Mary Bedy Photography

In 2015, I was honored to have the photo at left chosen for the cover of Michigan History Magazine which featured an overview of the 300 year old Fort Michilimackinac. For a touch of history: Father Claude Dablon and Father Jacques Marquette, two Jesuit missionaries, established the first settlement along the straits of Mackinac in 1680, the area of the Great Lakes separating lower Michigan from the Upper Peninsula. They set up a mission on Mackinac Island named after Ignatius Loyola. Later, Marquette moved the mission to the north side of the straits in 1671 for better farming.   In order to protect the fur trade in the area, the French decided to fortify the outpost against the Iroquois, who were ready to threaten the territory and the fur trade business, so they built a small fort on the north side of the straits called Fort de Baude. When the fur trade generated a surplus, which became a problem for the French economy, King Louis XIV ordered it shut down, although it continued on

Not only the National Parks are interesting. There are a lot of beautiful and interesting state and county parks scattered throughout the country. Fayette State Park in Michigan's upper peninsula along the shores of Lake Michigan was one of the largest iron smelting locations during the 1870s and 1880s. The population at its highest point was about 500 people. The salary for the Iron workers was about one dollar a day. They would attempt to save some of that for the harsh winter months, or in case there was a shutdown in production. The old, stately hotel has been under renovation for some time, and the giant brick smelting furnaces, the building of which you can walk through, are impressive. When the smelting operation shut down in 1891, some people stayed in the town, including commercial fishermen. The town catered to the tourist industry in the summer. The hotel operated well into the 20th century and in 1959, the state acquired the land and turned it into a state park. The bla