Paddling Across the Peninsula: An Important Cross-Michigan Canoe Route During the French Regime

An Important Cross-Michigan Canoe Route During the French Regime

Author: Timothy J. Kent

A exploration of Michigan's prehistoric cross-peninsula canoe routes and their subsequent use in the French era.

During the prehistoric era, Native travelers discovered a series of interconnected rivers that formed a water highway across the entire Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Illustrated with five ancient maps dating from 1656 to 1744 and photographs, this book assembles maps from the French era that depict the eastern and western halves of the route.

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Summary

A exploration of Michigan's prehistoric cross-peninsula canoe routes and their subsequent use in the French era.

Description

During the prehistoric era, Native travelers discovered a series of interconnected rivers that formed a water highway across the entire Lower Peninsula of Michigan. When Frenchmen arrived in the Great Lakes region during the 1600s, they were guided along this crucial route by their Native hosts. Through meticulous research, Timothy J. Kent has assembled a full array of maps from the French era that depict the eastern and western halves of the route, as well as the overland portage that connected the two halves. In addition, he has located these water and land features on modern maps. Finally, his work has uncovered a number of original French documents that describe the usage of this cross-peninsula highway by both Native and French paddlers. This book is copiously illustrated with five ancient maps dating from 1656 to 1744, as well as six modern maps. In addition, it contains a portfolio of twenty photographs with detailed accompanying text, which show the author and his family authentically re-creating the ancient Native and French methods of traveling by birchbark canoe, including carrying the craft over land portages, repairing it, and using it as a shelter.

About the Author

Timothy J. Kent is an independent scholar and lecturer living in Ossineke, Michigan. He is author of several books, including Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit, Volumes I and II: A Guide to the Daily Lives of Fur Trade and Military Personnel, Settlers, and Missionaries at French Posts for which he received the prestigious Award of Merit for 2002 from the Historical Society of Michigan.