in any right estimate of the
natural resources of that region. Not only do the one hundred thousand
square miles of lakes and streams, furnish illimitable quantities of
fish; but they furnish varieties, which are nowhere else to be found,
and which an epicurean taste has long since pronounced among the
richest luxuries of the palate. The lake trout, the Mackinaw trout,
the Muskelunge, and the white fish, are celebrated throughout America.
Good fishing grounds occur all along the north shore of Lake Superior,
affording a bountiful supply. On the south shore, there are fisheries
at White Fish Point, Grand Island near the Pitcairn's Rodes, Keweenaw
Point, La Point, and Apostles' Islands, and at different stations on
Isle Royal, where large quantities are taken and exported. Mackinac
Island alone exports yearly a quarter million of dollars' worth.

The site of Old Mackinaw, now the county seat of Emmet county, and its
surroundings, belonged to the Government of the United States until
the year 1853, when Edgar Conkling, Esq., of Cincinnati, realizing its
importance as a vast commercial centre, and one of the finest
positions for a great city, formed a company consisting of seven
persons, and entered at the Land Office in Ionia, Michigan, near one
thousand eight hundred acres. In 1857 that portion embracing the
ancient site of Old Mackinaw was surveyed and divided into lots. Mr.
Conkling has, recently, become the sole proprietor of the city, and
intends devoting his energies to its development. A pamphlet,
published some time since, describes it as follows:

"The streets of the city are laid out eighty feet in width, and the
avenues from a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet respectively. In
the deed of dedication to the public, of these streets and avenues,
provision is made for side-walks fifteen feet in width on each side,
to be forever unobstructed by improvements of any kind, shade trees
excepted, thus securing a spacious promenade worthy of a place
destined to become a principal resort for health and pleasure.
Provision is also made for the proper use of the streets and avenues
by railroad companies adequate to the demands of the business of a
city. The lots, with the exception of those in fractional blocks, are
fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, thus affording ample room for
permanent, convenient, and ornamental improvement."

The park, now laid off and dedicated to the city, embraces the grounds
of Old Fort Mack