Michigan Governor’s Summer Residence Tours Posted May 22, 2024 Explore the Governor’s Summer Residence on Mackinac Island on select Wednesdays June through August. Built in 1902 as a private summer cottage by Lawrence A. Young, it has served as the Governor’s summer Residence since 1945. The residence was listed in the Michigan Register of Historic Places in October 1975. In November 1997, the house was named to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of America’s most historic buildings and sites. Throughout the tour, which lasts approximately 15 minutes, experienced docents will guide small groups through the first floor of the home.
Michigan Governor’s Summer Residence Tours Posted May 22, 2024 Explore the Governor’s Summer Residence on Mackinac Island on select Wednesdays June through August. Built in 1902 as a private summer cottage by Lawrence A. Young, it has served as the Governor’s summer Residence since 1945. The residence was listed in the Michigan Register of Historic Places in October 1975. In November 1997, the house was named to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of America’s most historic buildings and sites. Throughout the tour, which lasts approximately 15 minutes, experienced docents will guide small groups through the first floor of the home.
Music in the Park Posted April 30, 2024 From the Arts Council: “With a spectacular backdrop, our summer concert series takes place on the lawn of a National Historic Landmark, Marquette Park, which is at the foothills of Historic Fort Mackinac downtown across from the marina. Bring a picnic and tune in for some great live folk, rock, country, blues—the best of Americana. All concerts are free. We recommend bringing a blanket or lawn chairs for your comfort.” Schedule of artists: July 27 – Mackinac’s Got Talent July 11 – Alex Graham Quintet July 18 – Shout Sister Shout July 25 – Wood Box Heroes August 1 – Whiskey Charmers August 8 – The Mickeys August 15 – D’Jangophonique August 22 – Mackinac’s Got Talent Finale
Music on the Trail Posted April 29, 2024 Join the Mackinac Arts Council for the third annual nature-themed program on the beautiful Mackinac Island Botanical Trail, which runs from Fort Mackinac to Arch Rock. Artists will perform throughout the day. Rain Date September 16th.
Workshops at the Museum Posted April 29, 2024 Presented by the Mackinac Arts Council. Join local and regional artists as they share their art expertise. Workshops take place in Marquette Park on the lawn outside The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum. Supplies are provided, but you may also bring your own. Class sizes are limited – early registration is recommended through the Mackinac Arts Council. Workshops are held after regular museum hours. Workshop Schedule: July 9 – Plein Air Painting with Maeve Croghan July 17 – Flower Arranging July 23 – Photography with Sara Wright July 30 – Drop in and Draw with Bill Murcko August 6 – Drop in and Draw with Bill Murcko August 14 – Flower Arranging August 20 – Plein Air Painting with Maeve Croghan August 27 – Watercolor Painting with Megan Swoyer
Army Marksmanship at Fort Mackinac Posted April 22, 2024 American history is full of stories and legends of soldiers and civilians skillfully using their muskets and rifles in the heat of battle or some other dramatic event. Tales of David Crocket, Daniel Boone, Annie Oakley, and the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord create an image that many people living on the North American continent in the 1800s would have been skilled with firearms. As far as these stories are true, they do not accurately represent most of the people living at that time. Most people in the United States had little to no experience with any long-range rifle shooting, and even basic skills with firearms were poor. Even amongst the United States Army ranks, very few soldiers participated in any significant target practice.Soldiers of the 23rd U.S. Infantry on the Parade ground at Fort Mackinac in the late 1880s. This lack of target practice was not neglectful. The technology and tactics at the time didn’t require soldiers to be skilled in long-range shooting. The army supplied soldiers with a smoothbore musket, which only had an effective range of 80 to 100 yards. As a result, armies had their soldiers lined up in big columns to create mass fire groups. While an individual soldier isn’t accurate, a large group of soldiers firing as a team is a much more effective force. These tactics were common around the world. Even after rifled muskets came into existence, which are more accurate than smoothbore muskets, many armies stuck to traditional battle line tactics. Firearms with “rifling” “have grooves inside the barrel, which make the projectile spin, making it more accurate and able to shoot farther. After the Civil War, the United States Army adopted the 1873 Springfield 45/70, often called the “trapdoor rifle.” The 45/70 was the first standard-issue breechloading rifle adopted by the army, meaning that the rifle was loaded from the rear of the rifle rather than from the muzzle. This rifle was far more accurate, allowing people to hit targets beyond 1,000 yards. Given the capabilities of this new weapon and the changing nature of warfare, the army began investigating ways to improve the marksmanship skills of their soldiers. While many officers developed different learning strategies, the army failed to provide any serious enforcement or supplies for training. Soldiers lacked ammunition for target practice, and commanding officers ultimately decided how much practice their soldiers would get. There was little pressure on commanding officers to restructure their soldiers to incorporate target practice.Fort Mackinac rifle team in 1886. Note target shaped collar buttons for marksmanship. The army started to improve its marksmanship efforts in 1884 by creating a new award system. Now, soldiers could earn various awards and compete against their fellow soldiers. A soldier who could hit targets 200 and 300 yards away at 80% accuracy and a 600-yard target at 70% would qualify as a marksman. Soldiers who could hit targets 200, 300, and 600 yards at 88% and targets at 800, 900, and 1000 yards at 76% earned the sharpshooter qualification. Aside from these awards, the army also created a special board to investigate ways to instruct soldiers in long-range marksmanship. Captain Stanhope E. Blunt was placed in charge of this board, and in March, Blunt’s “instruction for Rifle and Carbine Firing for the United States Army” would be officially approved and prescribed to the rest of the army. Soldiers were now required to conduct target practice at least six months out of the year, with considerations given to climate and operational duties. Post commanders would be held responsible for their practice, and those records would be published regularly in the reports. Each garrison went on the rifle range twice weekly over a four-month practice season. Post commanders could adjust the season better to fit the climate or duties of each post. The army gave more resources and funding to post commanders to improve equipment quality and follow through on plans that needed to be addressed.Lt. Benjamin Morse (standing, center) supervises soldiers from the 23rd Regiment of Infantry as they practice on one of the Fort Mackinac rifle ranges in 1890. Fort Mackinac had a leg up in this new system compared to many other stations nationwide. While they initially lacked the proper ranges and suffered from the same lack of resources as many different stations, Fort Mackinac showed incredible success under the new training manual. This success is primarily attributed to the enthusiasm and skill of the officers stationed at Fort Mackinac. Both Captain George Brady and Captain Greenleaf Goodale qualified as Sharpshooters, as well as many other notable officers. A later addition to Fort Mackinac was Captain William Manning of Company E, who served as a member of the revision board for Blunt’s manual in 1885/4. In addition, Fort Mackinac quickly constructed a 1000-yard range, equipped with telegraph lines, in 1885 to accommodate the new expectations for target practice.Image of 600-yard rifle with target platform on foreground, looking towards Fort Mackinac. The 23rd Infantry stationed at Fort Mackinac boasted some of the best marksmen in the entire army. Between 1884 and 1889, sixteen soldiers from Fort Mackinac qualified as Sharpshooters. In 1885, 50 men qualified as Marksmen at Fort Mackinac. Innovations like this would help the army transform into an impressive military force. Over the next several decades, and after the many catastrophes during the Spanish-American War, the army would continue to improve and change. When the United States entered World War I, the United States had earned a reputation of being an “army of marksmen.”
Timber for Mission Church, April 1830 Posted April 12, 2024 Huge white pine logs provided ample lumber for construction projectsIn October 1796, Major Henry Burbeck, the first American commander of Fort Mackinac, estimated the lumber required for repairing and upgrading the fort’s palisades and buildings. Among the planks, boards, pickets, shingles, and scantling, his estimate included 1,420 logs measuring 20 feet long by 15 inches in diameter. If they were white pine (one of the lighter species), this single portion of his order would have weighed over 1,249,000 pounds, or nearly 625 tons. To transport such heavy loads, logs were often stacked on stout sleds and skidded over ice, pulled by oxen or horses. For many years, turning logs into boards at the Straits of Mackinac was either done by hand with a pit (whip) saw or at a water-powered sawmill which operated at Mill Creek from 1790-1839. Originally constructed by Robert Campbell, the mill was purchased in 1819 by Mackinac Island businessman Michael Dousman. Both owners filled lumber contracts for Fort Mackinac and other island projects. The following account recalls events that took place nearly two centuries ago, in early 1830.The Carpenter-Schoolmaster Sketch of Mission Church, 1835 Martin Heydenburk came to Michigan in 1824 after accepting a teaching position at the Mission School on Mackinac Island. Also an experienced carpenter, his skills as a craftsman were utilized for construction of the Mission House, completed in 1825. During the winter of 1829-1830, Heydenburk was called upon to lead a crew in felling and cutting timber on the mainland for building a Protestant church for the mission. Today, Mission Church is Michigan’s oldest surviving church building.Water-powered sawmill reconstruction at Mill Creek In early 1830, solid ice didn’t form in the Straits of Mackinac until the end of January. In February or early March, Heydenburk and his crew spent several cold weeks along the Lake Huron shoreline. He later recalled, “in three weeks’ time we had all the timber hewed, fifty pieces flattened to be made into scantling and joist with the whip-saw, and three hundred saw-logs hauled out of the woods to the shore ready to be moved home or to the saw mill when the ice should prove favourable. A few weeks afterward a heavy rain flooded the snow upon the ice and then froze. Michael Dousman had a saw-mill about two miles from our logs and we soon had them there …”French Trains to Mackinac Island Heavy rain proved to be a mixed blessing for the timber project. After it refroze, the flooded lakeshore offered a smooth surface to haul logs to the sawmill. Rainwater also filled the creek and mill pond, providing an ample supply of water power to cut 300 logs into boards. Once the order was completed, word was sent to Mackinac Island and horse-drawn sledges were sent over the ice to pick up lumber from the sawmill.Horse-drawn sledges were commonly used to haul firewood to Mackinac from nearby Bois Blanc Island Heydenburk continued, “On the eleventh day of April, with the thermometer at zero, and the wind blowing strong from the east, all the horses and French trains on the Island started at daylight for the timber; we crossed safely, loaded up and started for home.” A French train was a narrow, deep box sleigh, pulled by one or two horses, which slipped easily over ice and snow. Dogsleds were also used for winter mail and hauling smaller loads to Mackinac Island. Sleighs and sledges were used well into the 20th century for hauling goods such as hay, groceries, and firewood from the mainland or nearby Bois Blanc Island. As they trudged along hauling heavy loads of lumber, news reached the teams that rain had degraded the ice, making the journey unsafe. Heydenburk recalled, “when about half way across the straits we were met by messengers and guides who told us that the ice which was two feet thick had become porous and we could not cross the channel. We left our loads on Round Island, then put rope on the necks of the horses and started across the treacherous channel … We all got home safe.” Thankfully, such dangerous spring journeys are now but distant memories at the Straits of Mackinac.
The History of the Anishnaabek at the Straits in the Early 1800s Posted March 13, 2024 Join Eric Hemenway, Director of Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, for a program detailing the history of the Anishnaabek at the Straits during the early 1800s at the Biddle House on Mackinac Island. Exhibits at the Biddle House will also be open during the presentation. This is a free program – donations welcome! #thisismackinac
Michigan Governor’s Summer Residence Tours Posted March 13, 2024 Explore the Governor’s Summer Residence on Mackinac Island on select Wednesdays June through August. Built in 1902 as a private summer cottage by Lawrence A. Young, it has served as the Governor’s summer Residence since 1945. The residence was listed in the Michigan Register of Historic Places in October 1975. In November 1997, the house was named to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of America’s most historic buildings and sites. Throughout the tour, which lasts approximately 15 minutes, experienced docents will guide small groups through the first floor of the home.
Moving Day Posted March 8, 2024 Most of us have had the experience of moving from one place to another, deciding what to take and what to discard, packing everything, transporting it, unpacking, and rearranging our belongings in a new setting. In the summer of 1781, the residents of the Southeast Rowhouse at Michilimackinac had that same experience as the garrison and community relocated to Mackinac Island. Over the past ten summers archaeologists have been excavating a cellar in the southeast corner of House E of the Southeast Rowhouse as part of the ongoing excavation of the house. It appears that the cellar was filled with objects discarded during the move. These artifacts, especially the ceramics, give us glimpses into daily life in the household. We do not know who lived in the house in 1781. The last documented occupant was an “English trader” noted on a 1765 map drawn by Lt. Perkins Magra. Preliminary analysis of material excavated thus far indicates the house was occupied by a wealthy English merchant and his household throughout the British era at the fort.Creamware plate reassembled One line of evidence used to reach this conclusion is the quality and variety of ceramics found in the house, cellar and yard. The most common ceramic type found in the house is creamware. Creamware was developed in the early 1760s by Josiah Wedgwood when he succeeded in creating earthenware vessels as thin as Chinese porcelain. This plate (left) is the most complete creamware vessel found in the house. The way the sherds were piled when they were found indicates the plate was broken elsewhere and thrown into the cellar.Chinese export porcelain reassembled We have also found a nearly intact Chinese export porcelain saucer in the cellar (right). This would have been used for serving tea, an important social ritual for 18th century British people. Expensive tea sets were used to display one’s wealth.French Canadian terrine On the other end of the spectrum, strictly utilitarian wares have been found as well. A French Canadian terrine, or dairy pan (left), is the most intact example. Fresh milk was poured into the terrine and left to sit until the cream rose to the top. Although not intended for display, the terrine demonstrates wealth because it indicates the presence of a dairy animal.Tin-glazed earthenware ointment potsOver the past few seasons, we have pieced together two plain white tin-glazed earthenware ointment pots (right). These most likely held medicinal salves.Earthenware flared cup No archaeology project is complete without a mystery or two. We have not yet been able to determine the exact purpose of this flared cup (left). We have only found one piece of a red-edged, white tin-glazed earthenware dish (bottom right). Although this style of ceramic was produced throughout the 18th century, it was most common in the 1730s and ‘40s. Is it a remnant left behind by earlier residents of the house? A family dish brought when moving to Michilimackinac? A cheap old dish bought expressly for a difficult journey to the frontier of the British Empire? We may never know the answer, but it is interesting to ponder these questions.Red-edged tin-glazed earthenware dish During the 2024 season, programming at Colonial Michilimackinac will highlight the events of 1781 and the relocation to the island. Colonial Michilimackinac opens for the season May 8, 2024. The archaeological excavation will take place daily June 1 – August 17, weather permitting.
