Original - North Central Michigan College Library

Chapter 8THE GATHERING STORMT "T THEN I reached Michilimackinac Iy yfound several other traders who hadarrived before me from different parts ofthe country, and who in general declared thedispositions of the Indians to be hostile to theEnglish, and even apprehended some attack.M. Laurent Ducharme 48 distinctly informedMajor Etherington that a plan was absolutelyconceived for destroying him, his garrison andall the English in the upper country; but thecommandant, believing this and other reportsto be without foundation, proceeding onlyfrom idle or ill-disposed persons, and ofa tendency to do mischief, expressed muchdispleasure against M. Ducharme, and threatenedto send the next person who shouldbring a story of the same kind a prisoner toDetroit.The garrison at this time consisted of ninetyprivates, two subalterns and the commandant;and the English merchants at the fort were48Laurent Ducharme was a resident of Mackinac atleast as early as 1758. At the time of the AmericanRevolution he seems to have been stationed at Milwaukee.A cousin, Jean Marie Ducharme, was a prominentfur trader in the Northwest in this period.Editor.72