05/23/2007

New Vignette Features Mackinac Island Fur Trader Magdelaine Laframboise

Mackinac Island, Mich. — Mackinac State Historic Parks (MSHP) recently announced the publication of a new vignette, or illustrated history article, focusing on the life of the female fur trader Magdelaine Laframboise. The vignette’s author is Dr. Keith Widder, former curator of history at the parks and a noted expert on Mackinac and the upper Great Lakes.

Magdelaine (frequently referred to as Madame) Laframboise, a woman of Odawa and French-Canadian ancestry, took control of her husband’s fur-trading business upon his untimely death in 1806. During her career, she traveled throughout Michigan and became a prosperous fur merchant, maintaining a home on Mackinac Island. Committed to social causes, she cared for the poor, helped establish schools for native and métis children, and supported the island’s Roman Catholic community. In the 1820s, she donated a portion of her land for the building of Ste. Anne’s church, which still sits next to her house.

Her historic dwelling is now operated by Michael and Jane Bacon as a hostelry called the Harbour View Inn. The Bacons share MSHP’s keen interest in the history of their building and are sensitive to its historical value. Motivated by appreciation for the research done by Dr. Widder, they agreed to finance the printing of the vignette. “We truly appreciate the Bacons’ thoughtful donation, which makes it possible for us to print this vignette and share this important story with the public,” said MSHP Director Phil Porter.

MSHP’s first vignette, written in 1963 by former MSHP Superintendent Eugene Petersen, was entitled Clay Pipes: A Footnote to Mackinac's History. More recent vignette subjects have included the Michigan governor's summer residence, Mackinac Island scout service camp, Father Marquette statues, and the DePeyster bowl—an important artifact of Fort Michilimackinac. The Madame Laframboise piece is 25^th in the series.

“As we begin our fourth volume of vignettes, we have updated the layout, striving to keep it fresh and new for the public while maintaining the quality of research the public has come to expect,” explained Porter. Future topics in development include moviemaking at Mackinac and the history of Robinson’s Folly—a geological formation on Mackinac Island.

The Laframboise vignette will be available for sale at all Mackinac State Historic Parks museum stores starting in late May. It will be priced at $3 a copy.

Mackinac State Historic Parks is a family of living history museums and parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac and is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Association of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park, and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. Visitor information is available at 231-436-4100 or on the web at www.MackinacParks.com.