Insurance Maps for Research?

Gabrielle Here:

Sometimes I don't know what I enjoy more, writing or researching history. That's probably why the Heroes, Heroines, and History blog is such a good fit for me. 

I use many different resources for my research. Some of the more common are pouring over old newspapers, savoring the mundane details in a long-forgotten journal, and studying non-fiction books. But there are several other ways to go about research. Just this past weekend, I attended the Rendezvous at Grand Portage, Minnesota where people reenacted the voyageur culture from the fur trade during the years 1730-1790. I've seen a lady reenacting Betsy Ross and working on a flag at her home in Philadelphia, I've spoken to people portraying the original Pilgrims at Plimoth Plantation, and I've interacted with guides at Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois. Besides visiting museums and historical sites, writers can also interview people, go through original letters, and even watch period dramas (though I still check the facts presented there). 

But an unusual way I've discovered to find unique details is to look at old insurance maps.

I chuckle whenever I think about the people who created those stuffy insurance maps over a hundred years ago. They probably had no idea someone would come along and treat them like a long-lost treasure.

Here's a picture of my work station. The papers on the left are copies of insurance maps from the 1890's. The maps give amazing detail about the buildings in Little Falls, Minnesota, where I've set several of my books. It's a great resource to discover what types of businesses were in town during 1898. There were at least three cigar factories, two breweries, numerous millinery shops, dress makers, confectioneries, bakeries, hotels, cobblers, tailors, livery stables, banks, schools, churches, an opera house--not to mention flour mills, lumber mills, a paper mill, three brick yards, two iron works, blacksmiths...the list goes on and on! 

The maps give specific details about how the buildings were heated, if they had electricity or gas, if there were watchmen on duty, when the buildings were in operation, etc. They also indicate if the building had outhouses or indoor plumbing.

These maps have been invaluable to me over the years as I write my stories. Something as simple as an insurance map can become a priceless glimpse into the past. It makes me wonder what future generations will use to study our current culture.

Your Turn: if you're a writer, what is the most unique item you've used for research? If you're a reader, what kind of details do you enjoy in historical fiction? What's something unique you've learned by reading?

Gabrielle Meyer lives in central Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi River with her husband and four children. As an employee of the Minnesota Historical Society, she fell in love with the rich history of her state and enjoys writing fictional stories inspired by real people and events.

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An Unburied Historical Treasure: Colonial Fort Michilimackinac

As you walk through the opening in the palisades into historic Fort Michilimackinac you are transported back to Colonial America. You wouldn’t guess that the structures had been rebuilt within the last century.

During the summer, the return of the voyageurs is reenacted often. In fact, this wooden fort, strategically placed on the Straits of Mackinac, at the northern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula was built more for the fur trade than defense. Michilimackinac was established in 1715 by the French.

Over the years scholars have disputed the meaning of the name Michilimackinac. Most have believed the name to mean “The Great Turtle” as this was considered the shape of Mackinac Island. In 1887, Andrew J. Blackbird, an Odawa historian wrote that the area was named as a memorial to an extinct tribe known as the “Mi-shi-ne-macki naw-go.” 

View of Straits of Mackinac and entrance into the reconstruction of Fort Michilimackinac from
inside by Aldryd, 2006 [CC] from Wikimedia Commons.

Voyageurs and traders came from Montreal to meet at Michilimackinac with trappers who’d traveled farther west to obtain pelts. Many Native Americans lived in a close by community, also trading at the outpost. There were many peaceful years and friendly relations between the French and Native Americans, such as the Odawa tribe.

The thriving church of Ste. Anne also had a place in the fort. Today there are reenactments of an 18^th century wedding each day the fort is open to visitors.

After the British victory in the French and Indian War, the British took charge of the fort. Because of their poor treatment of the Native Americans, this did not sit well with the local tribes. Along with the fact that they had recently fought on the same side as the French, which didn’t help the relationship with the British either.

Backyards in Ft. Michilimackinac by grggrssmr, 2009 [cc]
from Wikimedia Commons

The French and Metis (Ojibwa and French) civilians along with British fur traders stayed there after the transfer of power. The British continued to maintain its operation as a fur trading outpost.

A young, perhaps rather naïve commanding officer, Captain George Etherington, was sent with his regiment in 1761 and took command of Michilimackinac in 1762. 

Invited by the Ojibwa to watch a game of baggatiway (a game similar to lacrosse), under the guise of celebrating King George III’s birthday, Captain Etherington was shocked when the Ojibwa pulled a surprise attack.

Cannon shot at the fort by Snaplucky, 2017, [cc]
Wikimedia Commons

After their wooden ball wound up in the fort. Ojibwa women wrapped in blankets waited on the sidelines, hiding knives to pass to their men. The warriors entered the fort, killing most of its English inhabitants. At least twenty-seven British men were killed between the attack and those executed later. Perhaps a dozen others were held as prisoners. Etherington and his lieutenant survived the attack but were held captive.

This coup had been planned by Native Americans working with Chief Pontiac, whose rebellion was designed to oust the British from the areas they controlled. The Native Americans held Michilimackinac for a year and then the British regained control after bearing gifts and making promises of better treatment.

Fort Michilimackinac didn’t have a higher vantage point from where to observe oncoming enemies and the wooden palisades were difficult and expensive to keep in repair. In 1781, the British built a brand-new fort on Mackinac Island with limestone walls in an area which could be well-defended. (If you’ve ever walked up the many steps to Fort Mackinac on an 85-degree day you know what I’m talking about!)

Inside the fort by Eli Duke, 2004, [cc]
Wikimedia Commons

After overseeing the construction of Fort Mackinac, Patrick Sinclair, the lieutenant governor of Michilimackinac, ordered the burning of Fort Michilimackinac. It’s days as a fur trading post were over.

Archaeological excavations of the site began in 1959 and led to rebuilding many important buildings in Fort Michilimackinac. Today, excavations continue and the fort is overseen and cared for as part of Mackinac Island State Parks. If you’d like a firsthand experience of colonial life on the straits at the northern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula you will enjoy the reenactments, sites, and daily activities offered during the tourist season.

Kathleen Rouser is the award-winning author of Rumors and Promises, her first novel about the people of fictional Stone Creek, Michigan. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Kathleen longs to create characters who resonate with readers and realize the need for a transforming Savior in their everyday lives. She lives in Michigan with her hero and husband, and the sassy tail-less cat who found a home in their empty nest. Connect with Kathleen on her website at kathleenrouser.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kathleenerouser/, and on Twitter @KathleenRouser

More than fists fly after a fight between Philip and Zeke. When their widowed parents, Maggie Galloway and Thomas Harper meet they can’t seem to agree on much.
But when he is deathly ill, Maggie nurses him back to health, and takes his children in hand. Growing affection between them is quickly denied by both. An old beau appears offering Maggie a new opportunity. But then tragedy strikes the town and Thomas and Maggie find themselves working together to save the children of Stone Creek from a huckster’s potion. As Maggie considers leaving town, Thomas wants to offer her an alternative. Is he too late to declare his love to the angel of mercy who has captured his heart?

Voyageurs and Coureurs de bois ~ Boatmen of the Old Northwest

The silence of the wooded river valley is broken by song. The happy strains of a jovial French tune waft through the forest like a carefree lark. A canoe full of men appears around a bend in the river, bringing with it a flash of bright color and the full-throated joy of the boaters’ song.

 

This would have been a common scene three hundred years ago along the forested rivers of Canada and America’s Old Northwest. The French speaking voyageurs and coureurs de bois were often the first Europeans to venture into lands that had heard only the languages of Native American tribes.

 

So who were these happy adventurers with their iconic scarlet toques (milled worsted caps), colorful neckerchiefs, and baggy pantaloons? Simply, they were 17th and 18th Century fur traders. Almost exclusively French or French Canadian, they made their living traversing the wooded wilderness of Canada and the American Northwest (the lands south of the Great Lakes) to trade furs and other goods with the Native American tribes.

 

The distinction between the coureur de bois (meaning “runner of the woods”) and the voyageur (meaning “traveler”) is slight, but important. Both men did basically the same job, but while the coureur de bois was an independent trapper/trader the voyageur was a paid employee of a fur company. The more freewheeling coureurs de bois often acted as explorers, venturing into lands never before seen by a European. A voyager was more restricted, bound to a route designated by whatever fur company employed him. By the late 1600s the French government, wanting to better control the fur trade in New France, began issuing permits to the traders. This move caused a sharp decline in the ranks of the coureurs de bois, incentivizing men looking to do this work to become hired voyageurs of the fur companies.

 

In either case, life for such a wilderness trader was not easy. A voyageur's typical workday consisted of fourteen hours of grueling physical exertion. Portages (transporting canoe and cargo overland)
were frequent. The average birch bark canoe weighted about three hundred pounds and carried a crew of four to six men. Besides helping to carry the canoe, each man was expected to carry at least two 90 lb bales of fur and provisions over a portage that could consist of several miles. Dangers were all around; wild animals, accidents with traps, and hostile Indians to name but a few. Drowning, broken limbs and hernias were common hazards for the voyager.

 

Voyageurs at camp

 

But in spite of the dangers and hardships, the voyageurs, in most part, were a jovial sort who would not have wished for any other life. Singing was a large part of the voyageur’s daily routine. They sang as they paddled down the rivers and while they trudged over the difficult portages. One old voyageur in his 70s is reported to have reminisced “I could carry, paddle, walk and sing with any man I ever saw. I have been twenty-four years a canoe man, and forty-one years in service; no portage was ever too long for me, fifty songs could I sing. I have saved the lives of ten voyageurs, have had twelve wives and six running dogs. I spent all of my money in pleasure. Were I young again, I would spend my life the same way over. There is no life so happy as a voyageur’s life!”

 

A highlight of the voyageur’s year was the rendezvous. Generally held in the autumn, the rendezvous was a gathering of voyageurs, coureurs de bois, and Native Americans for the purpose of transferring furs and other trading goods. For the most part, the rendezvous was a several day long celebration filled with singing, feasting, and merriment.

 

That happy tradition is kept alive today throughout Canada and America’s Great Lake states with various reenactments of the voyageur rendezvous. One such event, which I hope to attend this year, is held in early October in my home state of Indiana. The Feast of the Hunter’s Moon is held at historic Fort Ouiatenon on the banks of the Wabash River near Lafayette, Indiana.

 

Have you attended one of these festivals, or any other reenactment that depicts an important part of your state’s history? I’d love to hear about it!  






                                                                     

                                                                                

Ramona K. Cecil is a poet and award-winning author of historical fiction for the Christian market. A proud Hoosier, she often sets her stories in her home state of Indiana.

Check out her website at www.ramonakcecil.com