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| This page has been UPDATED as of September 2005!
As you can tell from this site, I am very much interested in the subject of Mackinac Island, particularly in the native myths/legends surrounding it, and in learning more about its different natural features and landmarks. I created this site to share this interest of mine with other people who may wish to learn more about this beautiful island. I made certain to share as much as I can about the more little-known places there are, so you can make the most of any trip you may decide to take there, or you can simply enjoy Mackinac Island from the comfort of your own computer chair. :) However, there are many features on the island that I do not know much about, or even sites featured here that I would love to learn more about, yet I lack the proper resources. Basically all I have to go on is my limited reading through books that are currently in print, online information, and my own trips to the island itself. Seeing as some of these sites I wish to learn about are no longer featured in current guidebooks or on the current park websites, I am unable to find much information on them aside from looking in antique sources, and of course, there are not many of those to be found for free online. (The Online Books Page pointed me out to what little information I've since found about the Fairy Arch--see below.) Basically, what I am asking is that if you come across this site and if you yourself have access to any older resources on Mackinac Island's natural or historic features, or if you have any information not included on this site, I would much appreciate it if you shared this information with me so I can increase my own knowledge of Mackinac Island. As I've said, I'm primarily interested in native legends about the place and its various features, and information on current landmarks and those no longer in existence or no longer readily accessible to the public. You have already seen that I am interested in such landmarks as Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf Rock, Devil's Kitchen, Skull Cave, Friendship's Altar (Pulpit Rock), the various springs and brooks and such, Gitchi Manitou, Devil's Bake Oven, Cave of the Woods (oddly enough I know of no legends surrounding this site), Crack-in-the-Island, Robinson's Folly, Lover's Leap, Chimney Rock (Sunset Rock), etc. But there are OTHER sites no longer included in resources on the island that I am very curious to learn about too. I am interested in learning more about/seeing photographs or artwork of: Agatha Outlook Allouez Cascade Arch Rock Baby Manitou Badin Grove Bancroft Rest Baraga View Big Molar Birch Knoll Brown's Brook (AKA Coquart Brook) Cadillac Shelter Carver Pond Cass Cliff Cave of the Woods Charlevoix Heights Chimney Rock (the old Chimney Rock, as apparently there were once two of them!--see Sunset Rock) Cold Spring Coureurs De Bois Shelter Crack-in-the-Island Crebassa Grove Croghan Water Darion Spring (AKA Dablon Spring) Davenport Picture Desha Mound Devil's Kitchen Du Lhut Lookout Durantaye Vista Dwightwood Spring Eagle Point Cave Echo Grotto Etherington Bulwark Fairy Arch Fairy Kitchen (may be the same as Thimble Cave) Family Rocks Fenwick's Cache Forest King Friendship's Altar (AKA Pulpit Rock--see Vista Rock) Frontenac Rampart Giant's Stairway (AKA Giant Stairway) Gibraltar Crag Gitchi Manitou Great Garden(s) (AKA Old Soldier's Garden(s), Fort Garden(s)--on my tour, called the Soldier's Garden--NOT the garden once located near Fort Mackinac) Groseilliers Watch Hanks Pond Hiawatha Spring Holmes Hill Illini Route Indian Frying Pan Indian's Council Jackson Ridge Jameson Fountain Jogues Slope Joliet View Keightley's Bluff Lahontan Hill (AKA La Hontan Hill) Langlade Crag La Salle Spring (may be the same as Manitou Spring) Leaning Rock Limestone Sinks Lost Lake Lost Rock Lover's Leap Lover's Retreat Maiden Arch Maiden's Rock Major Rogers's Cliff Manitou Spring (may be the same as La Salle Spring) Marine Vista Menard Station Michibou's Landing (AKA Michabou's Landing, various other spellings) Mineral Spring Mission Hill Morgan View Musinigon Point Natural Amphitheater Northeast Crack Northwest Crack Northwest Knapsack Nouvel Spring O-Tush-Ke-Now Point Parkman Prospect Pontiac's Lookout Pulpit Rock (see Friendship's Altar and Vista Rock) Rabbit's-Back View Raymbault Height Robinson's Folly St. Lusson Outlook Sanilac Arch (AKA Sannillac Arch, various other spellings) Schoolcraft Rest Scott's Cave Seagull Boulder Sentinel Rock Sinclair Grove Skull Cave Spring Garden Sugar Loaf Rock Sunset Rock (AKA Chimney Rock--see Chimney Rock) Talon Mound Thimble Cave (may be the same as Fairy Kitchen) Thwaites View Tonti Spring Trail of the Lonesome Pine Twin Trees Valley Views Van Horne Camp Verwyst Edge Villeraye Edge Vista Rock (see Friendship's Altar and Pulpit Rock) Wenniway Prospect Wishing Spring Woolson Rampart ...as well as any other natural formations/locations you may have heard of or know about. Some of these may no longer be in existence--I've found pictures of the Fairy Arch from as late as 1906, and know it no longer exists, but the exact date of its demolition is hazy--and aside from a solitary 1940s (?) picture of Scott's Cave, I've found no other images of it. Some other sites may be inaccessible--I could not make my way down to Eagle Point Cave, and Lover's Leap and Sunset Rock/Chimney Rock are surrounded by private property. Some may just not be known by these names anymore, or may not be known by any names at all. I have no way of knowing, however, as I lack the proper resources to find out. I am VERY interested in knowing about these and other natural spots on the island--where they are, what they look like (pictures, illustrations, descriptions), what became of them and why, any stories or legends surrounding them--as well as any other native legends concerning the island in general. In particular, two potentially helpful resources I know of so far continue to elude me; these are a 1920s guidebook to the island, published by Wickman's Photo & Gift Shop, which includes photographs of Big Molar and Baby Manitou as well as various other sites; I believe the title is Mackinac Under Three Flags: Tourist Guide & History. (Please note I am NOT talking about the BOOK with a similar title--it's a photographic guidebook I'm referring to. There were LATER editions of this guidebook as far as I can tell, but they probably do not have photos of the landmarks that the 1920s edition has--Big Molar, Scott's Cave, etc.) The other resource is Van Fleet's book Old & New Mackinac, which despite its very old age, I have not been able to find in the public domain nor even in reprints anywhere, not even in the local libraries. There may be other resources I'm missing but I do not know what they are--only you the visitor can know for sure. Resources that I DO have available and hope to sometime make available from this site are: * Kelton's Annals Of Fort Mackinac * Williams's Early Mackinac: A Sketch, Historical & Descriptive and Early Mackinac: The Fairy Island: A Sketch (different versions of the same work, basically) * Wood's two-volume Historic Mackinac: The Historical, Picturesque & Legendary Features Of The Mackinac Country * History Of Cheboygan & Mackinac Counties: A Tourist's Guide For Mackinaw [sic] Island & Other Places Of Interest To Pleasure Seekers (no author given) * Disturnell's Island Of Mackinac: Giving A Description Of All The Objects Of Interest & Places Of Resort In The Straits Of Mackinac & Its Vicinity * Bailey's Mackinac, Formerly Michilimackinac * Childs's Marquette, Mackinac Island & The "Soo" * Strickland's Old Mackinaw; Or, The Fortress Of The Lakes & Its Surroundings * Foster & Reynolds's The Standard Guide To Mackinac Island & Northern Lake Resorts When time permits, I will link to the above volumes so they may be available to all visitors. (Except in the case of Kelton's book, which I had to scan from a library copy and would likely have to type up by hand.) But I would greatly appreciate information on the old photographic guidebook mentioned, and on obtaining a copy of Van Fleet's work. (Bear in mind that I am not a rich person by any means! If a work is OUT OF COPYRIGHT, as I believe Van Fleet's book to be (though I could be wrong), a mere facsimile of it would suit me. I can accept image attachments and zipped files, just as long as I KNOW in advance that they are coming and what they are; but I do not have a fax machine.) And so please, if you have any older resources on Mackinac Island, or if you know the island well and have any information WHATSOEVER about anything I've talked about on this page, please please PLEASE contact me with whatever information you have, whether it's from a book, a picture, a guide, or just personal knowledge. I will love you forever if you do. :) Thank you again for visiting my site! |
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