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Among the curiosities of Mackinac are the entire set of books of the old American Fur Company at the John Jacob Astor House, which, complete as it is in appointments as a hotel at present, was the headquarters of the company. The books contain not only the full accounts of the company from its formation to its close, but all of the correspondence between the officers of the company and John Jacob Astor and son in New York. The letters are interesting not only in tracing the rise and growth and transactions of the company, its history and rapid and marvelous extension, but in excellence of style and in giving a clear conception of the early location and settlements in the Northwest, and of the habits of the voyageurs. They form, in fact, a history of the entire Northwest, and one as replete with narrative and interest as has ever been written. I doubt whether in the annals of this country there can be found business letters which in point of literary excellence will compare with those of Ramsey Crooks and Robert Stuart. The letters detailing the operations at the various trading points and the adventures of the hardy and daring voyageurs are, some of them, as exciting as the novels of Fennimore Cooper. The books. considering their age, are in a marvelous state of preservation.
In addition to letters to the Astors, there are letters to Gen. Cass, to James S. Abbott, to Gov. Woodbridge and to many other well-known characters in the history of Michigan.
Mackinac was the center from which the operations of the American Fur Company radiated from the head-waters of the Yellowstone to London, England; from the Red River of the North all along the borders of Lake Superior to the southern boundaries of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Nor did the Ohio River form an impassable barrier. Kentucky was invaded and made to yield her quota of peltries in spite of an organized opposition.
In reading the correspondence in these books, one knows not what most to admire, the enterprise of the directors and chiefs of the company, or the intrepidity and hardihood of the voyageurs.
At Mackinac, the traders' brigades were organized, the company selecting the most capable trader to be the manager of his particular brigade, which consisted of from five to twenty batteaux, laden with goods. The chief or manager, when reaching the country allotted to him, made detachments, locating trading houses, with districts clearly defined, for the operations of that particular post, and so on, until his ground was fully occupied by traders under him, over whom he had absolute authority.
In the month of June, 1820, Rev. Dr. Morse, father of the inventor of the telegraph, visited this island, and preached the first Protestant sermon ever delivered in this portion of the Northwest. Becoming particularly interested in the condition of the traders and natives, he made a report of his visit to the United Foreign Mission Society of New York, in consequence of which Rev. W. M. Ferry, a graduate of Union College, was sent, in 1822, to explore the field. In 1823, Mr. Ferry, with his wife, opened a school for Indian children which, before the close of the year, contained twelve scholars. In 1826, the school and little church passed into the hands of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; and, as Mackinac was easy of access to the Indians of the lakes and the Upper Mississippi, it was determined to make it a central station, at which there should be a large boarding school, composed of children collected from all Northwestern tribes. These children were expected to stay here long enough to acquire a common school education and a knowledge of manual labor. Shops and gardens were provided for the lads, and the girls were trained for household duties. The first report of the mission made to the American Boards of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was at the meeting held in New York September, 1827. It contained the following facts: Number of teachers, eight; Rev. William M. Ferry, Superintendent; John S. Hudson, teacher and farmer; Mr. Heydenburk and wife, Mrs. Hudson, Miss Eunice Osmer, Miss Elizabeth McFarland and Miss Delia Cooke, teachers; there were 112 scholars in the school, who had been collected from the whole region extending from the white settlements south of the Great Lakes to Red River and Lake Athabasca; there had been several interesting cases of conversion.
During the winter of 1828-29, a revival influence prevailed. Thirty-three were added to the church, and ten or twelve others appeared to have become penitent for sin.
Instances of conversion occurred even in the depths of the wilderness, among the traders. The church now numbered fifty-two members—twenty-five of Indian descent and twenty-seven whites, exclusive of the mission family. The establishment continued prosperous for several years. At times there were nearly two hundred pupils in the school, among whom were representatives of nearly all the Indian tribes to the north and west. Owing to the great expense of the school, the plan was modified in 1833, the number of scholars being limited to fifty, and smaller stations commenced in the region beyond Lake Superior and the Mississippi. In 1834, Mr. Ferry was released from the mission; and, in 1837, the population having so changed around Mackinac, and the resort of the Indians to the Island for purposes of trade having so nearly ceased that it was no longer an advantageous site for an Indian mission, the enterprise was abandoned.
The mission house was erected in 1825, and the church in 1827-30. After the close of the mission, the property passed into the hands of the present occupant.
A bill to establish a National Park on Mackinac Island was introduced in the United States Senate by Hon. T. W. Ferry March 11, 1873. This bill passed March 3, 1875. From his address on the subject, in 1873, the following extracts are taken: Old Mackinac, on the main land of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, was where the British first erected their fort, following in the wake of the Indian choice of the like spot as the commanding one of the Straits. The island of Mackinac was not till 1780 selected as a locality of any importance, and then by the British as a place of security by its isolation from the surprises and incursions of war-like savages. The massacre of the British garrison at Old Mackinac, by hostile Indians in 1763, led to the selection of Mackinac Island as the more secluded, and consequently safer, rather than the most commanding location for the military defense of the Straits. The island falling into our hands by the definitive treaty of peace of 1783, retaken by the British in 1812, and restored by the treaty of Ghent in 1814, has, by these successive transitions, historically grown into military fame. The observant and instinctive Indian chose better when he established his point d' appui at Old Mackinac, where the Straits are but four miles wide, and the narrowest point, rather than, as the white man since has done, on an island seven miles distant from the course of commerce. It will hence be noticed that whatever may be the reasons for retaining possession of the island for Government uses, it cannot chiefly be considered as of much military significance to the nation. Of traditional and historical value, it possesses much to endear it to the people, and as one of the earlier landmarks of national boundary and history, it will not easily pass out of annals or recollections. In the estimation of the natives, who made it a point of interest bordering upon veneration, the island was not only of singular beauty, but made sacred to them by legends and traditions from immemorial tribes and races.
Its antiquity is worthy of note. As early as the Puritan landing, it was trodden by whites, for the French occupied and roamed about it in 1615. At Old Mackinac, Pere Marquette established his mission in 1671, and following his death, this mission of peace was transformed into the seat of war. Thousands of Indian warriors held their councils and dances, and planned their murderous forays at these notable chief quarters. The confederate tribes gathered here to devise ways and means to capture and destroy tribal foes. It was the grand place of meeting and point of departure for trade and war. Here the scalps were brought and counted, the wampum distributed, and the warrior decorated.
So near this scene of warlike sway, where whoop and song made nightly orgies more terribly hideous, it was not strange that the superstitious Indian, beholding in the distance an island of much natural beauty and grotesque crest, 300 feet above the watery surface, naturally clothed its striking features with the supernatural, naming it the "Island of Great Fairies." To this day the Indian looks upon and treads the surface of the Island with much of the veneration which inspired his fathers when they dedicated it to the Great Spirit.
The following description and history of this military post is abridged from Lieut. Kelton's work on the history of the Island. The old block-house on the left was built in 1780, by the British troops under Maj. Patrick Sinclair; beyond, to the left, are two buildings, officers' quarters, built in 1876; passing along toward the flagstaff, we come to another set of officers' quarters, built in 1835, and another old blockhouse, the upper part of which is used as a reservoir, into which water is pumped, by horse-power, from a spring at the foot of the bluff, and distributed through pipes into various buildings. This innovation on the old-time water-wagon was made in 1881, in accordance with a plan devised by, and executed under the direction of, Lieut. D. H. Kelton, Post Quartermaster. Water was first pumped October 11, 1881.
While re-enforcing the flagstaff in 1869, a bottle was taken out of the base, containing a paper, upon which was written:
HEADQUARTERS FORT MACKINAC,
May 25, 1835.
This Flagstaff erected on the 25th day of May, 1835, by A and G Companies, of the Second Regiment of Infantry, stationed at this post.
The following officers of the Second Infantry were present:
Capt. John Clitz, A Company, Commanding Post. Capt. E. Kerby Barnum, G Company. First Lieut. J. J. B. Kingsbury, G Company. Second Lieut. J. W. Penrose, G Company, A. C. S. Second Lieut. J. V. Bomford, H Company. Assistant Surgeon George F. Turner, U. S. A. David Jones, Sutler.
Absent officers: First Lieut. J. S. Gallagher, A Company, Adjutant. Second Lieut. J. H. Leavenworth, A Company, on Special Duty. Col. Hugh Brady, Brevet Brigadier General, Commanding Left Wing, Eastern Department, Headquarters at Detroit. Lieut. Col. Alexander Cummings, Commanding Second Regiment, Headquarters Madison Barracks, Sackett's Harbor, N Y. President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. Builder (of Flagstaff), John McCraith, Private, A Company, Second Infantry.
Another paper was added and the bottle re-entombed.
Going down the steps to the right, we are brought face to face with one of the old landmarks of this country, the old stone quarters, built at the same time as the blockhouses, with walls from two and a half to eight feet thick; formerly the windows had iron bars across them. In July, 1812, the basement of this building and the old blockhouses were used as prisons, in which Capt. Roberts detained the men and larger boys of the village, after the capture of the fort, until he decided what to do with them. Those who took the oath of allegiance to Great Britain were released and allowed to return to their homes; the others were sent to Detroit. Mr. Dousman, however, was not disturbed, and there have always been doubts as to his loyalty to the Americans.
In 1814, the basement of this building and the blockhouses were used as a place of refuge for the women and children of the village, while the vessels containing the American troops were anchored off the island.
The building is now used as private quarters for officers, the east end being occupied by Lieut. E. H. Plummer, and the other end by Lieut. D. H Kelton. Before the new quarters were built, the west end was always occupied by the commanding officer.
The old wooden building on our right, now used as a Quartermaster's storehouse, was built for a hospital, in 1828, on the site of the original hospital, built by the British.
The long, low wooden building at the other end of the stone quarters, formerly officers' quarters, is now used as a storehouse; facing it are the barracks, a two-story frame building, built in 1859, occupied by two companies of soldiers, one on each floor, with mess-rooms, etc., complete for each.
We come next to the guard-house, built in 1828. Turning toward the barracks, we have on our right, first, the Commissary, built in 1877, on the site of the old stone magazine; here are stored, in addition to the rations, various articles for sale to officers and soldiers.
In summer, the commissary supplies are obtained monthly from Chicago; and, in fall, a supply for winter. The clothing and other equipments are obtained, as required, from the various United States depots and arsenals.
In the small building, adjacent to the commissary, are the offices of the commanding officer and Adjutant, and next door, the office of the Post Quartermaster, which is connected by a passage-way with the storehouse beyond, built on the site of the post bakery of early days.
Going up the path from the guardhouse, we will examine the "reveille gun," and take a glimpse at the magnificent view from the gun-platform. Below, at the foot of the bluff, are the Government stables, blacksmith shop and granary; beyond them, the company gardens, where the buildings of the United States Indian Agency stood in earlier days; to the right, at the corner of Astor and Fort streets, is a neat little cottage, with an observatory on top, now owned by Mr. N. P. Harrison, of Chicago. A building which preceded this one was used as the retail store of the American Fur Company; the basement is the same, and in this occurred an accident, the result of which is known to the medical fraternity throughout the world. We refer to the accidental shooting, on June 21, 1821, in the left side, of Alexis St. Martin, a Canadian, eighteen years of age, in the employ of the American Fur Company.
St. Martin was not more than a yard from the muzzle of the gun, which was loaded with powder and duck-shot. To be brief, a hole was made into the stomach, which healed, but never closed. Through this aperture, the action of the stomach on various kinds of food was observed. These experiments, extending through a series of years, gave much valuable information. Dr. William Beaumont, at that time Post Surgeon, attended the wounded man, and afterward made the experiments. Col. Gurdon S. Hubbard, of Chicago, was present when the shooting occurred.
The large building beyond on the same street is the Astor House, formerly the headquarters of the American Fur Company; previous to the erection of this building, in 1822, the headquarters were in the old building adjoining Fenton's Bazaar, on the northeast side.
Beyond the Astor House is the old court house, and a little farther on, on the opposite side of the street, the old Catholic Cemetery. In this cemetery lie the remains of First Lieut. Joseph Gleason, Fifth Infantry, who died at this post March 27, 1820. His grave is unmarked and unhonored.
The lot on Fort street, in rear of Mr. Harrison's cottage, belongs to the Protestant Church. To our left is the village schoolhouse, built in 1838; next to that the Island
House; next, the residences of Dr. John R. Bailey and Hon. C. B. Fenton; next, the St. Cloud Hotel; a little beyond, the Roman Catholic Church; and still farther on, the old mission church, and beyond it, the mission house, both built in 1826-27, by the Rev. William M. Ferry, father of Senator T. W. Ferry, of Michigan, who was born in the mission house June 1, 1827.
Young Ferry's boyhood days only were spent here. Of the life of Michigan's young and favorite Senator we will briefly say:
Thomas W. Ferry received a public-school education; has been engaged in business pursuits; was a member of the House of Representatives of Michigan in 1850; was a member of the State Senate in 1856; was Vice President for Michigan in the Chicago Republican Convention in 1860; was appointed, in 1864, to represent Michigan on the Board of Managers of the Gettysburg Soldiers' National Cemetery, and was re-appointed in 1867; represented his State on the Congressional Committee which accompanied the remains of the martyred Lincoln to Springfield, Ill.; was elected to the Thirty-ninth, Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, and was re-elected to the Forty-second Congress, but did not take his seat, having been subsequently elected to the United States Senate, to succeed Jacob M. Howard, Republican. He took his seat in the Senate March 4, 1871; Chairman of the Committee on Rules, he reported a reclassification and revision of the rules of the Senate, which were unanimously adopted without amendment; he was a member of the Special Committee of the Senate that framed the Resumption Act of January 14, 1875. He was chosen President pro tempore, March 9 and 19, and again December 20, 1875, and, by the death of Vice President Wilson, he became Acting Vice President, serving as such until March 4, 1877. While Acting Vice President, he was called upon, in the absence of President Grant, to deliver the address and preside at the Centennial Exhibition, at Philadelphia, July 4, 1876, and also to preside over the impeachment trial of the then Secretary of War, and the sixteen joint meetings of Congress during the electoral count of 1876-77, after which he was, for the third time, re-elected President pro tempore of the Senate by the unanimous vote of the Senate. He was re-elected Senator January 17, 1877, and was re-elected President pro tempore of the Senate March 5, 1877, February 26, 1878, April 17, 1878, and March 3, 1879.
In front of us is Round Island, where, for a long time, there was a large Indian village, the only remnant of which is an Indian burying-ground, on the southeastern part of the island. There is also an old burying-ground on Bois Blanc Island. It is a singular fact that all these Indian graves were dug due east and west.
Wauchusco, a celebrated spiritualist of the Ottawa tribe, lived on Round Island for several years previous to his death, which occurred September 30, 1837.
To the left of Round Island is Bois Blanc Island.
The building in our rear is the hospital, built in 1858; leaving it to our right, we pass another old blockhouse, over the old north sally-port, just outside of which, early on the morning of July 17, 1812, the British troops stood in line and presented arms, while Lieut. Porter Hanks and Archibald Darragh marched the American troops out, with arms reversed, to ground them where the pump now stands, and receive their parole as prisoners of war; they were sent to Detroit, arriving there July 29.
Lieut. Porter Hanks was killed August 16, while still on parole, by a shot fired from the Canadian side while he was standing in the gateway of the fort at Detroit.
The well was not dug until 1830; good water was reached at a depth of twenty-four feet, but the supply is not constant. Passing on, we come to the schoolhouse, in charge of Sergt. Fred J. Grant, the only building in the fort into which strangers are admitted, unless accompanied by a commissioned officer; from here we can see the row of little cottages occupied by married soldiers, and off to the right, last, but by no means least, the powder-magazine, the only brick building on the island.
When built, the fort was enclosed by a stockade ten feet high, made of cedar pickets, into the tops of which were driven irons with three sharp prongs projecting. Formerly all the buildings belonging to the fort were within this stockade, and were provided with ample cisterns to enable them to sustain a protracted siege. The old gates still remain in place at the south sally-port, near the guardhouse.
The post of Michilimackinac, over which the flags of three nations have successively floated, was established by the French in 1673. As a consequence of the surrender of Quebec, on the 18th of September, 1759, the French Canadian posts were given up to the British, but the latter did not arrive at Michilimackinac until 1761.
The garrison was massacred by Indians June 2, 1763, but the fort was not destroyed, and was re-garrisoned in the summer of 1764.
In 1779, arrangements were made for occupying the island, but the troops were not transferred until July 15, 1780. In 1796, the island was transferred to the Americans.
The British troops withdrew to St. Joseph island, in the St. Mary's River, where they established a post.
Fort Mackinac is embraced in the division of the Atlantic, commanded by Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock; and the present garrison consists of Companies C and D, Tenth United States Infantry, with the following officers present: Brevet Maj. E. E. Sellers, Lieut. D. H. Kelton, Lieut. W. T. Duggan and Lieut. E. H. Plummer; Dr. W. H. Corbusier, Post Surgeon.
The non-commissioned staff is composed of Ordnance Sergt. William Marshall, Commissary Sergt. D. F. Driscoll, Hospital Steward Louis Pauly and Quartermaster Sergt. Charles Scruby.
Ordnance Sergt. William Marshall is the veteran soldier of the United States Army, having originally entered the service in 1823, enlisting in Company A, Fifth United States Infantry, then commanded by Second Lieut. David Hunter. He served in the Mexican, Florida and Black Hawk wars, and was one of Gen. Scott's favorite orderlies. He lives in a little cottage a short distance from the western gate of the fort. He has raised a large family, and two of his sons are keepers at Spectacle Reef light-house; William being in charge. Senator Ferry has tried to reward Sergt. Marshall for his long and faithful service, by having him appointed a Lieutenant and placed on the retired list, but thus far has been unsuccessful.
Sergt. R. Reynolds, of Capt. Suet's company of the Second Regiment, traveled from old Fort Jefferson, via the St. Joseph River to Lake Michigan, and thence northeast to Michilimackinac, during the summer of 1791. A portion of his report to Mr. Lear was published at Philadelphia October 19, 1792, and furnished to the Secretary of War. He says: The British fort Michilimackinac is garrisoned by a company of sixty men, commanded by Capt. William Doyle, of the Twenty-fourth Regiment. The fortification is of stone, and of a circular form, with two bastions at each corner of the front. Reynolds was not allowed to go within the fort. Indians were daily coming in and going from the forts; he saw arms and ammunition, scalping knives, provisions, etc., given to them; but whether sold as from the traders or given on other accounts, he could not learn.
The soldiers of the garrison appeared to be inveterate against the Indians; he heard nothing of the grand council to be held. Fourteen chiefs went down to Canada, it was said, for the purpose of consulting the Governor with respect to the war with the Americans. After remaining at Mackinac twenty days, he received a passport from Capt. Doyle to go to Montreal in a boat of Mr. Champion's, and set out, via Lake Huron, 240 miles to French River; thence to the lake called by the French Nipsang; thence down Ottawa or Grand River to Montreal, and lastly through Vermont to Philadelphia. He knew not the strength of the tribes. The Indians of Lake Superior had joined the hostile tribes, and it was then said that never before was there such an Indian confederacy opposed to any nation. Reynolds met several of the prisoners taken by the Indians on November 4—all were slaves—some were treated kindly, others harshly.
Arch Rock is on the prolongation of a line drawn from the village windmill, at Bennett's Wharf, over the village schoolhouse; to find it, start from the gate near the magazine, follow the road to the right, some three hundred feet, to the fork in the road at a corner of the fence, take the left-hand road (the right leads along the bluff to the mission-house, and there are paths leading from it to the Island and St. Cloud Hotels), keep on the road which bears gradually to the left until, at the distance of about half a mile, a small clearing on the right of the road is passed, at the farther edge of which a road turns abruptly to the right; this will take you to the arch, one-fourth of a mile distant. Upon returning to the main road, in the clearing, if you turn to the right, the road leads past Sugar Loaf, and gradually inclining to the left, takes you to the crossroads; here, the road leading to the right will take you to "British Landing," the one in front in a roundabout way to the village, and the one to the left past the cemeteries back to the fort.
Old Lime-Kiln and Stone-Quarry.—The old lime kiln which you will see on your right, just after ascending the low bluff, was used while the fort was being built, in 1780. A few yards farther on, you come to a carriage road, directly across which is the old quarry from which stone was taken to build the Fort. The main road on your right leads to Sugar Loaf; turning to your left, a few steps bring you back to the magazine.
Fort Holmes and Sugar Loaf.—Fort Holmes is in the direction indicated by a line drawn from the village windmill to the flag-staff, and Sugar Loaf is in the same direction and about five hundred yards farther on.
To find Fort Holmes, follow the road to the left from the gate near the magazine, for about fifty yards, to the target-range, near a corner of the fence. Fort Holmes is on the brow of the hill and directly above the target-butts, from which a path leads up to it. This fort was built while the British held possession of the island, in 1812 and 1814. The inhabitants of the village were all forced to contribute a certain number of days' labor to aid in building it.
It was called by the British Fort George, in honor of the British King; afterward re-christened by the Americans in honor of Maj. Andrew Hunter Holmes, who was killed August 4, 1814, during an unsuccessful attempt by the Americans to regain possession of Fort Mackinac.
The old ditches can be plainly seen; the parapet was protected by cedar pickets, so planted in the side of the ditch as to render scaling impossible without a ladder; the covered ways, constructed to shelter the troops, have fallen in. In the center of the enclosure, there was a building used as a block-house and powder magazine; it was removed by the Americans, and is now used as the Government stable. A well was sunk to the depth of upward of a hundred feet, but no water was found.
The platform that now crowns the summit, and commands a magnificent view of the Straits and the surrounding country, was built by Lieut., afterward Gen. George E. Meade, during a survey of the lakes in 1852. As you stand on this platform, 320 feet above the level of the surrounding water, facing toward the flag-staff in the fort, on your right is Point St. Ignace, four miles distant, the southern extremity of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan, and the terminus of the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railroad; nearly in front of you lies Mackinaw City; eight miles distant, on the northern point of the southern peninsula, the terminus of the Mackinac Division of the Michigan Central Railroad; a little to the right is where old Fort Michilimackinac stood, where the massacre of June 2, 1763 (part of the programme of the conspiracy of Pontiac), took place; a little farther to the left. Cheboygan, eighteen miles distant; and off to the left, where the northern shore and the water seem to mingle and disappear together, is the mouth of the St Mary's River, thirty-seven miles distant.
Leaving Forts Mackinac and Holmes behind, and following the bluff on the right of the clearing, you soon obtain a view of Sugar Loaf, on the plateau below you and about two hundred yards distant.
Skull Cave and Cemeteries.—By following the road leading to the left from the magazine, you will pass Skull Cave, beneath a large rock on the right of the road, about a quarter of a mile beyond the target-range; this cave is said to be the one in which Mr. Alexander Henry, an English fur trader, who was taken prisoner at the massacre at old Fort Michilimackinac, was afterward secreted, while the Indian, to whom he belonged, enjoyed a drunken carousal in the Indian village on the beach.
Farther on you pass through the cemeteries, the Roman Catholic on the left, and the military (enclosed by a picket fence) and Protestant on the right; in the military cemetery are buried sixty soldiers and one officer, Capt John Clitz, who died while in command of this post, November 7, 1836, two of whose sons, Gen. H. B. Clitz, of the army, and Rear Admiral J. M. B. Clitz, of the navy, are too well known to need further mention.
British Landing.—The road passing through the cemeteries leads in nearly a direct line through Early's (formerly Dousman's) farm to "British Landing."
Up this road came the British and Indians under Capt. Charles Roberts, of His Majesty's Tenth Royal Veteran Battalion, during the nights of July 16 and 17, 1812, having come over from the island of St. Joseph. They took oxen from Michael Dousman's farm to haul their cannon, which they planted in the road, in the small hollow, about fifty yards from the turn-stile on the north side of the parade ground.
Up this road came also, on August 4, 1814, Col. George Croghan with American troops into the ambuscade laid for them by the British and Indian allies under Capt. Roberts.
After entering the gate and passing through the narrow belt of timber, you come to a slight ridge, which crosses the road, passing diagonally through an orchard on the left. On the south side of this ridge the British troops were concealed, with their field-piece on the right of the road; the Indian allies were on both flanks, parallel to the road, concealed in the woods; at that time there was very little cleared land, and when the Americans approached within short range, they were met by an unexpected and destructive fire, compelling them to retire, leaving their dead on the field, among whom was Maj. Holmes, who was killed about half-way between the farmhouse and the small hillock in the field in front of it; his body was carried to the rear by his servant and concealed under leaves and rails in the edge of the woods at the farther end of the field; all the other bodies were mutilated by the Indians. A boat came to the island the next day (August 5) under a flag of truce, landing at "Shanty Town," where it was met by a detachment of the British troops. A search was made for the body of Maj. Holmes, under the direction of Capt. Roberts; it was found and delivered to the Americans. The road leads on to "British Landing." A short distance before reaching the landing, a narrow road turns to the right—and leads through the woods past Friendship's Altar to Scott's Cave, a mile and a quarter distant.
Robertson's Folly.—The prominent rocky bluff a little beyond the Mission House. Cedar Point Cottage, owned by Mr. Alanson Sheley, of Detroit, is snugly ensconced near its base.
The following legend, as related by Lieut. Kelton, is in connection with this bluff:
Capt. Robertson was a gay young English officer and a great admirer of the ladies. One pleasant summer evening, as he was strolling in the woods at the back of the fort enjoying his pipe, he suddenly beheld, a few rods before him and just crossing his path, a female of most exquisite form, feature and complexion; she seemed about nineteen; was simply dressed; wore her long black hair in flowing tresses; and as for a moment she turned on him her lustrous black eyes, her whole countenance lighting up with animation, the gallant Captain thought he had never before seen so beautiful a creature. He politely doffed his cap and quickened his steps, hoping to engage her in conversation. She likewise hastened, evidently with the design of escaping him. Presently she disappeared around a curve in the road, and Robertson lost sight of her.
At the officer's quarters that night, nothing was talked of but the young lady and her possible identity. She was clearly not a native, and no vessel had been known to touch at the island for many a week. Who could she be? Capt. Robertson could hardly sleep that night. A rigid inquiry was instituted in the village. The only effect was to engender as intense curiosity in the town as already existed among the garrison.
As the shades of evening drew near, the Captain was again walking in the pleasant groves enjoying the delightful lake breezes and the whiff of his favorite pipe. He was thinking of last evening's apparition, and blaming himself for not pressing on more vigorously, or at least calling to the fair specter. At this moment, raising his eyes from the ground, there she was again, slowly preceding him at a distance of scarcely more than thirty yards. As soon as his astonishment would permit, and as speedily as he could frame an excuse, he called to her: "Mademoiselle, I—I beg your pardon."
She turned on him one glance, her face radiant with smiles, then redoubled her pace. The Captain redoubled his, and soon broke into a run. Still she kept the interval between them undiminished. A bend of the road, and again she was gone. The Captain sought her quickly, but in vain; he then rushed back to the fort and called out a general posse of officers and men to scour the island, and, by capturing the maiden, to solve the mystery. Though the search was kept up till a late hour in the night, not a trace could be found of her. The Captain now began to be laughed at, and jokes were freely bandied at his expense.
Two days passed away, and the fantasy of Capt. Robertson began to be forgotten by his brother officers, but the Captain himself maintained a gloomy, thoughtful mood—the truth is, he was in love with the woman he had only twice seen, and who he felt assured was somewhere secreted on the island. Plans for her discovery revolved in his brain day and night, and visions of romance and happiness were ever flitting before his eyes. It was on the evening of the second day that he was irresistibly led to walk again in the shady path in which the apparition had twice appeared to him. It led to the brow of the precipice at the southeastern corner of the island. He had nearly reached the famous point from which we now look down perpendicularly 128 feet into the placid waters of Lake Huron, when, sitting on a large stone, apparently enjoying the magnificent scene spread out before her, he discovered the object of his solicitude. Escape from him was now impossible; silently he stole up to her. A crunching of the gravel under his feet, however, disturbed her, and turning, her eyes met his.
"Pretty maiden, why thus attempt to elude me? Who are you?" There was no answer, but the lady arose from the rock and retreated nearer the brink of the precipice, at the same time glancing to the right and left, as if seeking a loop-hole of escape.
"Do not fear me," said the Captain, "I am commander of the garrison at the fort here. No harm shall come to you, but do pray tell me who you are, and how you came on this island!"
The lady still maintained a stolid silence, but in the fading light looked more beautiful than ever. She was now standing within three feet of the brink with her back to the terrible abyss. The Captain shuddered at the thought of her making an unguarded step and being dashed to pieces on the rocks below. So he tried to calm her fears lest, in her agitation, she might precipitate a terrible catastrophe.
"My dear young lady," he began, "I see you fear me, and I will leave you; but for heaven's sake do pray tell me your name and where you reside. Not a hair of your head shall be harmed, but Capt. Robertson, your devoted servant, will go through fire and water to do your commands. Once more, my dear girl, do speak to me, if but a word before we part."
As the Captain warmed up in his address, he incautiously advanced a step. The girl retreated another step, and now stood where the slightest loss of balance must prove her death.
Quick as thought, the Captain sprang forward to seize her and avert so terrible a tragedy, but just as he clutched her arm, she threw herself backward into the chasm, drawing her tormentor and would-be savior with her, and both were instantly dashed on to the rocks below.
His mangled remains were found at the foot of the precipice, but, singular as it may seem, not a vestige could be found of the woman for whose life his own had been sacrificed. His body alone could be discovered, and it was taken up and buried in a shady nook near the middle of the island. He was long mourned by his men and brother officers, for he was much beloved for his high social qualities and genial deportment; but by-and-by it began to be whispered that the Captain had indulged too freely in the fine old French brandy that the fur-traders brought up from Montreal, and that the lady he professed to see was a mere ignis fatuus of his own excited imagination. But the mantle of charity has been thrown over the tragedy, and a commonplace explanation given for the name the rocky point has acquired of "Robertson's Folly."
Prominent Elevations.—Prof. Winchell, State Geologist, in 1860, surveyed the several objects of curiosity on this island, and the following table of heights is the result of his calculations:
Top of arch, at Arched Rock, 140 feet. To highest summit of Arched Rock, 149 feet. To top of buttress facing the lake, 105 feet. Height of the arch, in the middle, in the clear, 41.6 feet. Span of the arch, at its spring, 24 feet. Depth of the arch-work at the keystone, 15 feet. Robertson's Folly, 126.6 feet. Bluff facing Round Island, 147 feet. Fort Holmes, 318 feet. Summit of Sugar Loaf, 284 feet. Chimney Rock, 131 feet. Lover's Leap, 145 feet.
Temperature of spring water on the island, 44½ degrees.
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