette, a French missionary, prevailed on a party of Hurons to locate themselves at that spot, and it was therefore the first point of settlement made northwest of Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario. It was probably first garrisoned by La Salle, in 1678, and continued to be the seat of the fur trade, and in many respects, the metropolis of the extreme northwest, during the whole period of French domination in the Canadas. After the fall of Quebec, in 1759, it passed by treaty to the British government, but much against the wishes of the Indian tribes, who retained a strong partiality for their early friends, the French. Pontiac arose at this time, to dispute the English authority in the northwest, and with confederates projected a series of bold attacks upon the forts extending from the Ohio to this post. Most of these were successful, but he was defeated at Detroit, where he commanded in person, after a series of extraordinary movements. While he was pressing the siege of the garrison, he enjoined neutrality upon the French inhabitants, who were nevertheless called on to furnish cattle and corn for the subsistence of his warriors. It is remarked on good authority that, for these supplies, he issued evidences of debt. When General Bradstreet marched to the relief of the fort, with an army of three thousand men, the spirit and laconic temper of the warrior were at the same time evinced. He sent a deputation of chiefs to meet the herald of the British general, at Maumee, with the laconic and symbolic message: "I stand in the path."
The execution of the plan of attack on Old Fort Mackinac appears to have been intrusted to Minnawanna, a Chippewa chief, who, in addition to his own people, was aided by the Sacs. The Ottowas afterwards expressed displeasure in not having been admitted to a participation in the attack. The plan was ingeniously laid. The king's birthday, the 4th of June (1763), having arrived, the Chippewas and Sacs turned out to play, for a high wager, at ball. Many of the garrison, and the commanding officer himself, came out to witness the sport; and there was such a feeling of security that the gates of the fort were left open. To put the troops more off their guard, the ball had been thrown over the picket, and when once there, it was natural that it should be followed by the opposite parties, heated with the contest and eager for victory. But this artifice was the accomplishment of the plan. The war-whoop was immediately sounded, and an indiscriminate slaughter commenced. A few moments of intense anxiety ensued. They were passed by the officers eagerly listening for the roll of the drum. But they were passed in disappointment. There was no call of this kind to concentrate resistance. Panic and slaughter raged in their most fearful forms. None were spared who were deemed friendly to the English interest but such as were effectually secreted. Some of the soldiers who escaped the first onset, were incarcerated in a room, where they were sacrificed to glut the vengeance of a chief, who did not arrive till the principal work of slaughter had been accomplished.
This event sealed the fate of the old fort and the town on the peninsula. The British afterwards took possession of the island, which had served to give name to the peninsular fort. The town was gradually removed, by pulling down the buildings, and transporting the timber to the island, till there was not a building or fixture left; and the site is now as silent and deserted as if it had never been the scene of an active resident population.
The Island of Michilimackinac appears to have been occupied first as a military position by the British, about 1780, say some seven years after the massacre of the garrison of the old peninsular fort of the same name.
Wherever Michilimackinac is mentioned in the missionary letters or history of this period, it is the ancient fort, on the apex of the Michigan peninsula, that is alluded to.
The present town is pleasantly situated around a little bay that affords good clay anchorage and a protection from west and north winds. It has a very antique and foreign look, and most of the inhabitants are, indeed, of the Canadian type of the French. The French language is chiefly spoken. It consists of about one hundred and fifty houses and some four hundred and fifty permanent inhabitants.
It is the seat of justice for the most northerly county of Michigan. According to the observation of Lieut. Evelith, the island lies in north latitude 45° 54´, which is only twenty-three minutes north of Montreal, as stated by Prof. Silliman. [23] It is in west longitude 7° 10´ from Washington.
Col. Croghan's attempt to take the island, during the late war, was most unfortunate. He failed from a double spirit of dissension in his own forces, being at odds with the commanding officer of the fleet, and at sword's points with his second in command, Major Holmes. After entering the St. Mary's, and taking and burning the old post of St. Joseph's, where nobody resisted, instead of sailing direct to Mackinac, a marauding expedition was sent up this river to St. Mary's, and when the fleet and troops finally reached Mackinac, instead of landing at the town, under the panic of the inhabitants, it sailed about for several days. In the mean time the island filled with Indians from the surrounding shores.
Fort "Mackina" is eligibly situated on a cliff overlooking the town and harbor, and is garrisoned by a company of artillery. The ruin of Fort Holmes, formerly Fort George, occupies the apex of the island, and has been dismantled since the British evacuated it in 1815. [24]
It happened that the British authorities on the island of St. Joseph, got intelligence of the declaration of war, in 1812, through Canada, before the American commander at Mackinac heard of it. Mustering their forces with such volunteers, militia, and Indians as could be hastily got together, they proceeded in boats to the back of the island, where they secretly landed at night with some artillery, and by daylight the next morning got the latter in place on the summit of Fort Holmes, which completely commanded the lower fort, when they sent a summons of surrender, which Captain Hanks, the American commanding officer, had no option but to obey.
Colonel Croghan, the hero of Sandusky, attempted to regain possession of it, in 1814, with a competent force, and after several demonstrations of his fleet about the island, by which time was lost and panic in the enemy allayed, he landed on the northern part of it, which is depressed, and his army marched through thick woods, most favorable for the operations of the Indians, to the open grounds of Dousman's Farm, where the army was met by Colonel McDouall, who was eligibly posted on an eminence with but few regular troops, but a heavy force of Indian auxiliaries and the village militia. Major Holmes, who gallantly led the attack, swinging his sword, was killed at a critical moment, and the troops retreated before Colonel Croghan could reach the field with a reinforcement. Thus ended this affair.
My attention was directed to the plaster stated to exist on the St. Martin Islands. These islands compose a small group lying about nine or ten miles north-northeast of Michilimackinac. Captain Knapp, of the revenue service, had been requested to take me to the spot with the revenue cutter under his command. I was accompanied by Captain Douglass, of the expedition, and by Lieutenant John Pierce, U. S. A., stationed at the fort.
The gypsum exists in a moist soil, not greatly elevated, during certain winds above the lake. Pits had been dug by persons visiting the locality for commercial purposes. It occurs in granular lumps of a gray color, as also in foliated and fibrous masses, white, gray, chestnut color, or sometimes red. No difficulty was encountered in procuring as many specimens as were required. This group of islands is noticeable, also, for the large boulder masses of hornblende and granite rock, which are found imbedded in, or lying on the surface, along with fragments of breccia, quartz, &c. This drift is more abundant, on all the islands I have