Memorial Day at Fort Mackinac Posted May 28, 2021 It’s a crisp morning in late May. Members of the 23rd Regiment at Fort Mackinac assemble on the parade ground in their dress uniforms and begin the slow, somber march out of the North Sally Port at Fort Mackinac and head toward the Post Cemetery. They’re joined by civilians for the walk to the ceremony. Upon arrival at the Post Cemetery, short remarks are made, the soldiers fire a salute, and “Taps” is played. If you didn’t know any better, you might have thought you’ve stepped back in time to the 1880s, but this exact scenario will play out at Fort Mackinac and the Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery this Memorial Day as a way to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers who served at Fort Mackinac. It is a tradition Mackinac State Historic Parks has done for more than 20 years – recreating the Decoration Day, or Memorial Day, ceremony that soldiers had historically done at Fort Mackinac. In 1883, Captain Edwin Sellers suspended duty at Fort Mackinac and held the first Decoration Day ceremony.Captain Edwin Sellers Some additional background on Sellers: he was commissioned second lieutenant, 10th infantry, in October 1861 during the Civil War. He was engaged in multiple battles, including Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, and received three brevet promotions for “gallant and meritorious service” during the war. He took command of Fort Mackinac in 1879, and lived with his wife, Olive, and four sons in the commanding officer’s house west of the fort. While he instituted Decoration Day at Fort Mackinac in 1883, it was, unfortunately, the only one he lived to see. One year later he was buried at the Post Cemetery after a brief and sudden bout of pneumonia. On this Memorial Day, costumed interpreters will lead attendees from Fort Mackinac to the Post Cemetery and perform a short ceremony and salute, just as the soldiers did in 1883. Mackinac State Historic Parks Director Steve Brisson will speak at the ceremony while interpreters lay a wreath on Sellers’ grave. Afterwards, soldiers will fire a rifle salute followed by “Taps” played by a bugler. Afterwards, the procession will march back to Fort Mackinac. The program begins at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude by 9:00 a.m. It’s a free event. Events such as this are sponsored, in part, by Mackinac Associates, friends preserving and sharing Mackinac’s history. More information on the event can be found here.
Agriculture at Mill Creek Posted July 10, 2020 Watching the sawmill operate is one of the highlights of a visit to Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park. Seeing the original grist mill stones reunited in the American Millwright’s House is the result of good historical detective work. However, milling was the not the only enterprise at Mill Creek. According to the original land claim by Robert Campbell’s heirs, the property was “commonly known by the name of Campbell’s farm.” Among the improvements listed on Private Claim 334 were a house, a grist and sawmill, at least 40 cultivated acres, a large orchard and valuable buildings. Michael Dousman purchased the property in 1819. He was a large landowner, with additional property on Mackinac and Bois Blanc islands. He held lucrative contracts to supply Fort Mackinac with beef and hay, which he supplied from these farms. The gristmill closed by 1839, and the sawmill was moved to Cheboygan in the mid-1840s.Historic Mill Creek Archaeology Map After Dousman’s death in 1854, Jacob A.T. Wendell of Mackinac Island bought the property. In 1867 Putman’s Magazine published a story about an unsuccessful trout fishing expedition to Mill Creek. It stated, “there had formerly been a cleared spot of land about the mill, but it was fast growing up again.” Also shortly after the Civil War, a man named Young, a tenant of Wendell, built a house at the foot of the Mill Creek bluff and engaged in the manufacture of lime. After two years he moved on to other pursuits. At that point Wendell arranged with Charles Bennett to move into the house and see that no one trespassed on the private claim. In 1916 Angeline Bennett, Charles’s widow, testified in an affidavit that they had “lived upon and occupied said property for upwards of fifty years.” One of their descendants visited Historic Mill Creek in 1993 and remembered a farm on the bluff and apple trees. The Wendell family sold the property to the Petoskey Mackinaw Lime Company in about 1902, but apparently the Bennetts continued living there until the house, which Angeline described as “at the foot of the bluff where the quarry is now located,” burned down in 1911. The Petoskey Mackinaw Lime Company mined limestone and clay for road building into the 1920s before letting the land tax revert to the State of Michigan.Barn Area at Mill Creek. Is there any evidence of this agricultural activity visible at Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park today? Old apple trees are still scattered among the reconstructed buildings near the creek. Faint traces of two structures are visible across the path from the sawpit at the foot of the hill. They are most visible in the spring before the foliage comes out and in late fall when everything has died back again. Mapping and limited archaeological testing was carried out in 1988. The first foundation is a large rectangle, seventy-one feet long by twenty feet wide, with twenty-foot door gaps in the long north and south walls. This would seem most likely to be a barn. Nineteenth- century artifacts, including red transfer-printed ceramic sherds and a metal plate from an instrument case dated 1873, were found here.Silo area. The second ruin is circular, and so has been interpreted as a silo. It is about thirteen feet in diameter. It did not contain as many artifacts, only some late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century bottles and tin cans. There was evidence for a thin wood floor about two feet below the ground surface. Larger scale excavation at both structures in the future may reveal more about this interesting facet of life at Mill Creek.
Fort Mackinac: A Century of Military Service to the Country Posted November 8, 2019 Veteran’s Day is the Federal holiday which encourages Americans to take a moment to reflect upon and honor the sacrifices of every generation of Americans that have served the country in the Armed Forces from its inception to the present. The holiday originated as a proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to commemorate the cease fire which signaled the end of the “war to end all wars,” World War I, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month as Armistice Day. In the words of President Wilson, “the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…” This serves as a powerful description of what the holiday today known as Veteran’s Day is intended to reflect in commemoration of those who have served the country and it’s ideals in the military not only during WWI but over the course of the nation’s entire history. (more…)
Recent Archaeology on Mackinac Island Posted April 18, 2019 One of the construction projects Mackinac State Historic Parks is currently undertaking on Mackinac Island is a new public restroom shelter located behind Fort Mackinac across Huron Road from the Scout Barracks. The trenches for the building footing, and electrical, water and sewer services were excavated last fall. Because there were buildings associated with the fort in this area in the mid-nineteenth century, archaeological monitoring of these excavations took place. Plan of Fort Mackinac in 1890 View of structures east of the fort, from left to right: Coal house and shed, Carpenter shop, Morgue; then rear: Post Hospital; center, left to right: Privies, East Blockhouse; front: Bakery Fort Mackinac was in a constant state of construction and repair throughout its existence. The military complex included many buildings located outside the fortification walls. Some of these, such as the officers’ quarters, post hospital, and barn are still standing today. Two buildings were in the vicinity of the project area, the carpenter shop, and the coal house and shed, which were one structure. The carpenter shop was constructed around the time of the Civil War. The coal house and shed were constructed around 1879. All were demolished in 1913. (more…)
Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 289 Posted March 22, 2019 The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the United States Army, U.S. Navy, Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 it grew to include hundreds of local posts. The G.A.R. served as a political advocacy group for various causes including establishing regular pensions and helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday. Membership peaked in 1890 at more than 490,000. The G.A.R. was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member. (more…)
Treasures from the Collection Posted February 22, 2019 Today we begin a new feature highlighting important objects in the museum collection of Mackinac State Historic Parks. The items presented here belonged to the O’Brien’s of Fort Mackinac. The O’Brien collection also includes John and Charlotte’s letters (the basis for our book The Caplain’s Lady), John’s sermons, and letters to John from his son, Lyster, while he served in the Civil War. (more…)
Mill Creek – What Happened Next? Posted December 13, 2018 The earliest known photograph of the Mill Creek site, taken in about 1915. The bridge carries the state highway across the stream and the lake would be to the back of the photographer. The “MC” markings are noting the location of the Michigan Central railroad. The bluff at left center is where today’s overlook is. Visitors to Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park learn about the Campbell and Dousman families and their employees operating the saw and grist mills and farm at the site. What happened next? (more…)
A Peek Into The Past: The Pratt Photo Album Posted February 16, 2018 Companies E and K, 23rd Infantry, at Fort Mackinac, 1886 Mackinac State Historic Parks is fortunate to have an ever-expanding collection of original objects related to the sites we preserve and interpret. These objects help us share the many stories of Mackinac with our visitors. One of the more unique pieces in the collection is an original photo album and scrapbook assembled by Edward Pratt, a U.S. Army officer who served at Fort Mackinac and several other stations around the world at the end of the 19th century. (more…)
Artillery at Fort Mackinac Posted September 19, 2017 Small bronze mortars, which fired explosive shells in a high arc, also made up part of Fort Mackinac’s early defenses. Artillery pieces always played a vital role at Fort Mackinac. Although their functions changed over time, these weapons were an important feature of the garrison for every soldier who served at the post from 1779 to 1895. (more…)
Confederate Political Prisoners at Fort Mackinac Posted June 16, 2017 Washington Barrow (1807-1866)Congressman, Newspaper editor, Attorney General of Tennessee During the summer of 1862, Mackinac Island became the home to three men from Tennessee who refused to swear allegiance to the Union. In April, military Governor Andrew Johnson had the three men arrested for their support of the Confederacy and “treasonous inclinations.” Johnson felt that the wealthy, planter class of the South was part of the reason for the war and he wanted the three men removed from Tennessee. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered the three men sent to Detroit until a decision could be made regarding their incarceration. (more…)
