The French pronunciation for
Michinnimakinong, the
Ojibwa name for the area around the
Straits of Mackinac.
Controlling the entrance to
Lake Michigan, Michilimackinac was a vital stronghold in
New France, as well as the center of the fur trade. In
1673, it was the base for Fathers
Joliet and
Marquette in their expedition into
Illinois.
In
1683,
Fort de Baude (named after Comte
Louis de Baude Frontenac) was built in
St. Ignace on the
Upper Peninsula. It was later renamed Fort Michilimackinac, but was abandoned by commander Comte
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in
1701 at the founding of
Detroit.
In
1715, Fort St. Philippe de Michilimackinac was built on the Lower Peninsula near present-day
Mackinaw City.
For the next 45 years, the French retained possession of the Straits of Mackinac. But in
1761, during the
1755-
1763 French and Indian War, the British captured Fort Michilimackinac from the French. The fort was decimated during
Pontiac's Rebellion in
1763 after a group of Ottawa pretending to be a
lacrosse team was let into the fort. In
1780, during the
American Revolution, the British decided the fort wasn't defended well enough, and abandoned it for
Fort Mackinac on nearby
Mackinac Island.
The
1783 Treaty of
Paris granted all of Michigan to the fledgling
United States. Ownership of the Upper peninsula was vague, but also moot as the British continued to hold onto
Detroit and
Chicago. However, the
1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers shattered British credibility with local Indians, and left the British position untenable. Facing a war with Revolutionary France, Prime minister
William Pitt the Younger cut Britain's losses and signed the
1795 Jay Treaty with the United States, and evacuated the
Northwest Territory.