Thunder Bay is also another indentation made by the Lake. It was thus called from the impression that at this point the air was more than ordinarily charged with electricity.
Bois Blanc Island, at the head of Lake Huron, stretches in the form of a crescent between the Island of Mackinac and the lower peninsula of Michigan. It is from ten to twelve miles in length by three or four in breadth. The lower part of this island is sandy, but the larger portion of it is covered with a fertile soil bearing a forest of elm, maple, oak, ash, whitewood and beech. It has been surveyed and a government light-house stands on its eastern point.
In the northern part of Lake Michigan are located Beaver Islands. There are five or six of this group bearing different names. Big Beaver is the most considerable, and contains perhaps forty square miles. These islands all lie in the vicinity of each other, and within a few miles northwest of Grand and Little Traverse Bays in Lake Michigan. The Big Beaver was, up to July, 1856, in possession of the Mormons, who claimed it as a gift from the Lord.
Another interesting locality is Drummond's Island, between the Detour and the False Detour. It was taken possession of by the British troops when they surrendered Fort Mackinaw in 1814. On this island they built a fort and formed quite a settlement. Upon an examination of the boundary line between the United States and Great Britain, it was ascertained that this island was within the jurisdiction of the former, and it was accordingly evacuated by the British in 1828. The British subjects living on the island followed the troops, and the place was soon deserted and became a desolation.
St. Helena Island is a small island near the Straits of Mackinaw, not far from the shore of the northern peninsula, containing a few acres over a section of land. It is a great fishing station, and enjoys a good harbor protected from westerly winds. Its owner, who has exiled himself a la Napoleon, spends his time in fishing, and other pursuits adapted to his mind.
In addition to the numerous islands constituting the surroundings of Mackinaw there are a number of interesting localities denominated "Points", that we must not omit to mention. The first, because the most important, and one which is connected with many historic associations which we shall direct attention to, is the "Iroquois Woman's Point," the Indian name for Point St. Ignatius on the opposite side of the straits from Mackinaw, distant between three and four miles, about the same as from the Battery at New York to Staten Island. The original inhabitants with their descendants have long since passed away. Its present occupants are principally Canadians. It has a Catholic chapel.
Point La Barbe, opposite to Green Island Shoals and Mackinaw, is a projection of the upper peninsula into the straits. It is four miles distant from Gross Cape, and derives its name from a custom which prevailed among the Indian traders in olden time on their annual return to Mackinaw of stopping here and putting on their best apparel before making their appearance among the people of that place.
About half way between Mackinaw and Cheboy-e-gun, a projection from the lower peninsula into the straits, is Point aux Sable. Point St. Vital is a cape projecting into Lake Huron from the southeastern extremity of the upper peninsula. There is a reef of rocks off this point where the steamer Queen City was wrecked. On a clear day this point may be seen from Fort Holmes, and it presents an enchanting view. The St. Martin's Islands are also in full view from this point.
In the southwestern part of the straits, about twenty miles distant from Mackinaw, is Fox Point. A light-house has been erected on a shoal extending out two miles into the lake. Moneto-pa-maw is a high bluff still further west, on the shore of Michigan, where there are fine fisheries, and is a place of considerable resort. Further west, near the mouth of the Mille au Coquin river which empties into Michigan, there are also excellent fisheries, and to those who are fond of this kind of sport apart from the profit connected with it, there is no place in the world possessing half the attractions as Mackinaw and its surroundings, while the "Mackinaw trout," with the "Mackinaw boat" and the "Mackinaw blanket," are famous over the world.
Between Little Traverse and Mackinaw is the village of Cross, or La Crosse. The following interesting account of a visit to that place is taken from the Mackinaw Herald in 1859: