The last post is Michillimakinac, which is situated between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, upon an isthmus, about one hundred and thirty leagues long, and twenty-two wide, and is the last fortress towards the north-west. This point of land is on the north of the straits through which the Lake of the Ilinois, or Michigan, three hundred leagues in circumference, empties into Lake Huron, which is of equal extent. The strait is about three leagues long, and one broad, and half a league distant from the mouth of the Ilinois.[1]
This is perhaps the most material of all the barriers, and of the greatest importance to the commercial interest of this country, as it intercepts all the trade of the Indians of the upper country from Hudson's Bay to Lake Superior, and affords protection to various tribes of Savages, who constantly resort to it to receive presents from the commanding officer, and from whence the traders, who go to the north-west, take their departure for the grand portage, or grand carrying place, which is nine miles in length, before they enter on the waters communicating with the north-west.[2]
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- ↑ For the history of Mackinac, see "Story of Mackinac," in Thwaites's How George Rogers Clark won the Northwest, and Other Essays in Western History (Chicago, 1903). By the "isthmus" the author means the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; the "point of land" must signify the island of Mackinac. The "mouth of the Illinois" is the outlet of Lake Michigan.—Ed.
- ↑ Grand Portage was the route by the Pigeon River (the present boundary between Minnesota and Ontario) to the lakes and streams of the Northwest. The term was first applied to the carrying place, nine miles long, and later to a landing place somewhat south of the mouth of the river. This route was first explored by La Vérendrye in 1731—(see Wisconsin Historical Collections, xvii, for a map of this region drawn by an Indian for La Vérendrye). It became the established fur-trade route to the Northwest, and a place of great importance as a rendezvous for voyageurs. For a description of the route and the traders gathered here in the latter part of the eighteenth century, see Mackenzie, Voyages through North America (London, 1801).—Ed.
