In the same manner, an immense forest extends over the upper part of Minnesota, while far to the northwest in the British possessions, extend deep forests of pine, spruce, and hemlock. It is evident, therefore, that on the great current of the Straits of Mackinaw, there will float for generations to come, all the timber and lumber, which are necessary for the markets of commerce, or the uses of a growing population. Nor are the fisheries to be neglected, in any right estimate of the natural resources of that region. Not only do the one hundred thousand square miles of lakes and streams, furnish illimitable quantities of fish; but they furnish varieties, which are nowhere else to be found, and which an epicurean taste has long since pronounced among the richest luxuries of the palate. The lake trout, the Mackinaw trout, the Muskelunge, and the white fish, are celebrated throughout America. Good fishing grounds occur all along the north shore of Lake Superior, affording a bountiful supply. On the south shore, there are fisheries at White Fish Point, Grand Island near the Pitcairn's Rodes, Keweenaw Point, La Point, and Apostles' Islands, and at different stations on Isle Royal, where large quantities are taken and exported. Mackinac Island alone exports yearly a quarter million of dollars' worth. The site of Old Mackinaw, now the county seat of Emmet county, and its surroundings, belonged to the Government of the United States until the year 1853, when Edgar Conkling, Esq., of Cincinnati, realizing its importance as a vast commercial centre, and one of the finest positions for a great city, formed a company consisting of seven persons, and entered at the Land Office in Ionia, Michigan, near one thousand eight hundred acres. In 1857 that portion embracing the ancient site of Old Mackinaw was surveyed and divided into lots. Mr. Conkling has, recently, become the sole proprietor of the city, and intends devoting his energies to its development. A pamphlet, published some time since, describes it as follows: "The streets of the city are laid out eighty feet in width, and the avenues from a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet respectively. In the deed of dedication to the public, of these streets and avenues, provision is made for side-walks fifteen feet in width on each side, to be forever unobstructed by improvements of any kind, shade trees excepted, thus securing a spacious promenade worthy of a place destined to become a principal resort for health and pleasure. Provision is also made for the proper use of the streets and avenues by railroad companies adequate to the demands of the business of a city. The lots, with the exception of those in fractional blocks, are fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, thus affording ample room for permanent, convenient, and ornamental improvement."