Michael Dousman

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Michael Dousman (1771–1854) was an American fur trader who worked around Mackinac Island during the War of 1812. Born on the British frontier in Pittsburgh, he became a trapper and trader who moved north to trade with Ojibwe on both sides of the border and with British Canadians. By the war’s start he was a prominent Mackinac Island trader. In July 1812, a British force captured him during their attack on Fort Mackinac, and he was paroled on condition that he gather all Mackinac Island civilians in a safe place and not share intelligence with the U.S. Army. Because he kept those promises, the British and Canadians saw him as an ally in their effort to keep control of the Straits of Mackinac. After the war, he renewed his loyalty to the United States and was licensed to trade again, this time only if he allied with John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company, which held a monopoly. He prospered, especially after British Canadians were barred from trading on the U.S. side. Dousman bought a large farm on Mackinac Island’s northern third, later developed as the Wawashkamo Golf Club. He ran a water-powered sawmill by the Straits, a site later rebuilt as part of Historic Mill Creek State Park. He married and had children; his son Hercules L. Dousman became a noted Wisconsin pioneer. A schooner named Michael Dousman sailed the upper Great Lakes from 1843 to 1853 in his honor.