This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. Fur trader John Askin came to Fort Michilimackinac a poor man. He left it a poor man too. But in between time, he made a fortune. Askin was born in Ireland in 1739 and came to North America with the British army in 1758 during the French and Indian War. After the British took over New France, Askin entered the fur trade and came to the Great Lakes region. Traders could make a fortune in furs, but they could lose it just as easily. In 1763, during the Native American uprising known as Pontiac's Rebellion, fire destroyed Askin's property. It besieged Detroit. The disaster left the young man in debt to the tune of £7,000. That was in an era when a tradesman might make £100 in a good year. But for Askin, good luck followed bad luck. In 1764, he was made the deputy commissary for the garrison at Fort Michilimackinac. The position returned his access to the fur trade and creditors in Albany and New York provided him with trade goods. Askin was back in business. He established a depot at Grand Portage in present day Minnesota and a blacksmith shop at Fort Michilimackinac. He married a Native American woman, which helped establish valuable kinship ties and kept expanding his trade. By the early 1770s, he had paid off his creditors. Now on a solid financial footing, Askin redoubled his trading efforts. He and Great Britain's Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie Jean Baptiste Cadeau, established a wildly profitable post at the Sault. In 1778, he opened a post on the French river on Georgian Bay. That year, when Askin added up his assets in land, goods and other valuables, it came to nearly £13,000. Askin was rich then. In 1780, he ran afoul of Fort Michilimackinac's new commanding officer, Patrick Sinclair. The rather inept and quarrelsome Sinclair found fault with practically everyone. He not only dismissed Askin as a fort commissary, but also forced him to pay a 4,000 pound bond and destroyed his post on the French River. Askin was broke again. But Askin's life was full of ups and downs. He rebuilt his fur trade and engaged in land speculation. And when he died in 1815 in Sandwich, Canada, John Askin was a wealthy man again. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.