Old Mackinaw Part 21

When Nature formed the Grand River and Saginaw valleys, she seems to have been engaged in an animated contest with herself. The developments are such as to warrant the conviction that other and perhaps equally valuable salt springs lie hidden in the intervening s.p.a.ce between those valleys. These and other discoveries plainly indicate that the employment of a large amount of capital in developing the latent resources of Michigan would amply "pay."

The inexhaustible plaster beds of Grand Rapids const.i.tute one of the prime sources of prosperity of that enterprising metropolis of the Grand River Delta. Our whole State has also a great interest in the trade, the material being, it is admitted, a better fertilizer than the imported article.

CHAPTER XV.

Desirableness of a trip to the Lakes -- Routes of travel -- Interesting localities -- Scenery -- Southern coast -- Portage Lake -- Dr. Houghton -- Ontonagon -- Apostles'

Islands -- Return trip -- Points of interest -- St. Mary's River -- Lake St. George -- Point de Tour -- Lake Michigan -- Points of interest -- Chicago.

A trip to the northern lakes, for variety and beauty of scenery to such as are seeking enjoyment and pleasure, possesses advantages over every other route of travel in the United States, and with the exception of the works of art and the cla.s.sical a.s.sociations of the old world, is unsurpa.s.sed by any on the globe. To such as are in quest of health, no comparison can be inst.i.tuted, as it has been demonstrated that the Northwest, especially in the region of the lakes, possesses the most invigorating climate in the world. A reference to the mortuary tables removes all doubt on this point. In the town of Marquette, on Lake Superior, containing a population of over three thousand, there were during the last year but eight deaths, and only a portion of that number was from disease.

Our object in this chapter is to notice the various routes of travel to the interesting localities in the Northwest. During the summer months the most pleasant mode of conveyance is by water. The Hudson River boats, compared with which no inland steamers are superior, leave, every day, the foot of Courtland street for Albany. By taking pa.s.sage on an evening boat, after a quiet night's rest the traveler will find himself at Albany the next morning, where he can take the cars for Buffalo, at which point he will be able to take a steamer for Detroit. From thence he can take a steamer for Superior City, pa.s.sing through Lakes St. Clair and Huron, and up the Saut St. Mary to Lake Superior. On the route from the Saut he will pa.s.s the following points, Point Iroquois, White-Fish Point, Point Au Sable, Pictured Rocks, Grand Island, Marquette, Manitou Island, Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor, Eagle River, Ontonagon, La Point, Bayfield and Point De Tour.

The usual time occupied in pa.s.sing over this route is about twenty-four hours. In leaving the Saut above the Rapids the steamer enters Lequamenon, pa.s.sing Iroquois Point fifteen miles distant on the southern sh.o.r.e, while Gros Cap, on the Canada sh.o.r.e, can be seen about four miles distant. The porphyry hills, of which this point is composed, rise to a height of seven hundred feet above the lake, and present a grand appearance. North of Gros Cap is Goulais Bay, and in the distance a bold headland named Goulais Point can be seen. Indeed the whole north sh.o.r.e presents a scene of wild grandeur. Near the middle of Lequamenon Bay is Parisien Island which belongs to Canada; opposite to this island on the north is seen Croulee Point, an interesting locality in the vicinity of which are numerous islands.

Still further on the steamer pa.s.ses Mamainse Point, another bold headland once the seat of the works of the Quebec Copper Mining Company, but now abandoned in consequence of their unproductiveness; some fifteen or twenty miles further north, is located the Montreal Company's copper mine. The traveler has now fairly entered the vast mineral region of Lake Superior, and pa.s.ses along a coast hundreds of miles in extent, "abounding in geological phenomena, varied mineral wealth, agates, cornelian, jasper, opal, and other precious stones, with its rivers, bays, estuaries, islands, presque isles, peninsulas, capes, pictured rocks, transparent waters, leaping cascades, and bold highlands, lined with pure veins of quartz, spar and amethystine crystals, full to repletion with mineral riches, reflecting in gorgeous majesty the sun's bright rays, and the moon's mellow blush; overtopped with ever verdant groves of fir, cedar, and mountain ash, while the back ground is filled up with mountain upon mountain, until, rising in majesty to the clouds, distance loses their inequality resting against the clear vault of Heaven."

On the southern sh.o.r.e, beyond White Fish Point, immense sand hills can be seen rising from four hundred to one thousand feet in height. After pa.s.sing Pictured Rocks, which we have elsewhere described, the steamer approaches Grand Island, the sh.o.r.es of which present a magnificent appearance. This island is about one hundred twenty-five miles from the Saut and is about ten miles long and five wide. It is wild and romantic. The cliffs of sandstone broken into by the waves form picturesque caverns, pillars, and arches of great dimensions.

Forty-five miles further is the town of Marquette one of the most flourishing places on the borders of the lake, and the entrepot of the vast mineral wealth in that region. Near this place are the Carp and Dead rivers, both which have rapids and falls of great beauty. Sailing in a northwestern direction the steamer pa.s.ses Standards Rock, a solitary and dangerous projection, rising out of the lake at the entrance of Keweenaw Bay. At the head of this bay stands the harbor of L'Anse a short distance from which are located a Roman Catholic and Methodist mission house and church, both of which, on each sides of the bay where they are located, are surrounded by Indian tribes and settlements.

Pa.s.sing along, the steamer enters Portage Lake an extensive and beautiful sheet of water extending nearly the entire breadth of the peninsula of Keweenaw Point, which is a large extent of land jutting out into Lake Superior, from ten to twenty miles wide and sixty in length. This whole section abounds in silver and copper ores. After pa.s.sing Manitou Island, Copper Harbor, one of the best on the lake is reached. At this place there is a flourishing village. The next points are Agate Harbor, Eagle Harbor, and Eagle River Harbor. It was at this point that the lamented Dr. Houghton was drowned in October 1845. He was the State Geologist of Michigan, and while coming down from a portage to Copper Harbor, with his four Indian companions _du voyage_, the boat was swamped in a storm about a mile and a half from Eagle River. Two of the _voyageurs_ were saved by being thrown by the waves upon the rocks ten feet above the usual level of the waters.

The next point, three hundred and thirty-six miles from the Saut, is Ontonagon situated at the mouth of a river of the same name. A flourishing town is located here having several churches. In its vicinity are the Minnesota, Norwich, National, Rockland, and several other copper mines of great productiveness; silver is also found intermixed with the copper ore, which abounds in great ma.s.ses. La Point, four hundred and ten miles from the Saut and eighty-three from Superior City, which is next reached, is situated on Madeline Island, one of the group of the Twelve Apostles. It was settled at an early day by the Jesuit Missionaries and the American Fur Traders. The population is mixed, consisting of Indians, French, Canadians and Americans. It has long been the favorite resort of the "red man" as well as the "pale face," and possesses a historic interest to travelers. The adjacent islands of the Twelve Apostles grouped together a short distance from the main land, present during the summer months a most lovely and beautiful appearance. Cliffs from one to two hundred feet, may be seen rising above the waters, crowned with the richest foliage. Pa.s.sing Rayfield, a village on the mainland, and Ashland, a settlement at the head of Chag-wamegon Bay, and the Maskeg and Montreal Rivers, the steamer, after rounding Point de Tour, enters Fon du Lac, a n.o.ble bay at the head of Lake Superior, twenty miles in width and fifty miles in length, on the sh.o.r.e of which stands Superior City, near the mouth of St. Louis River. This is a flourishing place, possessing great commercial importance, and which, at no distant day, must be connected with the mouth of the Columbia River and Puget Sound. On the return trip coasting along the northwest, the steamer pa.s.ses numerous points of interest. At the extreme west end of Lake Superior, seven miles northwest from Superior City, stands the village of Portland. Along the sh.o.r.e northward are bold sandy bluffs and highlands which are supposed to be rich in mineral wealth. Encampment, the name of a river, island, and village, is a romantic spot. Immense cliffs of greenstone are to be seen rising from two hundred to three hundred feet above the water's edge; northward along the sh.o.r.e porphyry abounds in great quant.i.ty. This point is noted for the singular agitation of the magnetic needle.

Hiawatha, Grand Portage, Pigeon Bay, Pie Island, Thunder Cape, and Thunder Bay, surrounded by grand scenery; Isle Royale, Fort William, a strong post of the Hudson Bay Company. Black Bay, Nepigon Bay, on the extreme north of the lake. St. Ignace Island, State Islands, Pic Island Michipicoten Island, formerly the seat of Lake Superior Silver Mining Company of Canada. Montreal Island, Carabon Island and other points of interest.

Re-entering the Saut the steamer shapes her course for Mackinaw. The Garden River settlement, an Indian village ten miles below the Saut, is on the Canada sh.o.r.e. A mission church and several dwellings occupied by Chippewa Indians may be found here. The St. Mary's River presents the finest scenery. A traveler in describing it says, "There is a delicious freshness in the countless evergreen islands that dot the river in every direction from the Falls to Lake Huron." The next point is Church's Landing on Sugar Island, opposite to which is Squirrel Island belonging to the Canadians. Lake George twenty miles below the Saut is an expansion of the River which at this point is five miles wide. The steamer soon enters the Nebish Rapids, after pa.s.sing Lake George, and the main land of Canada, stretching out to the north in a dreary wilderness, is lost sight of. Sugar Island which is a large body of fertile land belonging to the United States, near the head of St. Joseph's Island is next reached, and then in succession, Nebish Island, Mud Lake, another expansion of the river, Lime Island, Carltonville, St. Joseph's Island, a large and fertile body of land belonging to Canada, once the site of a fort; Drummond Island, belonging to the United States, and Point De Tour, at the mouth of the river, the site of a light-house and settlement. The other points of interest are Round Island, Bois Blanc, at the head of Lakes Huron and Mackinac, all of which we have elsewhere described. At east the steamer enters the Straits of Mackinaw, and the site of the old fort and town heave in view. These straits are from four to twenty miles in width, and extend east and west about twenty miles.

Lake Michigan now spreads out its beautiful sheet of water, second in size to Superior, and invites the traveler to sail along its sh.o.r.es and among its islands. The points of interest are, La Gros Cap, a picturesque headland; Garden and Hog Islands, Great and Little Beaver Islands, Fox Island, on the west of which is the entrance to Green Bay, and on the east the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay, the Great or north Manitou, and the Little or south Manitou Islands, Kewawnee, Two Rivers, Manitoulin and Sheboygan, Port Washington, Milwaukee, Racine, Waukegan and other places of minor importance. After pa.s.sing the localities on the western sh.o.r.e, at length Chicago is seen in the distance, stretching along for miles and presenting a fine appearance. From this point the traveler can return to New York, by way of Detroit, through Canada on the railroad, or he may if he chooses take a southern route. Such are the facilities for travel that the tourist will be at no loss during the entire season in finding excellent steamers and good accommodations. Steamers of the first cla.s.s leave Cleveland on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of each week, for Lake Superior, touching at the various ports on the route. Persons in the West or South, who may desire to visit the lakes can thus be at any time accommodated.

Should the tourist prefer taking another route from Buffalo, instead of pa.s.sing over Lake Erie and up the Detroit River, he can go direct to Collingwood at the foot of Georgian Bay, and from thence can take steamer for Saut St. Mary, Chicago or any other point he may desire in the Northwest.

THE END.