Cheboygan's Beginnings

Cheboygan's Beginnings. "The Pipe". , The Pipe: , Voyageurs often smoked white clay pipes as they travelled the waters of the Great Lakes region in their large freight-hauling canoes. Bodies of water were known as a "two-pipe lake" or "five-pipe crossing" depending on the number of pipe-smoking breaks commonly taken during the crossing. , Packs and bales: , Furs and trade goods were bundled into packs and loaded into the large voyageur's canoes for transport. The packs, weighing up to 90 pounds, were carried by hand along with the canoes around obstructions in waterways. , Charles de Langlade (1729-1801) , was born at Michilimackinac to Domitilde, an Ottawa woman, and Augustin Langlade, a French fur trader. During his lifetime, Langlade held military offices in French, British and American militias. Langlade was influential among the local Ottawa and Chippewa people, a successful fur trader, and warrior of renown. , Alexander Henry "the Elder" (1739-1824) , was one of the first British traders to occupy Fort Michilimackinac after the French garrison departed. He escaped Matchekewis' attack at Michillimackinac in 1763 through the intercession of a local Ottawa leader named Wawatam. , Alexander Henry "The Younger" (1765-1814) , nephew of Alexander Henry "the Elder", was a fur trader and explorer. From 1799 to his untimely death in 1814, Henry kept extensive journals documenting details of his daily life as fur trader exploring the Canadian territory from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean.