Fact vs. Fiction: The Doctor’s Secret Journal Posted November 1, 2019 Since 1960, one of Mackinac State Historic Parks’ most popular publications has been The Doctor’s Secret Journal, an edited and annotated version of a dramatic journal kept by Surgeon’s Mate Daniel Morison between 1769 and 1772. Posted to Michilimackinac with the 60th (Royal American) Regiment, Morison recorded what he perceived as the regular verbal abuse, threats, and even physical violence directed at him and others by the officers of the garrison. According to Morison, his most frequent abuser was Ensign Robert Johnson (whose name Morison repeatedly misspelled as “Johnstone”). In the journal, Johnson comes off as petty, violent, and occasionally unhinged. But what was he really like? Was Johnson as awful a person as Morison claimed? (more…)
The Christmas Mutiny at Fort Mackinac Posted December 25, 2017 Summer on Mackinac Island buzzed in the 1820s with the booming fur trade. Fort Mackinac was busy regulating the fur trade during this bustling time. The winter was a different story of long nights and monotonous work. This was the time that one of the most dramatic episodes to ever play out at Fort Mackinac happened, the Christmas Mutiny of 1829. (more…)
