A Picturesque Situation: Mackinac before Photography, 1615-1860 by Brian Leigh Dunnigan

Abstract

BookReviews113 in government regulation, and more efficient competition led to the company's demise. Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan contains potentially fascinating information about a litde-known regional transportation carrier in the United States, and Brown's enthusiasm for the subject is apparent throughout the work. Unfortunately, the book does not draw connections to larger contexts or debates in the history of transportation, business, or labor, even though thematerials here offer many opportunities to do so. Nevertheless, there is still a great need in the history of transportation for empirical studies on topics like this that would most likely otherwise remain overlooked. In this regard,Ninety Years CrossingLake Michigan makes a useful contribution to the growing body of such literature. Brown bases his account on extensive local history sources, government documents, and interviews. He also includes evocative contemporary photographs, many from private collections, which show the evolution of ship design and give a strong sense of the hazards faced by those who worked on these ships. Such materials are often difficult to access, and Brown is to be commended formaking them available. Although itwould benefit from amore analytical framework,Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan suggests many directions for further research about an important though understudied area in the history of transportation in the United States. It will particularly appeal to those interested in theGreat Lakes region and the role of transportation in its development during the twentieth century. Robert Buerglener, PhD Department ofHistory DePaul University, Chicago Brian Leigh Dunnigan. A PicturesqueSituation:Mackinac before Photography, 1615-1860. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2008. Pp. 408. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Maps. Notes. Cloth, $75.00. Although A PicturesqueSituation is a prominent part of thisbook's tide, thiswork is farmore than a picturesque volume. It is one of themost beautifully produced books that Brian Leigh Dunnigan has created and deserves the same type of recognition, prominence, and prizes that came this author's way with his previous volume, FrontierMetropolis, which focused on Detroit. Dunnigan's narrative, coupled with the paintings, 114 MichiganHistoricalReview maps, and drawings that provide information about this strategic island before the invention of photography, make this an outstanding volume. Wayne State University Press invested the time and money necessary to reproduce obscure and litde-known maps in a highly legible format. The resulting volume is a treasure trove of information for the layperson fascinated with this island and an invaluable work for scholars. Brian Dunnigan's knowledge of Great Lakes sources is of particular benefit to academics working on the history of the colonial and earlyRepublic eras in theGreat Lakes. A vast array of maps, many previously unpublished, allows scholars to trace the evolution of how people viewed the island from Champlain's early depictions, in 1632, to the actual U.S. surveymap in 1857. These maps, collected from a large number of archival repositories, are clearly identified by provenance and by the collections in which they are located, a valuable asset forpubUshing scholars. There are few narratives about Mackinac that equal the thoroughness with which Brian Dunnigan has approached his subject matter. The logical way inwhich he has constructed his account guides the reader through the history of this island in a comprehensive and clear manner. Because the island itself changed hands so frequendy, this is a far-from-easy task. Frequendy, historians who wrote about Mackinac Island focused on specific time periods: e.g., when the island was under French, British or United States sovereignty. Rarely have we had a strong narrative that guides readers from the early seventeenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. Dunnigan has provided much more than a political or an economic perspective on change; he has created a social history thatwill fascinate readers. I found myself unable to resist the incredible captions that situate us in themidst of the lives of the people who came to live on this island. In fact, I often found myself so distracted by the wealth of illustrations that I had to force myself to read through the narrative of each chapter before I began to examine the pictures and their captions. On page 143, for example, is an illustration ofWilliam Beaumont and his wife, Deborah Plat Beaumont. William...