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MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 - 5
The small jealousies and rivalries of officials of greater or less degree often had their source in the dealings with those concerned in the trade or the profits which came out of it into their private purses. Even the royal court at Versailles was not wholly free from the influence, and governors or commandants were sent out or recalled through the manipulations of the fur interests. As the importance of the matter came to be developed and to be better understood the atmosphere was cleared somewhat and a more satisfactory state of things resulted.
Military posts were established at Sault Ste Marie,
Michilimackinac and at other points which were centers of the hunting industry and convenient of access from every direction. At these remote points the savages gathered at certain seasons, as they had previously flocked to Quebec and Montreal, to sell the furs and buy their supplies of trinkets and tools, guns and powder, and last but not least, to imbibe freely of brandy. The presence of a military force naturally exercised a restraining influence. The coureurs de bois were held in check, the good behavior of the savages was looked after, and illicit trading in furs was suppressed, so far as practicable. This trade had fallen into better hands. Able and respectable men retired from the army, prosecuted the trade, either personally or through their licensees, and gave it character. It was also more systematically followed and extended and came to be recognized for the time as a most astonishing example of commercial enterprise.
It will be noted that the region of the great lakes was the source of supply from a very early day. The woods of Michigan were literally alive with animals whose furs were oi the highest value in the market. Beavers were very abundant and the beaver's fur was the choicest of all. Some of the most highly prized of the fur bearing animals, such as the beaver, otter, fisher, mink, lived upon fish and the lakes and streams of both peninsulas swarmed with their food supply. The fox, wolverine, lynx and black bear in vast numbers roamed the forests.
MICHIGAN
Page 45
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