The Fort and the Bridge

Despite appearances, this stockade was never intended as a fortress. Michillimackinac was a fur trading post and remote French (British, after 1763) settlement on the Straits of Mackinac. When the folks living here decided they needed security, they moved to the more serious fortress on Mackinac Island. But the place was occasionally attacked, and was once overrun during Pontiac's Rebellion.

Colonial Michillimackinac is a Michigan State Park. Everything that looks like a building in the park is a reconstruction, with only two or three minor exceptions. They've been working on this since 1959, and I've been visiting on an occasional basis since 1961.

Yesterday was our first stop in over a decade. Our impression is that things have greatly improved. We spent most of the afternoon walking the place and checking out the exhibits.

Oh, yes. That Bridge. There's only one bridge. Its name is Mackinac, and its anchorage is beside the old fort.