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MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 - 5
In midsummer he reached a portage on the Wisconsin river and the Indian guide set out to carry the canoe while Father Menard wandered into the woods and never was heard of again. This is the story told by the savage on his return, though it has been strongly suspected that the real fact is that the native treacherously deserted his master and left him to perish in the wilderness far beyond the reach of human help.
In 1666 Father Claude Allouez, a Jesuit missionary, set out in the footsteps of his friend and former companion, Menard. At the Sault Ste Marie he also procured a canoe in which he coasted along the south shore of Lake Superior. He took the liberty of rechristening the lake. He says, "On the 2d of September then, after leaving this sault, which is not a waterfall but merely a swift current impeded by numerous rocks, we entered Lake Superior, which will henceforth bear the Monsieur de Tracy's name in recognition of indebtedness to him on the part of the people of this region.
He made frequent excursions into the interior from his landing places and afterward in collaboration with Marquette published a map which fairly represents the southern shore of Superior, as well as the northernmost reaches of Lakes Huron and Michigan. On this map Superior appears as Lac Tracy ou Superior. He notes the existence of copper of which there was evidence of former mining. He says it frequently happens that pieces of copper are found weighing from ten to twenty pounds. "I have seen several such pieces in the hands of the savages who regard the metal as very precious and guard it with jealous care. For some time there was seen near the shore a large rock of copper, with its top rising above the water, which gave opportunities to those passing by to cut pieces from it; but when I passed that vicinity it had disappeared. "
MICHIGAN
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