2008-08-14 / Columns

Looking Back

Compiled by Ryan Schlehuber


Reenactors gather in the 1970s at "The Black Gown Tree" pageant at Kiwanis beach, where French missionary Father Jacques Marquette came ashore in 1671. The pageant traces its roots to 1949, when the Knights of Columbus began reenacting the return of Father Marquette's bones to his mission at St. Ignace, and evolved in 1969 into a 100-person cast and new script that covered his arrival and life here. The pageant was last held in 1983. Rain canceled the 1984 performance, which was plagued by dwindling participation. On the left is Ollie Boynton, who was playing Pere Allouez. (Michilimackinac Historical Society photograph) Reenactors gather in the 1970s at "The Black Gown Tree" pageant at Kiwanis beach, where French missionary Father Jacques Marquette came ashore in 1671. The pageant traces its roots to 1949, when the Knights of Columbus began reenacting the return of Father Marquette's bones to his mission at St. Ignace, and evolved in 1969 into a 100-person cast and new script that covered his arrival and life here. The pageant was last held in 1983. Rain canceled the 1984 performance, which was plagued by dwindling participation. On the left is Ollie Boynton, who was playing Pere Allouez. (Michilimackinac Historical Society photograph)

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