July 4 at Fort Mackinac
With the holiday weekend upon us, let’s look at how the soldiers and civilians of historic Mackinac celebrated.
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With the holiday weekend upon us, let’s look at how the soldiers and civilians of historic Mackinac celebrated.
It’s a crisp morning in late May. Members of the 23rd Regiment at Fort Mackinac assemble on the parade ground in their dress uniforms and begin the slow, somber march out of the North Sally Port at Fort Mackinac and head toward the Post Cemetery.
With COVID-19 health precautions at Mackinac State Historic Parks, you can safely visit and enjoy any or all of the sites in Mackinaw City and on Mackinac Island this year.
Opening day for Mackinac State Historic Parks’ sites is a little more than two months away, and MSHP staff have been busy readying new tours, exhibits, publications, and more.
To provide the soldiers with a taste of regular campaigning, through the 1880s the 23rd Regiment partnered with the Michigan State Troops (a forerunner to the Michigan National Guard) to host summer training camps. In 1888, the Michigan State Troops elected to hold the annual encampment on Mackinac Island.
For a brief time, from April of 1882 until September of 1884, Fanny Dunbar Corbusier and her family lived at Fort Mackinac. She and her family thoroughly enjoyed their time on the island, which was already a tourist destination.
If you’ve visited Fort Mackinac, you’ve probably seen our historical interpreters performing demonstrations and leading tours while wearing the uniforms of the U.S. Army of the 1880s. We strive to have accurate reproductions, but what did the historic soldiers of Fort Mackinac wear under their uniforms?
While General Granger was reading General Order No. 3, two future Fort Mackinac officers were also on occupation duty in the south. William Manning and future post commander Greenleaf Goodale were both stationed in Louisiana in the summer of 1865.
In September 2001 all of the pavement at the Mackinac Island Airport was removed prior to the regrading and relocation of the runway. Maps from 1902 and 1913 show that the area was used a dump, and the stripping and regrading exposed several areas of refuse.
