Mackinac, << MAK uh `naw,` >> Island is a north Michigan island summer resort in the Straits of Mackinac. It covers an area of about 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) and has a year-round population of about 600. The Chippewa people called the island Michilimackinac, which is usually defined as Great Spirits or Great Turtle. No passenger cars are permitted on Mackinac. Ferries link the island with the mainland. In the winter, when an “ice bridge” forms, snowmobiles deliver supplies from the mainland. The world’s longest freshwater yachting event is the Chicago-to-Mackinac Island race, held each July. 
In 1671, Father Jacques Marquette established a mission at nearby Point St. Ignace. The French built forts at St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, on the Michigan mainland. In 1761, the French surrendered the area to the British. The British built Fort Mackinac on the island in 1780. In 1796, the United States gained the island. The British captured it during the War of 1812 but returned it to the United States in 1815. The island became the headquarters of John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company. After the fort was abandoned in 1894, the federal government transferred much of the island to the state of Michigan. Most of this land became Mackinac Island State Park. The island and its surrounding area have become a center of archaeological research and historical reconstruction. 
