The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-09-24

tinctness. Fish floating around near
the bottom could be seen as clearly
AS if in parlor aquarium. Some of
the passengers were interested in
measuring the depth, and found it to
be six feet. A little steam pleasure
boat leaves Traverse CITY every morn
ing, and making the circuit of all the
towns on both divisions Of the bay.
returning in the evening. A small
propeller starts also from the same
point, and after visiting all of them
towns, extends its trip to Maeinac.-
1t calls at all of them again on its re-
turn, and by going night aud day
makes three round trips week. The
entire distance passed overly it each
time is three hundred and sixty miles
Were il not for the ,hud and puff OF
the boats engine one could easily inn
agin as he glides over the smooth sur
face and around the romantic shores
of this delightful bay, that he is max
ing one of those voyages celebrated
in oriental fable and Grecian Mythol-
ogy. Little Traverse bay is not so
pleasant. Its outlet is so broad as to
make it rough-almost as broad as
the bay itself. Its shores, particular
ly on the south, are low and uninter-
esting. In fact it is scarcely more
than an indenture in the coast line Of
Lake Michigan | have been as far
north as Macinac Island. Ii is some
miles beyond the Straits of Macinac,
consequently in Lake Huron. 1t well
repays a visit from the tourist. 1t
is nine miles in circumference and one
and a half across at its widest place.
Its substratum seems 10 he solid rock,
rising in the center to a heighth of,
perhaps, two hundred and fifty feet
There is, however, sufficient soil on
its sub face to produce most dense
growth of arborvite, cedar, hard ma
pie, elm, poplar, etc. From the Is
land to the nearest mainland is four
miles, but other islands are within one
and two miles. Both history and ira
dition fail to tell when this island was
not regarded with peculiar interest
To the Indians ii was sacred spot.
1t was more to them than Jerusalem
to the Jews. or Mecca to the Moham-
edan. 1t was the chosen home Of
some of their deities. White men
are now living who remember when
these wild children of nature still re-
sorted there with offerings. More
than two hundred years ago Jesuit
missionaries established a station on
the island Doubtless they selected
il because ofits surprising attractions.
A hundred wears ago the French Sc
lected it for military rot. When
the English surplanted the French
they built the fort which is still stand
ing, and occupied bv a detachment of
United States tr ops. In the war OF
1912 battle was fought ON the is
land, and its soil was enriched yptt-
riot blood. In 1896 protestant mis-
sion was established on it. The house,
afterwards built for its use now serves
as the best hotel of the place. Rev.
w. NJ. Ferry and wife were the mis-
sionaries. Their son is now one of
the United States Senators from
Michigan He was born there, and
has recently introduced resolution
in the Senate, which will probably
pass next session setting apart all of
the government land on the island,
which includes most Of it, for ma
tional park. Though SO small, there
are several places on the island
worthy of individual notice. "Arch
Rock" is massive natural arch. span
ming chasm Of some ninety feet in
heighth and probably fifty feet in
width. 1t is along the east shore
Looking through it from the bluff
above one beholds lovely water
scene, and from the waters edge be
low it's sublimity makes deep i'm
preston. "Sugar Loaf Rock" is a
rugged, conical rock, rising on the
level plateau near the east end of the
island to heighth of one hundred
and forty feet. Its mites are
partially hidden by evergreen shrub
berry and graceful vines which ten
aciously clung to it. On one side,
about twelve feet from the ground,
there is an opening in it large enough
to admit twenty men. Lovers Leap
is bold, projecting cliff, at the south
end of the island. A young and beau
tiful Ojibwa maiden once threw her
self from it into the sea and ended
her life Of heartache and lonesome
ness, when she found that her brave
warrior lover returned not with his
companions. "Fort Holmes" is an
abandoned earth work on the summit
of the island. 1t was SO named in
honor of the gallant Col. Holmes, who
fell in the battle before mentioned
In it the United States engineers
have erected rude out look. from
which a most extended and varied
natural panorama is spread out to The
view. As a place OF summer resort
Macinac is becoming deservedly pop
ular. By observations taken during
the last thirty years, the mean tenn
perature there has been found to be
more favorable than any other place
where observations have been taken,
on the Atlantic side Of the continent.
There is now village of eight or ten
hundred inhabitants there, with good
hotel Accommodations and the best of
chances for fishing, boating and driv-
ing. Best of all is its cheapness. 1t
can be reached for less than ten dol
lars from Chicago. ard once there
good board can he secured at from
one to three dollars per day.
There are still goodlv number of
Indians in this region. AT one place
where the boat landed | counted the
people on the pier. There were twen-
,y-fve, and twenty-three of them were
Indians. The remaining two were
the doctor and the Catholic priest of
the village. / have been gratified by
their appearance. Most of them,par-
ticularly the males, wear their clothes
like white people, and look healthy
and intelligent.
One advantage of this trip to in
yalids is its old fashioned emetics. -
They were known, doubtless, long
before the advent of epecac and To-