Ph oto b M ron E Wh ee e y y . l r ’ ' Frontzspzece TH E OLD CHIMN EY OF INDIAN CHIEF SHABWAWAY ’S LOG CABIN A Brief Histo ry Le s Ch e n e au x I slan d s So m e Ne w Chapters o f M acki nac History F AN R V R R K . G R O E h 1 9 1 1 BOWMAN PUBLI SHI NG C OM PA NY EV ANST O N, I LLI NOI S 1 1 9 1 , G rov er By Frank R . TO THE MEMBER S O F LES CHEN EAUX C LU B A ND T o al l those wh o admi re th e sc e n ic beauty or appre ci ate th e hi storic c h a rm o f T H E I S LAN D OF LES CHEN EAUX S , k te this boo is d e dic a d . T CO N EN TS . CHA I PTER . Outlin e H i sto ry CHAPTER II . P eri o d o f E xplo rati o n CHA III PTER . Early In dian H i sto ry and Occ upatio n CHAPTER I V . Later an d Recent In d ian H i sto ry C H A R V PTE . — P eri o d o f th e Pi o n eers Fath er P ire t CHAPTER V I . Les u b H o s and Ch en ea x Clu , S um m er m e m er Re si d ents CHAPTER V I I . Origin of N am e s o f I slan d s and Place s of In terest CHAPTER V III . s s s s G and Gam e T s I I I Fi h , Fi h ing , Fi h erie , am e , rail X CHAPTER I . — N aviga tio n Ti d e s and Variatio n s in Wate r Level s CHAPTER X . H ss d e : HOtel s e el , Ce arvill CHAPTER XI . s and A o d rs at Les Briti h , French m erican S l ie — E s T d A er H Chen eaux ngli h ra er , lexan d en r and a e VVa-W a—Ta m y Ch ippew Chi f , P a ge 5 I LLUSTRAT ION S . Th e Old Chim n ey of In dian Chi ef ’ Sh abwaway s form e r H o m e Fron ti spi ec e M a of Les e ea s ds and it p Ch n ux I lan Vicin y , . 1 6 0 drawn by Fath er M arquette A D . 7 ” Th e r ff o s esse of th e reat G i n , Fir t S ailing V l G Lak es Les Ch en eau x I n d ian H o m es of th e Tw en ti eth Cen tury sh -a- m i n - ik -w e a ed tt a om and B e , g O aw W an , Wi do w of th e La st Chief of the Ottawas and Chippewas Th e Old P ortage Road Log S ch ool H ou se on th e M a inl an d and R oad to th e Sault f a A d e . r t er ort t o D . e e P rai F th er n r w J Pi , P ” “ ” M f th M a k a e e ich aux o e c in c N ov l , Ann ’ “ Fath e r Pi ret s La Fe rm e at Les Ch en eaux and P resent Day Vi ew of S am e V i ews Am on g Les Ch en eaux I slan d s Typical Sum m er H om es A Tro ut Fi sh erm an P a ge 6 - Y OUT LIN E H I STO R . — LOCATION OF THE ISLANDS ORIGIN OF NAME OF LES CH E — —“ ” “ NEAUX THE CHANNELS THE SNOWS A ND SNOW — ISLA NDS ERRONEOUS NAMES A GREAT HISTORIC HIGH — S BY EX R S FUR RAD RS A ND ESUI WAY U ED PLO ER , T E , J T MISSIONARIES I N SEVENTEENTH CENTURY A ND LATER -PART OF M I CH I LI M A CKI NAC AND TH E MACKINAC — DISTRICT CHANN ELS MUCH USED BY TH E INDIANS - I ET FI S H I EX RER I N I 6 —M AR J EAN N COL , R T W TE PLO , 34 OU ETTE M AKES MA PS OF THE ISLANDS AND CHAN N ELS IN 1 670 A ND 1 673 . There is probably no place in America more rich in historic associations th an the Straits of M ackinac and their many islands . TO write a complete and accurate history of Les Cheneaux islands an d Of thei r many historic vis i tors and o and what these travelers saw did , w uld , Of of necessity, require the writing a complete his of N tory ew France , the Great Lakes and the M is si ssi i pp valley, during those memorable years of Am erican history that h ave intervened since the 1 6 . year 34 Indeed , if that history were both com l ete of p and accurate , much , necessi ty, would be written respecting Old England , from the time of of Oliver Cromwell ; and France , beginning with th e days Of the crafty Cardinal Richelieu and ex P age 7 HI STORY O F L E S CH ENEAUX I SLANDS tending through and beyond the reign of that strik ’ ing figure in the world s history, the Grand X Monarch , Louis IV . Then , too , to do complete justice and not overlook the most attractive and — romantic subject o f all the Indian history duri ng r the same period , would equire still further atten tion and m uch more extended reference than will be attempted in these pages . A lmost every year , certainly every decade , suc ceedi ng the middle o f the Seventeenth century to the close of the fur trade two hundred years later was so eventful , so full of achievements of far reach r ing importance in the development of a vast empi e , so full Of that romance that will ever surround the Of t t com history his locali y, the exploits and the ings and goings of those h ardy and daring men — who first penetrated an unknown wilderness who the r the fi rst saw these islands , lakes , the rive s , t streams , and the forests in all hei r primeval one to beauty , that is at a loss where begin and where to limit thei r consideration . Therefore , within the space devoted to a brief history of Les Cheneaux and Les Cheneaux Islands , references respecting those early years will be confined to n mere outline , leavi g the reader, should he be V o f interested in a closer iew, to the pursuit the almost unlimited writings and authorities that r p resent in entertaining detail chapters of histo y , P a ge 8 OUT LI N E HISTO RY without parallel in the annals of this continent . Les Cheneaux Islands of Lake Huron consti tuting a most beautiful archipelago Of more than - fifty islands , adjoin the main land of the northern peninsula of M ichigan , occupying from east to a o west a sp ce f about twelve miles . They are at o f the eastern extremity of the Straits M ackinac , constitute a part Of M ackinac county and their most westerly bounda ry is about ten miles due northeast from M ackinac Island . These islands were well known to the J esuits Of the Seventeenth o century as sh wn by their maps and writings . tw o r For more than hundred years this territo y, with other adj acent lands and islands in and about of the Straits M ackinac , formed part and p arcel of M i chil im a ki nac what was known by the term c , — A al and by its modern synonym M ackinac . s most every reade r knows Sault Ste M arie and M ackinac Island were and still continue to be most important places in the history and development of o f N A that wide domain orth merica , known N n first as ew Fra ce , late r in part as the northwest territory and finally divided between the United B 1 States and Great ritain . From the year 634 when J ean N icolet first passed the straits and through these channels on his way to and from Green B ay and the Illinois country to the time when the American Fur company ceased opera Pa ge 9 HI STORY O F LE S CHENEAUX I SLAN DS — tions in the year 1 842 for over two cen turies the vast commerce of the Great Lakes incident to the fur trade , was carried on almost entirely in - birch bark canoes and batteaux . This commerce and communication by water between the S ault and M ackinac Island was so great and so constant that ’ of this water route by way the S aint M ary s river, of Lake Huron and the Straits M ackinac , and very frequently through the sheltering channels lying between the mainland and Les Cheneaux Islands , bec ame one of the great and p robably the most noted historic highway of inland North America .