Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac is a name for the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior.[1] Today it is mostly within the boundaries of Michigan, in the United States. Michilimackinac was the original name for present day Mackinac County.
The Native American nations of the Ojibwa (or Chippewa), along with Ottawa, inhabited the area at the time of European contact. The French were the first Europeans to explore there, beginning in 1612,[2] and they established trading posts and missions.
One of the oldest, named St. Ignace (St. Ignatius), was located on the north side of the strait at Point Iroquois, near present-day St. Ignace, Michigan. This mission was established in 1671 by the Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette. The village around the mission became known as "Mackinac" or "Michilimackinac". Later it was called "Old Michilimackinac" or "Ancient Fort Mackinac".[3]
The French later established a fort and settlement on the south side of the strait. It was called Fort Michilimackinac. The fort became a major trading post, attracting Native Americans from throughout the northern Great Lakes. After Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War), their colonial forces took over the fort and territory. Fort Michilimackinac fell to an Ojibwa attack during the Native American uprising of 1763, sometimes called Pontiac's War,[4] but was reoccupied by the British in September 1764. In 1780, during the American Revolution, British commandant Patrick Sinclair moved the British trading and military post to Mackinac Island, and Fort Michilimackinac was abandoned.
Today, Fort Michilimackinac is a tourist site. Re-enactors portray historic activities of the French and English. An archeological dig at the site is open for viewing.
Notes
References
- White, Richard (2010) [2010]. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815 (Anniversary Edition). New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Psenka, Charles J (2008) [2008]. Michilimackinac. Leelanau, Mich.: SBTC. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- Fuller, George Newman (2005) [1926?]. A history of the upper peninsula of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
- Robinson, George (2005) [1873]. History of Cheboygan and Mackinac Counties. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
- Strang, James Jesse (2005) [1854]. Ancient and modern Michilimackinac, including an account of the controversy between Mackinac and the Mormons. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
