THE STRAITS OF MACKINAC

In 1671 at the village of St. Ignace on Michigan's Upper Peninsula Father Marquette established his Mission in order to bring the Christian Message to several thousand Indians who inhabited this area. They were primarily of the Huron, Ojibwa and Ottawa Nations. Father Marquette named the Mission St. Ignace in honor of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order.








In 1673 Fr. Marquette made his great voyage on the Mississippi to bring Christianity to the Iroquois Indians in Illinois. During this voyage he became ill and as it became apparent that he was dying he asked his companions to help him return to St. Ignace. Fr. Marquette never made it. He died several hundred miles South of the Mission in 1675. In 1677 some Christian Indians found his grave and returned his bones to St. Ignace where they were interred. This monument marks his burial site.






Two views of the magnificent "Big Mac" as the Mackinac Bridge is sometimes called.
An engineering marvel at the time it was constructed it was the longest bridge in the world.
You can't tell from this benign shot but this bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac where there is some of the roughest water in the Great Lakes. Winter conditions here are unforgiving, and summer is short.