Skull Cave is a small and shallow cave on the central heights of Mackinac Island in Michigan, United States. The cave was carved during the Algonquin post-glacial period by the waters of Lake Algonquin, a swollen meltwater ancestor of today's Lake Huron.[3]
Skull Cave is primarily of interest for its historical associations. It is believed to have been used as an inhumation site by Native Americans of the Straits of Mackinac area in the 18th century.[4]
While in active use as a site for human remains, the cave was also used as a refuge in 1763 by fur trader Alexander Henry, a survivor of the capture of Fort Michilimackinac by Native Americans during Pontiac's War. In his "Memoirs," Henry recalled a night spent as a refugee in the bone-strewn cavern.[5]
Henry recalled his ordeal as follows:
On going into the cave, of which the entrance was nearly ten feet wide, I found the further end to be rounded in its shape, like that of an oven, but with a further aperture, too small, however, to be explored. After thus looking around me, I broke small branches from the trees and spread them for a bed, then wrapped myself in my blanket and slept till day-break. On awaking, I felt myself incommoded by some object upon which I lay, and, removing it, found it to be a bone. This I supposed to be that of a deer, or some other animal, and what might very naturally be looked for in the place in which I was; but when daylight visited my chamber I discovered, with some feelings of horror, that I was lying on nothing less than a heap of human bones and skulls, which covered the floor![5]
^"NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
^ abState of Michigan (2009). "Skull Cave". Retrieved August 2, 2010.
^"Mackinac Island State Park Interpretation", accessed April 14, 2008.Mackinac State Historic Parks website 2008-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
^Dirk Gringhuis, "Lore of the Great Turtle" (1970; Mackinac State Historic Parks, Mackinac Island MI)
^ ab"The standard guide: Michigan and northern lake resorts", accessed April 14, 2008.scroll down to pages 73-74
January 01, 1970
skull, cave, mackinac, island, skull, cave, small, shallow, cave, central, heights, mackinac, island, michigan, united, states, cave, carved, during, algonquin, post, glacial, period, waters, lake, algonquin, swollen, meltwater, ancestor, today, lake, huron, s. Skull Cave is a small and shallow cave on the central heights of Mackinac Island in Michigan United States The cave was carved during the Algonquin post glacial period by the waters of Lake Algonquin a swollen meltwater ancestor of today s Lake Huron 3 Skull CaveU S National Historic Landmark DistrictContributing PropertyMichigan State Historic SiteLocation within the state of MichiganShow map of MichiganSkull Cave Mackinac Island the United States Show map of the United StatesLocationGarrison RoadMackinac Island MichiganCoordinates45 51 26 8 N 84 37 06 8 W 45 857444 N 84 618556 W 45 857444 84 618556Part ofMackinac Island ID66000397 1 Significant datesDesignated NHLDCPOctober 15 1966Designated MSHSJanuary 12 1959 2 Skull Cave is primarily of interest for its historical associations It is believed to have been used as an inhumation site by Native Americans of the Straits of Mackinac area in the 18th century 4 While in active use as a site for human remains the cave was also used as a refuge in 1763 by fur trader Alexander Henry a survivor of the capture of Fort Michilimackinac by Native Americans during Pontiac s War In his Memoirs Henry recalled a night spent as a refugee in the bone strewn cavern 5 Henry recalled his ordeal as follows On going into the cave of which the entrance was nearly ten feet wide I found the further end to be rounded in its shape like that of an oven but with a further aperture too small however to be explored After thus looking around me I broke small branches from the trees and spread them for a bed then wrapped myself in my blanket and slept till day break On awaking I felt myself incommoded by some object upon which I lay and removing it found it to be a bone This I supposed to be that of a deer or some other animal and what might very naturally be looked for in the place in which I was but when daylight visited my chamber I discovered with some feelings of horror that I was lying on nothing less than a heap of human bones and skulls which covered the floor 5 Skull Cave is contained within Mackinac Island State Park It is located 0 4 miles 0 6 km north of Fort Mackinac in the island s interior It was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on January 12 1959 and granted state historical marker L0004 2 References edit NPS Focus National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Retrieved August 2 2010 a b State of Michigan 2009 Skull Cave Retrieved August 2 2010 Mackinac Island State Park Interpretation accessed April 14 2008 Mackinac State Historic Parks website Archived 2008 03 04 at the Wayback Machine Dirk Gringhuis Lore of the Great Turtle 1970 Mackinac State Historic Parks Mackinac Island MI a b The standard guide Michigan and northern lake resorts accessed April 14 2008 scroll down to pages 73 74 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Skull Cave Mackinac Island amp oldid 1179410999, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
