Colonial Michilimackinac - French-Canadian fur traders, British soldiers, and the Anishnaabek people

Colonial Michilimackinac is one of Michigan's State Historic Parks that is located in Mackinaw City overlooking the Straits of Michigan.  This is a preserved area with a fort and outlying areas that were occupied by French-Canadian fur traders, British soldiers, and the Anishnaabek people in the 1700s until it was abandoned in 1781 and moved to Mackinaw Island.  You can read a little about it in some of the pictures in this blog post, or find out more here.

Here are some pictures from Colonial Michilimackinac that highlight what you might see if you visit.  We found it interesting and educational; I didn't know much about fur trading from that time period (or any time period, really), nor did I realize there were British troops so far inland from the eastern coast.

There are costumed historical interpreters throughout the park.  This one explained about the different types of boats used by the fur traders in the 1700s.

This cannon is representative of where cannons were set up to help protect the area.

Approaching the fort from the northeastern corner.

An example of a storehouse which kept not only food and supplies for the people in the fort, but also items for trade with the Anishnaabek traders and the French-Canadian merchants.

A guardsman who greeted us and explained about the guard house.

You can read about the guard house here.

This is typical of what a guard house looked like - a place to eat and sleep while waiting for your shift to start.

This is an example of what a British trader's house looked like.

Colonial Michilimackinac has been an ongoing archaeological site since 1959.  These are some of the buttons found on the property over the years.  I have a button box - I wonder if anyone will ever card about it!

This next series of photos show how the fort changed over time, from the early 1700s until it was abandoned and destroyed in 1781.

These buildings are representative of the buildings that would have been in the fort in the late 1770s.  They have used the information from the archaeological sites to reconstruct them as close to how they were as possible.

Inside the church

Inside a soldier's house

Inside an officer's house

Findings from the powder magazine during an archaeological dig.

The Anishnaabek people were in this part of Michigan long before the French-Canadian fur traders and British soldiers came through.  They consist of three tribes of people and they would gather near the fort during the summer.  This display shows what their camps likely looked like.  

This was one of the best historical sites that we have seen on our Middle States trip.  The presentation of the material was done in such a way that it weaves the story of how people lived, worked, and survived during this period of history.  It was good that we saw this one first, before going to see Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, and even before going to see the Old Mackinac Lighthouse.

If you are ever in Mackinaw City, it is worth going to see Colonial Michilimackinac even if you don't have time to see any of the other parts of the Michigan State Historic Parks.  Because we wanted to see the Lighthouse and go to the Fort in addition to seeing Colonial Michilimackinac, we bought the Heritage pass that is good for two adults in the same household (and any children also in the household) for a year.  While we only needed it for two days, we came out about even financially.  It never hurts to ask for help in figuring out the best cost-efficient way to experience things.

'` Cindy D.

 

Mackinaw City

While in Mackinaw City, we stayed at an Air Bnb above the local 4th-generation-owned Mackinaw City Bakery.  The bakery is in downtown Mackinaw City, just steps away from the Shepler's Ferry terminal to Mackinac Island.

Here are a few pictures of the Air BnB.

     

     

     

We loved this location as it was walkable to the ferry, to some of the historical attractions, to shopping and fudge and ice cream.

There were also tulips planted around the area!

We loved meeting Joe and Luna, the hosts of the Air BnB.  Joe's family has the bakery, and as guests at the Air BnB, they gave us some complimentary items.  This is one of those times that I bemoaned my gluten allergy!   The cinnamon roll was so big that DH ate from it for four days, and the other danish filled out the week!  He attests that they were so very delicious and would recommend anyone in the area to go to the Mackinaw City Bakery to try them.

~ Cindy D.

St. Ignace's flowers and lighthouse

St. Ignace, Michigan, is on the northern side of the Mackinac Bridge, so we checked out a few things there before heading over to Mackinaw City.  In addition to the Bridge View Park, where we learned about the history and building of the Mackinac Bridge, we went to Straits State Park for additional views of the bridge and the straits of Michigan.  We included bridge photos in our last post.

We saw these happy flowers at the Straits State Park.

These are different than the previous ones.

This was the happiest of them all!

And this yellow one just had to be noticed!

We then drove about a mile to the Wawatam Lighthouse Park where the city's lighthouse is.  It's a nice park with things to do for kids, beautiful flowers, and a boardwalk that takes you to the lighthouse for good views.  Of course the midges were bad there, so you'll probably see some in our pictures.  It was worth the time to go see it before heading across the bridge.

I thought this bike rack was cool.

The park had several beautiful flower beds.

Of course the midges had to be in the flowers, too.

There were so many purple flowers in bloom this spring!

The park has a sundial you can stand on and your shadow points to the time.

The boardwalk to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse

A closer view of the lighthouse.  We were swatting midges constantly just trying to get a photo.

There was a gas station by the Wawatam Lighthouse Park, so we filled up before crossing the bridge and also cleaned the windshield.  We think love-bug season is bad in Florida; the midges were worse!  Thankfully most of the gas stations we used during our trip have had good windshield cleaners.  Or else we've had heavy enough rains overnight that have power-washed the bugs off.  #bugsdon'tmakemehappy.

~ Cindy D.