Madeline La Framboise would have made her mark in any age, but to have done so in the period 1780-1840 was truly remarkable. She was a woman, also a Meti, an Indian-French woman. Living at the outpost of civilization on Mackinac Island, she became a successful fur trader.

Each fall she and her husband, Joseph, left the island with their bateau loaded with merchandise to trade with the Ottawa Indians living along the Grand River. Their final destination was near what is now Ada. They established a trading post here. In the spring they would return to Mackinac with their furs.

After her husband was murdered in 1806, she had full responsibility for the family business and continued to manage several trading posts in western Michigan. She was confronted with a serious problem when John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company became a competitor in the fur trade. For 15 years she remained successful in competing with Astor but in 1818 she was convinced to merge with the American Fur Company to her financial advantage. She was acknowledged by the fur trade society, agents as well as Indians, as an intelligent worker who always dealt fairly.

She retired to Mackinac Island at the age of 41. She was a woman of intelligence and zeal who could speak four languages fluently: French, English, Ottawa and Chippewa. She was unable to read or write her own name in any of these languages but having insured the education of her own children, she recognized the importance of education for the children on the island. Working with the Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy, she used her money, property and influence for this purpose. Through these efforts, she learned to read and write herself making herself a resource for all American and European travelers who came through Mackinac.

At her death in 1846, her achievements in the fur trade surpassed her efforts to educate the young. There is no picture of Madeline LaFramboise. A portrait of an Indian woman taken in the winter of 1826-1827 suggests what the type of clothing that she might have worn.