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MACKINAC ISLAND

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 256 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MACKINAC See also:

ISLAND , a small island in the N.W. extremity of See also:Lake See also:Huron and a See also:part of Mackinac See also:county, See also:Michigan, and a See also:city and summer resort of the same name on the island., The city is on the S.E. See also:shore, at the entrance of the Straits of Mackinac, about 7 M. N.E. of Mackinaw City and 6 m. E.S.E. of St Ignace. Pop. (1900), 665; (1904), 736; (1910), 714. During the summer See also:season, when thousands of See also:people come here to enjoy the cool and pure See also:air and the island's beautiful scenery, the city is served by the See also:principal steamboat lines on the See also:Great Lakes and by See also:ferry to Mackinaw city (pop. in 1904, 696), which is served by the Michigan Central, the See also:Grand Rapids & See also:Indiana, and the See also:Duluth, See also:South Shore & See also:Atlantic See also:railways. The island is about 3 M. See also:long by 2 M. wide. From the remarkably clear See also:water of Lake Huron its shores rise for the most part in tall See also:white See also:limestone cliffs; inland there are strangely shaped rocks and forests of See also:cedar, See also:pine, See also:fir, spruce, See also:juniper, See also:maple, See also:oak, See also:birch, and See also:beech. Throughout the island there are numerous glens, ravines, and caverns, some of which are See also:rich in associations with See also:Indian legends. The city is an antiquated fishing and trading See also:village with See also:modern hotels, See also:club-houses, and summer villas. Fort Mackinac and its grounds are included in a See also:state See also:reservation which embraces about one-See also:half of the island. The See also:original name of the island was Michilimackinac (" See also:place of the big lame See also:person " or " place of the big wounded person ") ; the name was apparently derived from an Algonquian tribe, the Mishinimaki or Mishinimakinagog, now See also:extinct.

The island was long occupied by Chippewas, the See also:

Hurons had a village here for a See also:short See also:time after their See also:expulsion from the See also:East by the See also:Iroquois, and subsequently there was an See also:Ottawa village here. The first white See also:settlement or station was established by the See also:French in 1670 (abandoned in 1701) at Point See also:Saint Ignace on the See also:north See also:side of the strait. In 1761 a fort on the south side (built in 1712) was surrendered to the See also:British. By the treaty of See also:Paris (1783) the right of the See also:United States to this See also:district was acknowledged; but the fort was held by the British until 1796. In See also:July 1812 a British force surprised the See also:garrison, which had not yet learned that See also:war had been declared. In See also:August 1814 an See also:American force under See also:Colonel See also:George Croghan (1791—1849) attempted to recapture the island but was repulsed with considerable loss. By the treaty of See also:Ghent, however, the island was restored, in July 1815, to the United States; Fort Mackinac was maintained by the Federal govern-. ment until 1895, when it was ceded to the state. From 1820 to 184o the village was one of the principal stations of the American See also:Fur See also:Company. A Congregational See also:mission was established among the Chippewas on the island in 1827, but was discontinued before 1845. The city of Mackinac Island was chartered in 1899. See W. C.

See also:

Richards, " The See also:Fairy Isle of Mackinac," in the See also:Magazine of American See also:History (July 1891); and R. G. Thwaites, " The See also:Story of Mackinac," in vol. 14 of the Collections of the State See also:Historical Society of See also:Wisconsin (See also:Madison, 1898).

End of Article: MACKINAC ISLAND

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