MACKINAW

IN

HISTORY

!

MACKINAW 1N HISTORY

a Critique ON
DR. JOHN R. BAILEY'S BROCHURE
ENTITLED
MACKINAW,
FORMERLY MICHILIMACKINAC.

BY SAMUEL F. COOK.

AUTHOR'S EDITION.

LANSING, MICHIGAN.
1895.

press of
•Robert Smitb & Co.
Xansing, fltfcb.

MACKINAW IN HISTORY.
It was with a feeling of satisfaction that I
took up a recent pamphlet of 220 pages, bear
ing the title, "Mackinaw, formerly Michili-
mackinac. Looking backwards to about the
time of the flood, and forward to the present
time. By Col. John R. Bailey," for many years
Post surgeon at Fort Mackinaw. In view of
Dr. Bailey's long residence at Mackinaw and
vicinity, and the opportunities thus afforded
for historical research, I felt certain that I
should find not only a pleasing recital of well
ascertained facts, but a possible solution of
questions which to me have seemed undeter
mined. But in scanning these pages for
evidence of original research or answers to
puzzling queries, I met not only disappoint
ment but an astounding array of inaccuracies
of statement, at points where it seems inex
cusable. The title of the first chapter seems mislead
ing — "Mackinaw, formerly Michilimackinac."
To the modern reader, Mackinaw is a lovely

Mackinaw in History.

island in the straits connecting Lakes Michi
gan and Huron, while Michilimackinac is, as
it was under both the French and British
regimes, the name of a region of indefi
nite extent bordering on and including
those straits. To the careful reader of those
well nigh inexhaustible mines of fact and
fiction, the Jesuit Relations, this fact cannot
fail to be apparent. It was only after the
British had located on the island what they
intended to be a permanent occupation, and
Governor General Haldimand had signified
what the name of the new fort should be, that
the name gradually assumed the shortened
form, and finally became localized. The list
of spellings of the name of this part of the
country, given on page 30 of this book, could
be readily doubled by a patient reader, who
would be impressed only with the slight edu
cation of the writer and not at all by any idea
of evolution of language. The following is a
fair sample of the spelling in the average
official letter of those days:
Michilimackinac, July 20, if 80.
Dear Friend: I am sorry to acquaint you of the
yussage I geet hier from Leake Muschagan being heir

Mackinaw in History.

plying between Mackeina and Mackina Island, etc.
Norman McKay,
Master of the Felicity.
The indian deed of the island given in 1781
says that it was called by the Canadians "La
Grosse Isle;" and as they constituted the bulk
of the white population of the region at that
time, that must be regarded as its true historic
name. Our author seems to delight chiefly in the
indians and the unsubstantial traditions which
have been wafted forward from the dark
ages on this continent, and although a large
portion of the book is devoted to the tribal
wars and massacres which caused extensive
changes of habitat, he has failed to note the
connection between all this and a history of
Mackinaw, as well as the fact that among all
the tribes who frequented that region Mack
inaw Island was a sacred spot where they
gathered at varying intervals to appease the
wrath of the Great Manitou, or as a place of
safety when in fear of their foes. Large vil
lages stopped there on their way to and from
their hunting grounds for rest and worship;
but none made it a permanent home.

Mackinaw in History.

The claim made on page 25, that "1700-
1701. Before and after these last dates the
capital and the metropolis of the Province
of Michilimackinac was on the island of the
same name, in the straits of Michilimackinac.
It was not only the seat of justice and base of
supplies, but the center of trade of a vast ter
ritory. It was the headquarters of French
traders and trappers and their Couriers de Bois
and white and indian employes;" is absolutely
without foundation. The French were too
politic to in any way offend the superstitions
of the indians, and were too intent on securing
their good will to establish a fort and trading
station on a spot sacred to their Deity, and
where they laid away their dead. The Doctor
may have been misled in this by the Rev.
Chrysostom Verwyst, who states in his "Mis
sionary labors of Marquette, Mesnard and
Allouez," that it was there (on the island) the
mission of St. Ignatius was founded before it
was established at Point St. Ignace." But
Mr. Verwyst had failed to appreciate the no
madic character of the indians of that period,
and the conditions under which Marquette
found a large number of them on the island,

Mackinaw in History.

and at once began his work among them. It
was simply that a large village was there
making inquiry of the Deity as to their plans
for the future, when he arrived; he made their
acquaintance and preached the gospel to them,
and when they went away, he went with them.
Mackinaw island was never occupied by the
French either as a mission site, a trading
point or a military post. It is entirely safe to
say that the flag of France never floated on
the island during the period of its ascendency
in that region. The French relied more on
their suaviter in modo for success than did the
British, and established fewer places of mili
tary defense. On the neighboring mainland
shore of East Moran bay, however, their
defenses were in accord with the military
ideas of that time.
Sixty-eight pages of this book are used for
the recital of the tale of the Pontiac con
spiracy and the massacre at Michilimackinac,
taken from Parkman's history, into which it
had been copied from Henry's Travels. This
blood-curdling narrative of the effort of the
indians to free themselves from British dom
ination, by the destruction on June 4, 1763, of

8 Mackinaw in History.
the English in and about Fort Michilimack
inac, seems entirely foreign to the subject at
hand. The fort was on the southern main
land, a short distance west of the present vil
lage of Mackinaw City. It is evident that in
those days it was a lovely spot, but devoid of
either a harbor protected from the winds, or
any natural defenses. Why each succeeding
would-be-historian of Mackinaw must incor
porate in his work this terrible recital from
Henry, is an enigma of amateur authorship
difficult of solution.
Following this, Dr. Bailey say s, "A little more
than a year after the massacre, Michilimack
inac was occupied by the couriers de bois and
such indian bands as chose to make it a tem
porary residence; but after the treaty with the
indians, Captain Howard, with a detachment
of troops, was sent by Col. Bradstreet to take
possession of it, and 'once more the cross of
St. George was a rallying point, and the pro
tection of adventurous traders.'" If this be
true, when and at what point did the British
locate prior to the establishment of the fort on
the island? It seems to have been assumed by
all who have undertaken to go over this sub-

Mackinaw in History.

ject that when the British returned to that
region, they located where seventy or more of
their comrades had been brutally murdered.
But this seems by no means certain.
The descriptions given by the commandants
at that post in 1778-9-80, in their official cor
respondence, do not coincide with the con
ditions existing at what is now known as Old
Fort Mackinaw. Major A. S. De Peyster wrote
to the Governor General, May 30, 1778, "It is
dangerous to leave this post any longer with
out a vessel to winter at it, and there is con
stant employment for one all summer, besides
that the appearance of an armed vessel awes
the savages who are encamped where they can
annoy the fort without our being able to bring
a gun to bear upon them unless it be from the
water. I hope therefore my having armed
and put soldiers on board this sloop will meet
with your approbation." Even our author
will be unable to bring himself to believe that
any small sloop could ride at anchor for a time
sufficient to serve as a defense, in the unshel
tered water in front of the Old Fort.
On Sept. 21, following, Major De Peyster

10 Mackinaw in History.
wrote, " this is but a patched picketed fort at
best, much incumbered with wooden houses
and commanded even by small arms, all of
which has been repeatedly reported before
your arrival in Canada our strength here con
sisting in the good understanding kept up
with the indians made it not so necessary it
could not be done in the place the fort is now
situated it being an intire sand and low
swamp." Under date of June 20, 1779, Major
De Peyster wrote to Capt. Brehm, the Gov
ernor General's secretary, a long letter describ
ing the fort defenses, in which is the follow
ing: "Some time ago I informed His Excel
lency we were commanded by Sand Hills.
Since which we have endeavored to level
them, much has been done but we have but
twelve spades so that there remains a great
hill still to remove. The drifts from those
hills are like snow drifts, which we are after
every storm obliged to remove."
As will be readily seen by those familiar
with the Lake Michigan shore, Fort Michili
mackinac was then situated among shifting
sand dunes, between and among which were
basins of water. But this does not at all accord

Mackinaw in History. 11
with the conditions at the site near Mackinaw
City. The theory that it was from there that
the British moved when they established
themselves on the island must be laid aside,
and the real location sought beneath the shift
ing sands at some other point along the coast.
In a chronology of that region, our author
gives June 2, 1763, as the date of the mas
sacre at the Old Fort. Henry, whose account
is regarded as thoroughly reliable, places it
on June 4, and Major Etherington, the Post
Commandant, in a letter written on the 11th,
says it occurred on the 4th; but in a letter
he wrote the next day, he says it was on the
2d of June. Mr. Henry says it took place on
the King's birthday; and since he was a good
Briton, that would seem to add certainty to
his date: George III was born June 4.
Dr. Bailey has collected but meagre material
relative to the removal of the British from the
mainland to the island. He states that in
1764 the French began to move there, and
that the settlement may date from that period.
It is possible that he refers to the French
Canadians, who were the bulk of the white
population of that region. But there is rea-

12 Mackinaw in History.
son to doubt the authenticity of the statement
that any number of those people left the mili
tary post with its advantages, to live apart on
the island. They depended too entirely on
the Post and the traders for employment, to
admit of even the thought. They were the
voyageurs, the couriers de bois, the engages,
the men of all work about the Post, and to
leave the fort, meant to go without wages and
without supplies. In the absence of positive
authority, the statement is highly improbable.
Fifteen years later, 1779, Lt. Governor Sinclair
wrote the Governor General's Secretary that a
number of those people had asked permission
to move to the island in view of the probable
removal of the Fort the next season, and that
he had refused to allow them there, until he
should hear from the Governor General on the
matter. The reason for the removal of the Post to
the island, the Doctor states, "was on account
of its commanding position, adaptability for
defense with a small force, and strategic
importance;" but on what authority, he does
not inform us. Major De Peyster made no
mention of any such reasons for the removal

Mackinaw in History. 13
when he asked permission therefor. He rep
resented their then location as untenable and
impossible of defense, and that the site he
had chosen on the island afforded a high bluff
adapted to fortification, and that the bay
indenting the island from the southeast would
furnish a deep and sheltered anchorage for
vessels. He dwelt especially on the fertile
character of the soil on the island which
would enable the Post to raise a large portion
of their supplies, and thus materially lessen
the enormous expense incurred in the trans
port of provisions from Montreal in batteaux.
His successors laid stress on the need of com
pleting the fortifications, on the ground that
it was necessary in order to impress the indi
ans with the strength and determination of
the British to preserve their foothold in that
region against all comers.
This history contains scant recital of the
building of the fort and its several structures,
simply skimming over the subject without
detail; and that too, at a time when anything
with a flavor of antiquity is eagerly sought for
and relished as of surpassing interest. For
tunately the letters of the commandants sup-

14 Mackinaw in History.
ply the material for a connected account of the
work of construction. During the winter of
1779-80, as Capt. Sinclair, Lt. Governor of the
province, wrote on February 15 of the latter
year, a wharf had been carried out in Haldi-
mand bay, 150 feet, into two fathoms of water,
and was nearly filled with stone. Four acres
had been cleared for the fort site on the bluff,
30,000 shingles had been made, the timber
squared for the block houses, and 3000 cedar
pickets (poles 18 ft. long) had been made
ready for the stockade on the lower ground.
During the winter, those at work on the
island (a corporal and six men with a band
of Canadians), had been left without defenses,
only having a cabin for protection. At the
same time he had worked hard all winter in
strengthening the stockade and building a
block house on the mainland, while the sav
ages had gotten out 16,000 ft. of plank and
boards for use on the island.
The rebel (American) successes in Ohio and
around the head of Lake Michigan caused
Sinclair to fear that they would seek him out
in those northern wilds, and he did his best
(with poor judgment, no doubt) to forward

Mackinaw in History. 15
the work* of construction on the island, even
in advance of orders. On May 20 he wrote
that he was still pushing the work of fortify
ing on the main land, by means of a cover to
the water, two land bastions and a redan at
the extremity of the southwest curtain. On
the island he had at that date a block house
for the protection of the wharf, and the tim
bers all in readiness for three more block
houses on the fort site, but said that for fear
of the rebels at Detroit he did not dare to put
them up. On June 8, Capt. Sinclair wrote
that everyone was anxious to move to the
island, that the houses were being taken down
and transferred, and that he had appropriated
a large boat for their use in moving. On the
21st he sent forward a memorial of the post
traders favoring the removal, but plainly inti
mating that they would have a claim against
the government for losses and expenses result
ing therefrom. On July 8 he wrote, "The
indians have delivered up the island and form
ally surrendered it without any present." "I
have explained His Excellency's intention to
them to make cornfields of the whole island."
On the same date he said " Nothing kept me

16 Mackinaw in History.
from the island this year but the want of a
cover for our provisions." On the 30th he
begged for vessels "to transport pickets,
boards, logs and hay to the island."
During September and October Sinclair was
sick. In addition to his physical ailment he
was in official trouble. He had lost the good
will of the other officers at the Post, and the
government was becoming aware of and rest
ive in regard to his lavish expenditures of
funds. He evinces fear for his safety on the
mainland, as having estranged Capt. Mom-
pesson, senior officer in military command, he
suffered a loss of his feeling of security; and
at some time during the winter, the exact date
not being given in his despatches, he made a
panic struck retreat to the island, where
there were scant preparations for the accom
modation of the 103 soldiers, 37 attaches of
the indian department, and nearly 300 Can
adians who were the work people for the Post,
and leaving behind a sergeant and ten men to
defend a fortification with three block houses,
more than a quarter of a mile of cedar post
picketing pierced for 1000 muskets, and a
store of supplies to be dealt to the indians

Mackinaw in History. 17
during the winter. He was greatly relieved,
however, in the spring of 1781, by receiving
the Governor General's order to push the work
on the fort to completion with all speed.
Governor General Fred Haldimand wrote to
Capt. Sinclair, August 21, 1780, "There is a
paragraph in one of your letters respecting
the name of the new fort which Capt. Brehm
does not sufficiently comprehend to explain to
me. It is, however, my desire that the Post
although moved to the island, may still be
called Michilimackinac and the Fort be styled
Fort Mackinac." In this connection it may
be remarked that the bay on the southeast side
of the island and which is its only harbor,
was called "Haldimand bay" in the des
patches from the time of the first mention of
removal thither. Under the United States
regime, this name, which has an historical
interest, seems to have been lost.
On May 12, 1781, Lt. Gov. Sinclair wrote to
Capt. Brehm, "Inclosed is the indian deed of
this island." Dr. Bailey says, p. 146, "There
is somewhere packed away with my old books
and papers, the original parchment deed of

18 Mackinaw in History.
the island of Michilimackinac, from the Chip
pewa indians to St. Clair. It reserved a stone's
cast or one hundred feet, of the beach around
the island to indians for camping purposes
forever." It would certainly seem that an historian
would refresh his memory by consulting the
"original parchment" hid away among old
papers, before making statements of this kind.
But since he did not, it is fortunate that we
can supply a copy of the original sent to Gen.
Haldimand. Here it is:
IBs tbese presents we the following
chiefs Kitchie Negon or Grand Sable, Pouanas,
Koupe and Magousseihigan in
behalf of ourselves and all oth
ers of our Nation the Chipiwas
who have or can lay claim to
the herein mentioned Island, as
being their representatives and
Chiefs, by and with mutual con-
KmHtE keoon. sent do surrender and yield up
His mark. jnt0 the hands of Lieut. Governor

*

Mackinaw in History. 19
Sinclair for the Behalf and use of His Maj
esty George the Third of Great Britain,
France and Ireland King Defender
of the Faith, &c &c &c His
Heirs Executors, Administrators
forever the Island of Michili
mackinac or as it is called by the
Canadians La Grosse Isle (situate
in the strait which joins the Lakes po^nas.°
Huron and Michigan) and we do hereby
make for ourselves and our Posterity a re
nunciation of all claims in future to
said Island; We also acknowledge to m
have received by command of His Ex- As
cellency Frederick Haldimand Esqr.
Governor of the Province of Quebec,
General & Commander in Chief of all
His Majesty's Forces in Canada &c &c
&c from the said Lieutenant Governor Mark of pouanas
& Kausse the same
Sinclair on his Majesty's Behalf, the nation but different
Chiefs
sum of Five Thousand Pounds New
York currency being the adequate and com-

^

20 Mackinaw in History.
pleat value of the before mentioned Island of
Michilimackinac, and have signed two deeds of
/. this tenor and date in the presence
/y^ of Mathew Lessey, John McNamara,
>S David Rankin, Henry Bostic, Ben
jamin Lyons, Etienne Campion, and
P. Antoine Tabeau the underwrit
ten witnesses, one of which Deeds
is to remain with the Governor of
Canada, and the other to remain
Mark of
Magousseigan. at this Post to certify the same, and
we promise to preserve in our Village a belt of
wampum Seven feet in Length to perpetuate
secure and be a lasting memo
rial of the said Transaction to
/T) our Nation forever hereafter,
and that no defect in Deed
from want of Law Forms or
any other shall invalidate the
same. In witness whereof We
the above mentioned Chiefs do set our Hands
& Seals this Twelfth day of May in the

Mackinaw in History. 21
year of our Lord one thousand seven Hun
dred and Eighty one and in the twenty First
year of His Majesty's Reign.
[signed]
Mathew Lessey Benjamin Lyon
David Rankin Ett Campion
Henry Bostic P. An. Tabeau
Patt Sinclair
Lt. Gov. & Commandant.
John Mompesson
Capt. Comg. a Detachment of the King's Regt.
R. B. Brooke
Lieutenant King's or Eighth Regiment.
John Robert McDonali,
Ensign King's or Eighth Regiment.
As will be noted by the foregoing deed, it
makes no conveyance to St. Clair, as stated by
Dr. Bailey, but to King George III. Nor does
it make any reservation of a stone's cast
around the island for indian camping grounds
in perpetuity. That story is simply one of
the "fakes" which residents on the island

22 Mackinaw in History.
have palmed off on summer tourists, until
they have brought themselves to believe it.
But how does Dr. Bailey come to have the
duplicate of this deed "packed away with" his
"old books and papers?" The deed provides
that it shall remain a permanent record at the
Post. Does he mean to inform us that he is
one of those curiosity hunters to whom
nothing is sacred, and that having the liberty
of the Post in his capacity of surgeon, this
deed was spirited away from its proper cus
tody and is now lost from view amidst the
debris of old chests and drawers in the attic?
He says on page 196, that ' ' many of the old
records are lost or stolen." It is to be hoped
that the State Park Commissioners will not
fail to make a demand therefor as necessary
to complete their chain of title, which will
read somewhat as follows:
Mackinaw Island:
1781. Chippewa indians to George III: by deed
of sale.
1783. George III to United States: by treaty:
Possession retained until 1796.

Mackinaw in History. 23
1812. United States to George IV: by conquest.
1815. George IV to United States: by treaty.
1895. United States to State of Michigan: by
statute: in trust.
On July 8, 1781, Sinclair reported that the
provision store, the barracks and the maga
zine were up and the foundation laid for the
officers' quarters. On the 31st he wrote that
half the garrison and provisions for one
hundred men for the year were within the
works and that the remainder would be there
before October. All this time there were
not far from 200 men engaged in the con
struction of the new fort, or at least drawing
pay for being so engaged, and the bills there
for going forward to the Governor General in
large sums. In the summer of 1782, Gen.
Haldimand sent a Board to examine and
report upon the management of the Post and
the construction of the fort. Their report
with diagram attached, shows that the lines
of the fortification were not nearly complete
in any part; the barracks was without glass in
the windows, only the foundation of the offi
cers' barracks had been laid, and no more
*

24 Mackinaw in History.
structures begun or completed than Sinclair
had reported in July of the year previous.
The engineer on the Board estimated that the
fort might be put in a condition for defense,
on the plan he laid down, by employing 100
men two months. His plan was never carried
out. Work was continued each season, but
not sufficiently to preserve the timber work
from rapid decay.
Skipping over to 1788, Gother Mann, Capt.
Royal Engineers, in his report on all the Posts
of the lake region, said of the fort on Mack
inaw island, "The fort itself has never been
completed, the ditches which are in the rock
are very little excavated, and the rampart but
partly raised, but in order to shut the place up
from being surprised by indians or others a
picketing has been raised upon it all around
which now begins to be very rotten; I had a
part of it towards the Bay shored up while I
was there, but the bank having slipped from
under the wall, there is an opening 40 or 50
feet long into the fort. The soldiers barracks
is in indifferent repair. * * * * There is a
pile of building of masonry intended for offi
cers barracks, about half finished; the walls

Mackinaw in History. 25
are nearly raised to their proper height, and
the window frames put in, but the roof, floor,
etc., are wanting. The commanding officer's
house, the indian and engineers' stores are
without the fort. There is only one front of
the fort that has flanks, which is opposite to
the commanding ground." * * * *
"Considering the foregoing circumstances
and situation of the place, I cannot help being
of the opinion that as a military post, the
greater part of the expense bestowed here has
been a waste of money." And he added good
military reasons for this view.
The transfer of the British Posts south of
Lake Superior to the United States having
been accomplished in 1796, our author skims
over that and the period to the war of 1812 in
less than two pages. To the capture of the
Post at Mackinaw on the morning of July 17,
1812, by the British, and the subsequent
attempts at recapture by United States forces,
he devotes considerable space, but in a man
ner which seems to indicate an absence of the
historical sense and the spirit of research.
After a short preliminary statement which

26 Mackinaw in History.
seems founded on tradition rather than auth
ority, he gives entire, Lieut. Hanks' official
report of the surprise and capitulation of the
garrison. This report was not written until
August 12, after his arrival at Detroit, with
ample time to think it all over, and closing as
it does with a request for a court of inquiry is,
as might be expected, a labored attempt at
justification. It is an undoubted necessity in arriving at
the truth of military operations, to put to
gether the accounts of both sides. If there
was no information accessible relative to the
surrender of Fort Mackinaw other than Lieut.
Hanks' report, a failure to look farther might
be excusable. But the Dominion Archives'
office, at Ottawa, is a vast storehouse of his
torical data in original letters and public and
private documents, without an examination
and comparison of which no historical study
of these northwest countries can be complete.
The reports of the capture of Mackinaw
made by Capt. Charles Roberts to Gen. Brock
and Adj. Gen. Col. Baynes, are very concise,
and indeed too much so to be entirely satisfac
tory. This may be accounted for by the aid

Mackinaw in History. 27
of the closing sentence in his report to Gen.
Brock, where he expresses the hope that he
has not exceeded his instructions; as indeed
he had. Early in September following the
affair at Mackinaw, Sir George Prevost, learn
ing that Tanpoint Pothier, an agent of the
North West Fur Co., who had been present at
St. Joseph island prior to, and at Mackinaw
at the capture, had returned to Montreal,
requested of Pothier a full account of the
affair, which no doubt was eagerly given.
His story condensed within our space is as
follows: He arrived at St. Joseph from Mon
treal, July 3, and found the Post garrisoned
by a captain, three officers and forty-five men,
and 130 indian warriors of the Sioux and their
neighbors from west of Lake Michigan, just
arrived under their leader, Robert Dickson, in
response to a summons from Gen. Brock. On
July 9, a messenger arrived from Gen. Brock
announcing the declaration* of war, and on
the 10th Capt. Roberts made a requisition on
Mr. Pothier, as the agent of the fur com
panies, for all the boats, arms and ammunition
in his possession. Capt. Roberts also sent mes
sengers to the Sault and to Fort William, 500

28 Mackinaw in History.
miles distant on the northwest shore of Lake
Superior, calling on them for all the men and
material in their power to furnish. A num
ber of men responded at once from the Sault,
bringing several field guns. (And yet Capt.
Roberts reported that he took to Mackinaw
only two six pounders.) The trip was made
to Fort William and return in nine days (and
must have been made in open batteaux). The
indians came flocking in from all directions,
and the traders and their men as well. Find
ing he could muster a force of 230 Canadians
and 320 indians in addition to his regulars,
Capt. Roberts, without waiting for the aid
from Fort William, left St. Joseph at 11 a. m.
on the 16th, landed on Mackinaw island at 3
the next a. m. , summoned the garrison to sur
render at 9, and marched into the fort at 11 a.
m. on the 17th, just twenty-four hours after
they embarked at St. Joseph, and without
firing a gun.
Our author does not offer any explanation
for this surprise and sudden capitulation of
the garrison; but a little reading between the
lines may be an aid at this point. Lieut.
Hanks says that he was informed by an

Mackinaw in History. 29
indian interpreter, on the 16th, that the gar
rison at St. Joseph intended an immediate
attack upon him. For fear there might be
something in it, he called a meeting of the
gentlemen on the island, at which it was
arranged that one of them, Michael Douse
man, should go over to St. Joseph to see what
was going on. Leaving the island at about
sunset, Douseman met the British ten or
fifteen miles distant, was captured, paroled,
and landed on the island at daybreak, with
instructions to get the inhabitants out of the
village to a point where they could be placed
under guard. Later in the day the citizens
were called upon to take the oath of alle
giance to the British crown, and all did so
except four men who were sent away with the
soldiers. But Douseman did not take the oath
nor was he sent away. Not only this, but
later on he was allowed to go to Montreal,
and in 1814, wishing to return to the island,
he gave a bond signed by two prominent
Montreal merchants, that he would go and
return without going into any part of the
United States. Michael Douseman was the
agent of the Southwest Fur Company, of

30 Mackinaw in History.
which John Jacob Astor was the president.
Between the American and Canadian fur com
panies there was an intense rivalry, the Brit
ish regarding the fur trade as peculiarly their
own to the exclusion of everyone else, and the
Americans not conceding the point. All the
circumstances seem to point to the conclusion
that Douseman sold out not only his fur com
pany, but his country also. If not, why was
he allowed to remain on the island without
taking the oath of allegiance? Why was it
made easy for him to live in Montreal and
return at pleasure to the island? What serv-
ice had he performed for the British in return
for these favors? For what reason did two
prominent merchants of Montreal go on his
bond for $20,000, that he would not while
traveling enter United States territory? The
bond specified that although Douseman was a
citizen of the United States, he had been per
mitted to remain on Mackinaw island since its
capture, for the transacting of his business.
Why was Capt. Roberts in such haste to make
his descent on the island, unless informed
that he could do so easily, instead of waiting
for the assistance to come from Fort William?

Mackinaw in History. 31
Did not Douseman meet Roberts by appoint
ment on the evening of July 16, to let him
know that everything was favorable for the
capture? Why was Douseman singled out as
the only one to receive favors from the Brit
ish? While the evidence is not positive, the
circumstances are decidedly incriminating.
It has sometimes been remarked that cam
paign biographies, written for the purpose of
influencing voters, were of little value from
the historical or biographical standpoint; and
this volume has, in its closing pages, ear
marks of having been hastily thrown to
gether, for purposes entirely foreign to those
which impel a true historian to his work. A
comparison of these disjointed chapters makes
it evident that the author was intent on de
claring his familiarity with Mackinaw, in a
manner very like Virgil's " quorum pars mag
na fuiP He tells us that the National Park
was laid out and the care thereof provided for
in conformity with his suggestions to the Sec
retary of War; that at his suggestion the old
Indian Dormitory and grounds were ceded by
Congress to the school district; that he was
the original proposer of the " Mackinaw Island

32 Mackinaw in History.
National Park" bill, Act of March 3, 1875,
and other National legislation. Although he
bemoans the abandonment of the island by
the United States, the fact that this book ap
peared just before the Michigan State Park
Board met for organization, before which the
Doctor was a candidate for superintendent of
the Park, forces the inference that it was
intended principally as a campaign brochure.
But literature and history are entitled to
fairer treatment than is here accorded them;
the summer visitors at the island, searching
amid the bookstalls for information as to that
historic spot, have a right to expect a well
written statement of proven facts, or in the
absence of those, the pros and cons of plausi
ble theories. We look in vain ih this book for
either. Tempted by the title to possess, the
purchaser finds himself without the compensa
tions of either a pleasing style in description,
facts succinctly stated, or what is usual in the
modern semi-historical guide books, elegant
and profuse illustration.