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Article: Mackinac, Straits of, and Mackinac Island
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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MACKINAC, STRAITS OF, AND MACKINAC ISLAND
MACKINAC, STRAITS OF, AND MACKINAC ISLAND.
The waters of lakes Michigan and Superior unite with Lake Huron by the Straits of Mackinac and the Saint Marys River. Lying at the crossroads of the upper Great Lakes, in the middle of the straits and within striking distance of the outlet of the Saint Marys, is Mackinac Island, widely famed for its scenic beauty and as a summer resort. When waterways were the chief highways of travel, it was renowned as a strategic center of military and commercial operations.
Historically, the Indian name Michilimackinac, and its shortened form, Mackinac, applies not only to the straits and to the adjacent mainland, ...