During the prehistoric era, native travelers discovered a series of interconnected rivers which formed a water highway across the entire Lower Peninsula of Michigan. When Frenchmen arrived in the Great Lakes region during the 1600s, they were guided along this crucial canoe route by their native hosts.
Through meticulous research, the author has assembled a full array of maps from the French era which depict the eastern and western halves of the route, as well as the overland portage which connected the two halves. In addition, he has located these water and land features on modern maps....
During the prehistoric era, native travelers discovered a series of interconnected rivers which formed a water highway across the entire Lower Peni...
For well over a century during the colonial era, the Straits of Mackinac, at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan, served as the very epicenter of activities in the northern interior of North America. At this locale, great numbers of native people and Europeans congregated each summer to trade. In addition, fur trade personnel acquired birchbark canoes, equipment, and provisions here for their far-flung journeys to other regions, and here they stored large amounts of westbound merchandise and eastbound furs and hides. From this central location at the Straits, native and European...
For well over a century during the colonial era, the Straits of Mackinac, at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan, served as the very epicenter...
