HORSE TA ES
Horses Have Pulled Trunks and Today's Plastic Boxes on Luggage Wagons
by Candice C. Dunnigan

                      "Up the hill
hurry me not, Guide me in
                a walk not trot.
                I'm only a horse
dear Master, but my heart
              is warm and true,
And I'm ready to work my
                            hardest,
            for the pleasure of
                    pleasing you.
  Good corn, and hay, and
water, are all that I wish to
                                  ask.

The old Grand Hotel luggage wagon on Main Street, in front of the Palmer House and the old theater, which would later become the Orpheum Theater. The building now houses the Haunted Theater.

        And a warm dry bed
        to rest on, when I've
                      finished my

daily task." - Anonymous, "The Horses' Prayer"

The great "summer season" of tourists, who stay overnight on Mackinac Island, are privy to a small taste of what "visitors" who came to our Fairy Isle were able to experience decades ago. When the summer guest arrived in the days of yore, he usually arrived with something quite substantial in tow, and that was his baggage. Things really have not changed that much over 160 years of people summering on Mackinac for a stay longer than a day or two.

A 21st century luggage dray at the Arnold Transit dock.

Historic accounts and photographs help to tell us a bit about the mechanics of horse power on Mackinac. It seems that once the hospitality industry began in the 1840s, the villagers of Mackinac harnessed their horses and pointed all wagons and conveyances toward the direction of Haldimand Bay to be ready and waiting for the arrival of steamships, and later ferry transport lines. Visitors who came to experience Mackinac were usually prepared to stay a week, or longer, to take in the clear fresh air, view the romantic and curious rock formations, and walk the green wooded paths.

Luggage was often handed over to various representatives from the many small hotels. Often it was carried to the hostelries in large two-wheeled handcarts, or taken by a small flatbed or buckboardstyled wagon drawn by a single horse. Remember, these were the summers before the bicycle was in vogue, and there was no such thing as the Island dock porter as we know him today.

The Island House Hotel, the Mission House Hotel, as well as the John Jacob Astor House Hotel had luggage wagons. By virtue of its close proximity to the wharves, the Astor House used more handcarts to move luggage for its patrons. When the larger hotels, such as Cable's Lakeview Hotel and Plank's Grand Hotel came into the picture, serious wagons and horses had to be used to handle the large numbers of guests per room. These hotels were not only larger in size (than those like the Chicago, the New Murray, or the Northern), but they had more rooms to offer and bigger dining room space. Larger porches and kitchens than their predecessors also meant more in the demands of supplies and the need for something akin to delivery and turnaround space became important.

Many of these hotels had their own barns adjacent to them, as well as horses and wagons for freight and a carriage for sightseeing. Grand Hotel is a prime example, and the same holds true today. It's a tradition. However, cost, upkeep, and space drove many an Islander to establish their own lines of horses and wagons, and have the contract for the luggage service with a specific hotel. Mission Point Resort is a good model today that illustrates this.

Some true devotees of the Island decided to buy lots and build summer cottages here. They would arrive, part and parcel, with complete households, horses, cows, chickens, staff and, of course, trunks. They arrived on our docks by steamers. Many families traveled the whole journey on the lakes, or else came via the railroads to journey's end in Mackinaw City before reloading for Mackinac. Heavy, horse-drawn loads of luggage always followed the elite. The cottagers also contracted the Islanders for luggage services.

In our day and age it is Mackinac Island Carriage Tours and its dray branch, the Mackinac Island Service Company, who furnish specific drays, wagons, and shuttles for two large hotels with the purpose of moving luggage run by horse power. They can be seen daily on the streets, from the first boat in the morning to the last in early evening. The Mission Point shuttles operate to and from the resort to the Island's three main ferry lines, Arnold, Star, and Shepler's. The low, slow-moving yellow shuttles transport passengers with luggage behind them on an attached rolling baggage cart. The fee is included into the room bill, and the two-horse shuttle only operates for that purpose, as it is not a carriage tour or taxi.

Ever since I was a little girl (let's say since the 1950s), I can remember Grand Hotel's twohorse luggage wagon. It always seemed to be waiting at the Arnold Line, but it would make its way to pick up our bags at the Straits Transit dock as well. In those days, it was the horses on Cowell's Dray Line and Grand Hotel's luggage horses who seemed to be mammoth beasts.

When Straits was incorporated into the Arnold Line, and Shepler's and Star Line started service, the two-horse Grand luggage wagon inevitably would still be there for service. The luggage wagon continues to make this trip up and down the hill as many as 10 times daily, depending on house count. Another perk offered by the hotel was that both baggage and passengers could be handled by the Grand's familiar opera bus and omnibuses for a fare, as is true nowadays.

Currently, when visitors arrived in the bay, one of the very first sights they see is that luggage wagon and horses. The canvas knapsacks, duffel bags, rip-stop suitcases with collapsible roller tracks, backpacks, and garment bags are a far cry from the huge trunks made of wood, strapped with leather belts and buckles of the 1900s. Travel to Mackinac with trunks or foot lockers continued into the 1960s and '70s for seasonal cottagers and summer workers who came for the season. The trunks of yesterday have given way to Rubbermaid containers and banana boxes.

In any event, though wagon wheels have changed from the steel and wooden-wheeled ones of the late 19th to early 20th century, to the inflatable rubber-tired ones of today, the basic premise of the horse and wagon has not. The team in this early photograph from the 1920s or '30s shows a mountain of trunks, pulled by a very fit, wellgroomed, well-fed, and handsome team. A healthy, happy team meant good service. It was quite an operation, and by golly, it still is.

Candice Dunnigan is an active member of the American Equestrian Association, the Waterloo Hunt, and the Mackinac Island Horsemen's Association. Seasonally she resides at Easterly Cottage.