British Colonial Farm 1774 - 1780

British Colonial Farm 1774 - 1780. Mackinaw City Historical Pathway. , John Askin arrived in America in 1758 at the age of 20. Upon arrival, he joined the British army and was stationed at Albany, in the New York colony. There he began a lucrative trading business in the Great Lakes region. Askin arrived at Fort Michilimackinac in 1764 and was appointed commisary for the military post. He took advantage of this position as a supplier to both private and government economies, and his wealth grew. By the 1770s, Askin was able to finance several merchant ships which served settlements throughout the western Great Lakes. , , With the exception of food grown in small gardens at the fort, most produce was acquired in trade with local Indians or was shipped in with other trade goods from eastern Canada or Europe. Ever the opportunist, Askin eventually received title to a plot of land on which he would establish one of Michigan's first farms...three miles west of the fort in 1773. , , In the summer of 1780, after a disagreement with the new commandant at Michilimackinac, Askin moved his commercial interests to Detroit where he lived for the next 22 years. Within a year of his departure, the fort at Michilimackinac was demolished and moved, along with it's inhabitants, to nearby Mackinac Island. The farm fell into ruin and, if not for it's mention in historical documents, would have been lost forever. , , After two unsuccessful surveys in the 1970s, archaeologists from Mackinac State Historic Parks, acting upon evidence from amateur Michigan historians, identified the site with test excavations in 1981. The site (20EM57) is now protected by law (Act 173, P.A. 1929.) Future excavations at the site should reveal much about colonial farming methods long before Michigan emerged from the wilderness to become a state in 1837. , , Source: Archaeological Completion Report Series, Number 6, Mackinac State Historic Parks, 1983