Mackinac in the 1830s Tour Posted October 29, 2020 Guests will experience a short walking tour of downtown Mackinac Island discussing the community in the 1830s and highlighting the role of the Mackinac Indian Agency, Fort Mackinac, the American Fur Company, and more. The tour will begin in front of The Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum and end at the Biddle House, where participants will have a chance to explore the exhibits before the event ends. This is a free event; donations welcome. #thisismackinac
British Landing Nature Center Opening Day Posted October 29, 2020 Take the bike ride around M-185 and stop at British Landing to learn about the plants and wildlife that call Mackinac Island home. Talked to a naturalist, read the interpretive panels, and explore the exhibits. Free admission. #thisismackinac
Twilight Turtle Trek Posted September 23, 2020 Mackinac Island Turtle Trek – A lantern-lit ski and snowshoeing trek through some of Mackinac Island’s natural winter wonderland. The trail begins at Greany Grove (corner of Arch Rock Road and Huron Road) with a bonfire and hot chocolate. The trail is groomed, track set, lit by lanterns and approximately two miles long. This is a free event sponsored by Mackinac State Historic Parks, Mackinac Island Community Foundation and the Mackinac Island Ski Club.
Michilimackinac’s Artillery Posted August 6, 2020 Over the past few years the staff at Mackinac State Historic Parks has diligently been adding reproductions of Michilimackinac’s artillery throughout the site to provide visitors an accurate representation of what the site looked like in the 1770s. Join Curator of History Craig Wilson as he takes us for a tour of Michilimackinac and its artillery.
British Landing Nature Programs – Scat Identification Posted July 29, 2020 Learn how to identify different scat left by various animals in Michigan. Learn how to figure out what the animal ate last. Do you know the difference between buck and doe scat? You will! Program will take place at the podium and bench area adjacent to the south side of the British Landing Nature.Seating is first come first serve (you don’t have to be sitting in order to enjoy the program). The program will be about 15 minutes. This is a free Mackinac Parks: 125 event! The program will be lead by ranger Emily Kimmel, a recent graduate from Lake Superior State University with a degrees in Parks and Recreation and Natural Resource Technologies. She is in her first season serving as the Naturalist for Mackinac State Historic Parks on Mackinac Island.
British Landing Nature Programs – Tree Identification Posted July 29, 2020 Learn how to identify various trees on Mackinac Island and the different purposes they have for the animals as well as people. It will be a short 20 minute hike through the British Landing Trail. The group will be making a stop at Friendship’s Alter as well. Meet in front of the British Landing Nature Center and the walk will start at 1:30 p.m. sharp. Trail is narrow and there are lots of roots on the trail. Not wheelchair accessible. This is a free Mackinac Parks: 125 event! The program will be lead by ranger Emily Kimmel, a recent graduate from Lake Superior State University with a degrees in Parks and Recreation and Natural Resource Technologies. She is in her first season serving as the Naturalist for Mackinac State Historic Parks on Mackinac Island.
Agriculture at Mill Creek Posted July 10, 2020 Watching the sawmill operate is one of the highlights of a visit to Historic Mill Creek. Seeing the original grist mill stones reunited in the American Millwright’s House is the result of good historical detective work. However, milling was the not the only enterprise at Mill Creek. According to the original land claim by Robert Campbell’s heirs, the property was “commonly known by the name of Campbell’s farm.” Among the improvements listed on Private Claim 334 were a house, a grist and sawmill, at least 40 cultivated acres, a large orchard and valuable buildings. Michael Dousman purchased the property in 1819. He was a large landowner, with additional property on Mackinac and Bois Blanc islands. He held lucrative contracts to supply Fort Mackinac with beef and hay, which he supplied from these farms. The gristmill closed by 1839, and the sawmill was moved to Cheboygan in the mid-1840s.Historic Mill Creek Archaeology Map After Dousman’s death in 1854, Jacob A.T. Wendell of Mackinac Island bought the property. In 1867 Putman’s Magazine published a story about an unsuccessful trout fishing expedition to Mill Creek. It stated, “there had formerly been a cleared spot of land about the mill, but it was fast growing up again.” Also shortly after the Civil War, a man named Young, a tenant of Wendell, built a house at the foot of the Mill Creek bluff and engaged in the manufacture of lime. After two years he moved on to other pursuits. At that point Wendell arranged with Charles Bennett to move into the house and see that no one trespassed on the private claim. In 1916 Angeline Bennett, Charles’s widow, testified in an affidavit that they had “lived upon and occupied said property for upwards of fifty years.” One of their descendants visited Historic Mill Creek in 1993 and remembered a farm on the bluff and apple trees. The Wendell family sold the property to the Petoskey Mackinaw Lime Company in about 1902, but apparently the Bennetts continued living there until the house, which Angeline described as “at the foot of the bluff where the quarry is now located,” burned down in 1911. The Petoskey Mackinaw Lime Company mined limestone and clay for road building into the 1920s before letting the land tax revert to the State of Michigan.Barn Area at Mill Creek. Is there any evidence of this agricultural activity visible at Historic Mill Creek today? Old apple trees are still scattered among the reconstructed buildings near the creek. Faint traces of two structures are visible across the path from the sawpit at the foot of the hill. They are most visible in the spring before the foliage comes out and in late fall when everything has died back again. Mapping and limited archaeological testing was carried out in 1988. The first foundation is a large rectangle, seventy-one feet long by twenty feet wide, with twenty-foot door gaps in the long north and south walls. This would seem most likely to be a barn. Nineteenth- century artifacts, including red transfer-printed ceramic sherds and a metal plate from an instrument case dated 1873, were found here.Silo area. The second ruin is circular, and so has been interpreted as a silo. It is about thirteen feet in diameter. It did not contain as many artifacts, only some late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century bottles and tin cans. There was evidence for a thin wood floor about two feet below the ground surface. Larger scale excavation at both structures in the future may reveal more about this interesting facet of life at Mill Creek.
Mackinac Island Airport Archaeology Posted May 29, 2020 Refuse revealed by the stripping of the runway.In September 2011 all of the pavement at the Mackinac Island Airport was removed prior to the regrading and relocation of the runway to correct sinkholes and a hump in the runway. The airport was originally established in 1934. Maps from 1902 and 1913 show that the area was used as a dump. The stripping and regrading exposed and removed several areas of refuse.When examining a dump archaeologically, it is not productive to try to salvage, or even record, every object. Instead the goal is to sample enough artifacts that can be dated to determine the timeframe in which the dump was used. In this case these artifacts were primarily ceramics and glass. In general, the glass suggested a date of the first two decades of the twentieth century, matching the maps. The ceramics skewed slightly earlier, probably because they have a longer use life before being discarded.Example from Grand Hotel when operated by Planter’s (1900-1918).Over four hundred ceramic sherds were collected, including fragments of earthenware, stoneware, porcelain and lots of hotel ironstone vessels. Marked examples from Grand Hotel when operated by John Oliver Plank (1887-1889) and Planter’s (1900-1918) were recovered. Other forms collected include marmalade and mustard containers, a candlestick, matchstick holders, porcelain doorknobs, architectural tile, and electric insulators.Three hundred fifty-six bottles and other identifiable pieces of glass were recovered. These included wine, liquor, beer, mineral water, grape juice and other beverage bottles. Six Michigan breweries were represented: Detroit Brewing Company, Goebel Brewing Company, Koppitz-Melchers Brewing Company and Stroh Brewing Company, all of Detroit, as well as the Grand Rapids Brewing Company and Soo Brewing Company. Other consumer goods included condiments, salad dressing, capers, olives, prescription and over-the-counter medicines, skin cream, perfume, ink, and a variety of cleaning products. These products came from across the Atlantic Ocean and as close as Bogan’s pharmacy on Mackinac Island.Part of an oil lamp.Bottle from Bogan’s Pharmacy.Electricity came to Mackinac Island in 1911. This dump spanned the transition. Both lightbulbs and oil lamp parts were recovered. Fire extinguisher.Metal artifacts are much harder to recognize from just a fragment. In addition to lamp parts, cooking utensils, buckles, horseshoes, and enamelware vessels were recovered. Some of the more obvious and interesting metal artifacts included a fire extinguisher and part of a push lawn mower.Push mower.
Quilt Along: A Star Pattern Quilt Square Posted May 18, 2020 The earliest quilting was done not for bed coverings, but for clothing. The layers of fabric and padding stitched together gave garments protection and warmth. As quilting evolved, it began to be used as bedcoverings. The earliest quilted bedcoverings were typically made of large pieces of cloth and called “whole cloth” quilts. By the 1830s, though, pieced quilts used on beds were becoming more popular. These quilts often incorporated depictions of current or local events into the design. Many people began to see designing and sewing quilts as a way of commemorating events, showing off their needlework skills and keeping busy. It certainly could be a practical use of fabric, but some quilt experts today also note that quilting was perhaps more commonly seen as a socially acceptable pastime, even on Mackinac Island.When Mackinac Island merchant Edward Biddle died, nine quilts were listed in his probate records. We have some idea of the patterns used for these quilts are based on letters exchanged between Edward’s daughter Sophia and her cousin in the Detroit area. These letters mention Irish double chains and star pattern quilts. There were many different types of star pattern quilts around by the time these letters were written, so we will probably never know the specific one Sophia had chosen.We have chosen a common and simple square from the 19th century for you to take a stab at and make yourself. Piecing and sewing can be a creative and satisfying way to connect to the past. Try your hand at this “star pattern” quilt square. Be sure to share a picture of the finished product with us on Facebook!Pattern: You will need:– Scissors– Sewing thread– Sewing needle– Two colors of fabric– Backing fabric (about 12” square, at least) 2.5” strip of fabric for binding the edge or pre-made tape– Ruler or other measuring toolNotes: Be creative when you are gathering supplies. If you don’t have quilt batting, try using an old towel, layers of scrap fabric or anything else that you might have around the house. It is sometimes a good idea to work your pattern out with paper. You can play with the layout and may even end up creating your own unique design.Step 1: Cut out four squares from your first color that measure 4.5” square, and one that measures 5 3/8” square. These will be your background pieces.Step 2: Cut out three squares from your second color that measure 5 3/8” square and one that measures 4.5” square. These pieces will make your star.Step 3: Cut your larger squares into four equal triangles. Draw or press lines into them from corner to corner to get straight lines.Step 4: Arrange your pieces into a star pattern with the main fabric square in the center and the background color around the edges. Step 5: Piece your block together using ¼” seam allowance. Press each seam open as you sew. Step 6: Layer your quilt block, filling material and back together and baste, baste, baste! Step 7: Quilt your block! Stitch along the seams or use your own pattern.Step 8: Trim the block to cut away any unevenness and bind the edges. Step 9: Consider adding the year and maker to the block with ink or thread.Step 10: Admire your work and send us pictures of your finished quilt block.
Battlefield Archaeology at Wawashkamo Golf Club Posted April 24, 2020 Sideplate fragments and ramrod pipes from Wawashkamo battlefield survey. Credit: CHMA One of the most unusual archaeological projects to take place on Mackinac Island was a metal detector survey of the portion of the 1814 battlefield located on Wawashkamo Golf Club. The project was carried out in May 2002 by the Heidelberg (Ohio) College Center for Historic and Military Archaeology under the direction of Dr. Michael Pratt and funded by the Wawashkamo Restoration and Preservation Fund. 1814 Battle of Mackinac Island. The August 4, 1814 battle was always known to have taken place on the Dousman farm on either side of what is now known as British Landing Road. This survey was designed to determine what might be left in the ground on the western side of the battlefield after 85 years of farming by the Dousman and Early families, followed by 102 years as a golf course. Three different types of metal detection instruments were used in order to locate ferrous, brass, copper, silver, lead, nickel and gold artifacts. The fairways were systematically “swept” to locate possible concentrations of artifacts. Four areas of interest were located, which were then intensively surveyed. Two hundred sixty-five artifacts related to the battle were located. These included United States Infantry and Artillery buttons, spent and dropped rifle, musket and buck shot, a piece of iron canister shot, trade gun parts, an 1807 U.S penny, and three nearly complete clasp knives. Additional artifacts recovered related to the Dousman and Early farms and all eras of Wawashkamo Golf Club. U.S. Army buttons recovered during Wawashkamo battlefield survey. Credit: CHMA The clusters were located on fairways 1, 5, and 9 and the east end of fairway 8. Spatial analysis of the battlefield artifacts indicated that the survey area included the path of Lieutenant Colonel George Croghan’s regular troops advancing and retreating along British Landing Road, and the possible location of Major Andrew Holmes’s unsuccessful flanking attack and death. The 2002 survey demonstrated that significant archaeological resources have survived at Wawashkamo. The results did not re-write the story of the battle, rather they fleshed out the written record and provided a tangible link to the only battle ever fought on Mackinac Island.
