cause of science. During the war of 

 1 812 a band of Chippewas overpowered 

 the small number then at the fort and a 

 cruel massacre was the result. Now yel- 

 low buttercups cover the ground where 

 the early pioneer fell. 



The old fort is still in good condition 

 and might again be restored as one of 

 the important, natural fortifications of 

 the country. The view by moonlight of 

 the white buildings and green cedars is 

 beautiful. 



The plot of the poem of Hiawatha is 

 founded upon the myths and history of 

 the island. Mr. Henry Schoolcraft, a 

 careful student of the Indians, gave to 

 Mr. Longfellow the material out of 

 which the beautiful Indian epic was com- 

 piled. 



The O jib way Indians of the upper 

 Michigan peninsula and Canada have 

 dramatized the poem in the Indian 

 tongue and Indian music and songs. 

 Each year this play is given with a nat- 

 ural stage setting and ampitheatre on the 

 mountain side at Desberats, Ontario. 

 This village bids fair to be the Oberam- 

 mergau of the west, and is visited an- 

 nually by thousands of tourists. It is 

 but a twelve hours' trip from the island 

 to the Soo and by rail to Desberats, per- 

 haps three hours. It is a trip well worth 

 the taking. 



There are other side trips from the 

 island, and the transportation facilities 

 are excellent. I have mentioned the Des- 

 berats trip, but of course one must not 

 miss the United States ship canal, built 

 round the rapids at the Soo, through 

 whose locks more tonnage passes an- 

 nually than through the Suez canal. Then 

 there are Les Cheneaux Islands, which, 

 in the Canadian French, is elided to 

 something like "the snows." They are 

 a group of pretty, little islands on the 

 south shore of the upper peninsula. The 

 trip can be made in a day. One should 

 not miss the picturesque village of St. 

 Ignace, with its old French church and 

 houses, and the tomb of Pierre Mar- 

 quette. I visited St. Ignace with friends 

 who secured as a guide one of "the char- 

 acters" of St. Ignace. We visited the 

 tomb by moonlight. Our guide was a 

 strange combination of the suavity of the 

 Frenchman and the ingenuousness of the 



Indian. He procured some cracker- 

 boxes from some unknown quarter and, 

 seated on these, near the tall marble shaft 

 that marks the noble Frenchman's last 

 resting place, we listened to him as he 

 related history and legends. His ac- 

 count was dramatic and at times, funny. 

 One in search of local color should not 

 pass by the island of St. Ignace. And 

 as for mirth-inspiring dialect, a Canuck 

 can meet every requirement. 



At the foot of the fort hill is a long, 

 white, rambling house, the John Jacob 

 Astor house. It is the old office of the 

 Astor fur trading company transformed 

 into a summer hotel. In the yard 

 are large lilac-trees, old and gnarled. 

 When they are in bloom the blossoms 

 show all the hues of lavender, violet, 

 mauve and magenta. Such white and 

 purple plumes of lilacs you will never 

 see but at Mackinac Island. They are 

 marvelous in their colorings. 



Visitors can examine the queer, old 

 account-books of the company, which 

 was established here in an early day and 

 controlled for years the fur trade of the 

 northwest. It was a branch of this com- 

 pany that later built the town at Prairie 

 du Chien, Wisconsin. 



On the highest point of the island 

 there is an observation tower from which 

 a bird's-eye view of the island, the lakes 

 and Michigan shores is obtained. 



The main street of the island is a curi- 

 ous place. There are the oriental and 

 Indian booths with their curios, the 

 quaint post-office, the center of interest 

 when "the mail comes in" from the lit- 

 tle mail boats, and further along the nets 

 and lines of the fishers on the beach. 



The Indian booths are intensely inter- 

 esting. There are to be found baskets 

 of every size, rich and artistic in color 

 and design, pebbles polished to show 

 every line of their beauty, blankets gay 

 with beautiful dyes, porcupine-quills, and 

 even snake skins fashioned into quaint 

 and pretty things. Here are various ar- 

 ticles made of the red cedar and birch- 

 bark. 



The docks are another source of in- 

 terest. The freighters or barges, as they 

 are called here, come down from the Soo, 

 ladened with lumber and ore; naphtha 

 launches glide about and little tugs, the 



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