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The Fictitious Islands of Lake Superior
- By The Map Collector
- Published 1 June 1984
- Maps
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The Map Collector
The Map Collector, initiated by Peter Scott and Valerie G. Newby, was a journal on historical cartography published every quarter. The first issue appeared in 1997 and continued for nearly 20 years. After 74 issues the last copy appeared in Spring 1996. Mrs. Valerie G. Newby, is presently editor of the IMCoS Journal.
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by Conrad E. Heidenreich
One of Canada's most intriguing cartographic fictions, the imaginary islands in Lake Superior, lasted for more than a century after they first appeared in print in 1744. Although Bellin and Charlevoix have been equally blamed, the probable culprit, as Conrad Heidenreich convincingly argues here, was a commandant of the fur trade district, Louis Denys de la Ronde. By misinterpreting Indian reports, La Ronde caused two fictitious islands to appear on maps, the larger of which was solemnly allocated to the United States in the peace treaty of 1783.
THE EARLY CARTOGRAPHY of New France is remarkably free from deliberate deceptions. In the vast body of maps produced before 1760 only two major hoaxes stand out. These were Lahontan's Riviere Longue, which was incorporated on Guillaume Delisle's 1703 'Carte du Canada' and the spurious de Fonte material purporting to show a passage across northern Canada, actively promoted by Joseph-Nicolas Delisle and Philippe Buache. Fortunately both of these hoaxes were short-lived. What some writers have considered to he a third deliberate deception relates to two fictitious islands in Lake Superior first introduced in engraved form on Jacques-Nicolas Benin's. 1744 'Carte des hies du Canada'. These islands had a 'press run' that lasted more than one hundred years and has never been adequately explained. Modern writers have blamed either Bellin for these islands, or Father Charlevoix, in whose hooks Benin's maps first appeared. It is the contention of this author that both of these men have been needlessly maligned.
In 1744 Father Pierre-Francois-Xavier de Charlevoix published his long-awaited Histoire et description generale de la Nouvelle France, to which was appended his Journal historique d'un voyage fait par ordre du roi clans l'Amerique septentrionnale. To accompany his writings Charlevoix had commissioned Bellin, then chief engineer of the Depot des cartes, plans et journaux du Ministere de la Marine to draft a series of maps.
Most maps of Lake Superior prior to 1744 were based on the Jesuit map 'Lac Superieur' published in 1672 and believed to be the work of the Jesuits Claude Dablon and Claude Allouez.' This map is remarkable for its accuracy considering the time and conditions under which it was made. In spite of growing French knowledge of the area there was really nothing new produced until Benin's maps. Although some later map-makers persisted with versions of the Jesuit outline, most switched to Bellin's delineation soon after it appeared, probably because of the status and reputations of Father Charlevoix and Bellin. The two fictitious islands on Bellin's map are /. /Wel Philippeaux aut.lretnentl, I. Minong and I. Pontchartrain. Four other islands were exaggerated in size: Isle Maurepas (now Michipicoton Island). Hoc-quart (Leach Island), 1. Beauharnois (Montreal Island) and I. Ste. Anne (Caribou Island). The men honoured by these placenames were Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, Comte de Maurepas, Minister of the French Marine from 1723 to 1749; his father, the former Minister, Jerome Phelypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain; Charles Beauharnois de la Boishe, cousin of Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux and Governor General of New France from 1726 to 1747; and Gilles Hocquart, Intendant of New France from 1729 to 1748. In addition to appearing on these islands, the names of these men were given to a number of other geographical features, all of them along the east shore of Lake Superior: Cap Hocquart (Cape Gargantua), Islot S. Gilles (Rowe and Lizard Islands), Havre de Beauharnois (Agawa Bay) and R. de Beauharnois (Agawa River). Each of the three French officials was therefore dignified with three placenames in the Lake Superior area. Were Charlevoix and Bellin ultimately responsible for these placenames?
In 1720 Father Charlevoix was charged by the regent of Louis
XV, Phillipe, Duc d'Orleans to investigate rumours about the existence of a vast sea west of Lake Superior. His journey to New France was subsequently authorized by the Council of the Marine which was in charge of the French colonies and whose director at the time was Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse. It was to this minister that Charlevoix had to report and without whose blessing the undertaking was impossible. Charlevoix, who had been at Quebec before (1705-1708) arrived in New France on September 23, 1720. By the end of July, 1721, he had traversed Lakes Ontario, Huron and Michigan. In March, 1722 he departed from the mouth of the Mississippi and, after a number of misadventures, reached France in December. At no time did he visit Lake Superior or mention any of its islands in his books. Indeed, none of the men honoured on the Lake Superior portion of Bellin's map were in office at the time of Charlevoix's visit and none had had anything to do with his trip. The long-awaited Histoire was eventually dedicated to Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon, Duc de Penthievre, son of the Comte de Toulouse who had originally sanctioned the journey but had died before the book was published. The Journal which accompanied the Histoire was dedicated to the Duchesse de Lesdiguieres. In 1730-31, Charlevoix dedicated his Histoire de l'isle Espagnole to Maurepas (Phelypeaux) for permitting him to use the archives of the Marine, but no such dedication appears in the Histoire.
Bellin was one of the most prolific French map-makers of the eighteenth century. The minister in charge of the Marine and therefore his superior during the time he was making the maps under discussion was Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, Comte de Maurepas. Does this explain the inclusion of Maurepas' name on the maps? And if Maurepas, why were Beauharnois and Hoc-quart, men with whom Bellin had no connection, also honoured? And why were all these names associated with Lake Superior, the only area on Bellin's maps that combines fiction and flattery? In his Remarques on the maps, printed as a preface to Charlevoix's Journal, Bellin mentioned that he had used the manuscript material of the Depot for his outline of Lake Superior. In the light of these Memoires he considered earlier maps deficient? He gave credit to Father Charlevoix for giving him corrected compass orientations for Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Michigan. The islands of Lake Superior were mentioned by Bellin only in his Remarques sur la carte de l'Amerique published in Paris in 1755. Unfortunately Bellin merely listed the names of the islands; he did not describe the origin of his material. From the foregoing it is probable that Bellin did not invent the placenames in question, but simply copied them from material in the Depot. In fact all Bellin's maps of North America were constructed through a careful reworking of material on file at the Depot.
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COPYRIGHT June 1984 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
One of Canada's most intriguing cartographic fictions, the imaginary islands in Lake Superior, lasted for more than a century after they first appeared in print in 1744. Although Bellin and Charlevoix have been equally blamed, the probable culprit, as Conrad Heidenreich convincingly argues here, was a commandant of the fur trade district, Louis Denys de la Ronde. By misinterpreting Indian reports, La Ronde caused two fictitious islands to appear on maps, the larger of which was solemnly allocated to the United States in the peace treaty of 1783.
THE EARLY CARTOGRAPHY of New France is remarkably free from deliberate deceptions. In the vast body of maps produced before 1760 only two major hoaxes stand out. These were Lahontan's Riviere Longue, which was incorporated on Guillaume Delisle's 1703 'Carte du Canada' and the spurious de Fonte material purporting to show a passage across northern Canada, actively promoted by Joseph-Nicolas Delisle and Philippe Buache. Fortunately both of these hoaxes were short-lived. What some writers have considered to he a third deliberate deception relates to two fictitious islands in Lake Superior first introduced in engraved form on Jacques-Nicolas Benin's. 1744 'Carte des hies du Canada'. These islands had a 'press run' that lasted more than one hundred years and has never been adequately explained. Modern writers have blamed either Bellin for these islands, or Father Charlevoix, in whose hooks Benin's maps first appeared. It is the contention of this author that both of these men have been needlessly maligned.
In 1744 Father Pierre-Francois-Xavier de Charlevoix published his long-awaited Histoire et description generale de la Nouvelle France, to which was appended his Journal historique d'un voyage fait par ordre du roi clans l'Amerique septentrionnale. To accompany his writings Charlevoix had commissioned Bellin, then chief engineer of the Depot des cartes, plans et journaux du Ministere de la Marine to draft a series of maps.
Most maps of Lake Superior prior to 1744 were based on the Jesuit map 'Lac Superieur' published in 1672 and believed to be the work of the Jesuits Claude Dablon and Claude Allouez.' This map is remarkable for its accuracy considering the time and conditions under which it was made. In spite of growing French knowledge of the area there was really nothing new produced until Benin's maps. Although some later map-makers persisted with versions of the Jesuit outline, most switched to Bellin's delineation soon after it appeared, probably because of the status and reputations of Father Charlevoix and Bellin. The two fictitious islands on Bellin's map are /. /Wel Philippeaux aut.lretnentl, I. Minong and I. Pontchartrain. Four other islands were exaggerated in size: Isle Maurepas (now Michipicoton Island). Hoc-quart (Leach Island), 1. Beauharnois (Montreal Island) and I. Ste. Anne (Caribou Island). The men honoured by these placenames were Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, Comte de Maurepas, Minister of the French Marine from 1723 to 1749; his father, the former Minister, Jerome Phelypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain; Charles Beauharnois de la Boishe, cousin of Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux and Governor General of New France from 1726 to 1747; and Gilles Hocquart, Intendant of New France from 1729 to 1748. In addition to appearing on these islands, the names of these men were given to a number of other geographical features, all of them along the east shore of Lake Superior: Cap Hocquart (Cape Gargantua), Islot S. Gilles (Rowe and Lizard Islands), Havre de Beauharnois (Agawa Bay) and R. de Beauharnois (Agawa River). Each of the three French officials was therefore dignified with three placenames in the Lake Superior area. Were Charlevoix and Bellin ultimately responsible for these placenames?
In 1720 Father Charlevoix was charged by the regent of Louis
XV, Phillipe, Duc d'Orleans to investigate rumours about the existence of a vast sea west of Lake Superior. His journey to New France was subsequently authorized by the Council of the Marine which was in charge of the French colonies and whose director at the time was Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse. It was to this minister that Charlevoix had to report and without whose blessing the undertaking was impossible. Charlevoix, who had been at Quebec before (1705-1708) arrived in New France on September 23, 1720. By the end of July, 1721, he had traversed Lakes Ontario, Huron and Michigan. In March, 1722 he departed from the mouth of the Mississippi and, after a number of misadventures, reached France in December. At no time did he visit Lake Superior or mention any of its islands in his books. Indeed, none of the men honoured on the Lake Superior portion of Bellin's map were in office at the time of Charlevoix's visit and none had had anything to do with his trip. The long-awaited Histoire was eventually dedicated to Louis-Jean-Marie de Bourbon, Duc de Penthievre, son of the Comte de Toulouse who had originally sanctioned the journey but had died before the book was published. The Journal which accompanied the Histoire was dedicated to the Duchesse de Lesdiguieres. In 1730-31, Charlevoix dedicated his Histoire de l'isle Espagnole to Maurepas (Phelypeaux) for permitting him to use the archives of the Marine, but no such dedication appears in the Histoire.
Bellin was one of the most prolific French map-makers of the eighteenth century. The minister in charge of the Marine and therefore his superior during the time he was making the maps under discussion was Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, Comte de Maurepas. Does this explain the inclusion of Maurepas' name on the maps? And if Maurepas, why were Beauharnois and Hoc-quart, men with whom Bellin had no connection, also honoured? And why were all these names associated with Lake Superior, the only area on Bellin's maps that combines fiction and flattery? In his Remarques on the maps, printed as a preface to Charlevoix's Journal, Bellin mentioned that he had used the manuscript material of the Depot for his outline of Lake Superior. In the light of these Memoires he considered earlier maps deficient? He gave credit to Father Charlevoix for giving him corrected compass orientations for Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Michigan. The islands of Lake Superior were mentioned by Bellin only in his Remarques sur la carte de l'Amerique published in Paris in 1755. Unfortunately Bellin merely listed the names of the islands; he did not describe the origin of his material. From the foregoing it is probable that Bellin did not invent the placenames in question, but simply copied them from material in the Depot. In fact all Bellin's maps of North America were constructed through a careful reworking of material on file at the Depot.
Read Full Article >>
[Acrobat Reader required]
COPYRIGHT June 1984 The Map Collector, All rights reserved.
No portion of this article nor the accompanying illustrations can or may be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
