Note 12 — Chapter III · Indian Reservations.—Lake Superior.—Beavers and their works.—The Forest.—Houghton.—Ancient Indian mining pits and trenches.—An Indian battle ground.—The Glacial Drift.—Note regarding the Dauphin.

The Jesuit Mission that was placed at Sault Ste. Marie, at the entrance of Lake Superior was, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, one of the most important and influential of the missionary establishments in North America. Many of the Fathers who were attached to it had received a good mathematical education and were capable of making accurate geographical surveys. An excellent plan of Lake Superior and its islands was made by them in 1670, and the coast lines and bays were traced over a distance exceeding fifteen hundred miles. Amongst the distinguished men who worked at the mission were the Fathers Jogues, Allouez, Mesnard (who lost his way and perished in the forest when travelling across the Kee-wai-wona promontory), Dablon, and the well-known and devoted missionary, Jacques Marquette.