Why You Should Visit Michigan’s Fort Algonquin
The Fort was built to commemerate the site of an old Huron trading post, established north of St. Ignace, Michigan. St. Ignace is the third oldest community in America, behind St. Augustine, Florida and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The outpost was easy to pinpoint from the Mackinac Straits by aiming between the Rabbit’s Back ridge and Castle Rock Peak.
H. Vaughan Norton purchased the property in 1926. He was enraptured with the site and had traveled through this area during sales trips from a Madison, Wisconsin based company. His original travels through the area took place sometime shortly after he served in the Navy during World War I. When he first “found” the site, there were still Ojibwa Indian people living out in the woods. The area seemed the perfect place to house his Native American collection of artifacts – a hobby and interest that eventually became his life’s work.
How did Fort Algonquin get its name? Algonquin is the language base for the Three Fires of Michigan…the local Ojibwa or Chippewa, the Odawa/Ottawa, and Pottawatomi, as well as the Cree to the North and other tribes of Chippewa extending into the Western states. Each group spoke their own dialect, but could communicate quite well throughout their geographic area. Algonquin is the largestic linguistic base of any North American Native group & they assimilated well with the incoming settlers. There’s also an Algonkin tribe, but they’ve been moved to the eatern states. There are very few full-blooded Native Americans left, and have been NONE in Mackinac County for some time.
Vaughan packed up his young wife Anne and moved from Madison to St. Ignace. The work on The Fort began immediately, and Fort Algonquin opened for business during the summer season of 1927. Vaughan and Anne also owned one third interest in Castle Rock, with two partners. Unfortunately, they were forced to sell out during the Great Depression or face losing both properties altogether. At one point he had to write home to Albany, New York for money: what prompted this difficult letter was that for Thanksgiving Dinner one year, Anne dressed up to the nines. She hosted Thanksgiving dinner in full fancy dress, decorated with all her diamond jewelry, serving a small meal of boiled potatoes.
As things got better, they continued to work on the Fort, picking up odd jobs on the Ferry Boats, and other places. One year he taught Calculus to a fellow worker who was preparing to go to college that Fall. Eventually, the events leading to the Second World War took precedence over their tourist business.
Many families moved south to work in the war industry in Detroit during World War II. Vaughan was too old to enlist (he’d served with the Navy in Europe during WWI), so he went to work with Packard Motors, where his niece’s husband Percy landed him a job. Anne & Vaughan and niece Lucia Aline and husband Percy lived side by side on Chalmers Avenue in Detroit, and established a bond that would last throughout their lifetimes. Aline and Percy quickly produced two sons, Bill & Warren, who grew up with their extended family in the city.
Vaughan & Anne could never have children, due to the fact that Anne sustained severe burns to her abdominal region when she was a young girl. She’d been playing with matches and built a small fire in the kitchen…when called, she sat on the small flames and her petticoats caught fire. She remained hospitalized for many, many months, but endured numerous skin grafts & eventually led a normal life; however, she could not survive pregnancy with her stitches & skin grafts. Therefore, the young nephews were a constant joy to Anne & Vaughan, and they became doting second parents. Throughout their lives, the Nortons were especially fond of children that visited the Fort and their neighbor’s children as well. To this day, they are remembered for their special acts of kindness, love, and time by relatives and friends alike.
The close of World War II witnessed unprecedented prosperity in America, and also brought the Nortons home to Saint Ignace. The Fort was re-opened and ready for its most lucrative period. The tourist trade positively boomed, with everyone ready to enjoy all the money they’d made during the war, when there were so few opportunities to spend or travel. The baby boom was in full spring, and countless young families toured the Fort, located on the main road north of the Bridge. Literally, you could sell anything, and one of the big problems was keeping the shelves full.
Vaughan’s museum collection grew over the decades, and he was a regular stop on the trade route for local Native Americans. Some of the more interesting articles on display included fully intact skeletons, a medicine bag, a huge collection of muskets, and a full sized Eagle Feather head-dress from out west. As people began to steal the finger bones from the Native American skeleton inside the North Block-house, Vaughan contacted a local medicine man who conducted a ceremonial burial services. The bones were buried in a local site near Rabbit’s Back peak. The medicine bag was an item pawned by the relative of the local owner, who would leave the bag for $50 cash and then return to buy it back later in the season. Both the bag and muskets were purchased by a local collector shortly before Vaughan’s death in 1980…they used to be on display at Fort du Baude in the city of St. Ignace; unfortunately, the musket collection was recently stolen during the summer of 2003. The head-dress met a similar fate, Vaughan used to loan it out to tourists for photographs outside, but one less than savory individual made off with the entire thing in the 1930’s. The Saint Ignace Historical Society made a bid in 2006 for the remainder of the collections, and it is set to become the central display in the new Turtle Back Center and Welcome Center of Saint Ignace.
Great Uncle Vaughan and Aunt Anne had no children, so the the Fort eventually closed in the 1970’s. His niece re-opened it for a short period as a Church Thrift Store. It wasn’t until 1994 that Warren Vaughan Hagen re-opened the Fort as a Native American trading post, as it operated today. The inventory is predominately hand-crafted items from local and regional Ojibwa Indians. Dream Catchers, Medicine Wheels, furs, knives, and peace pipes are included, along with traditional foods like fry bread, smoked fish, jerky, home made jams, maple syrup, and honey. On the way to the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indian’s Kewadin Shores Casino, Mackinac Trail again enjoys the heavy traffic it boasted back before the I-75 freeway bypassed the road. The Hagens erected a full-sized 18 foot tipi a few years ago, and local Native Americans helped construct a 6 foot Dream Catcher which stands on the North side of the property.
Part of the charm of the place is the original, rustic interior and the traditional crafts on display and for sale. Also, both Warren and his wife Kim know the history and meaning behind the local items, Indian lore, and tribal (as well as the area’s) history. The store is open April 1-December 1, 7 days a week, and by appointment in the off season. During the early and late part of the season, an old wood stove heats the central part of the store, so you’ll need your coat and a hearty attitude while you shop.
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