Thanks to William Beaumont, Alexis St. Martin lived into his 70s and fathered many children before going to the grave near Montreal. Also because of Beaumont, the French-Canadian fur trader who got shot on Mackinac Island endures in the annals of history as somewhat of a tortured soul.

The two men are forever linked through the story that’s shared in the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum, one of several Mackinac State Historic Parks attractions on Mackinac Island.

You’ll have to visit the old general store in Historic Downtown Mackinac to consume all the available information about the astonishing tale from 1822. But to whet your appetite and make your tummy rumble, below are the basics of their infamous relationship.

Exhibit on Mackinac Island’s Medical Miracle inside the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum

Alexis St. Martin and Dr. William Beaumont Experiments on Mackinac Island

  • St. Martin was 20 years old when he was shot inside the American Fur Co. Store, a popular spot for fur traders passing through Mackinac Island. You might suspect murder, but nobody was arrested, and historians call it an accident. In fact, gun safety being lax in those days, such accidental shootings were not unusual.
  • What’s unusual about the St. Martin is shooting is that, first off, he survived. Under the care of Beaumont, Fort Mackinac surgeon at the time, St. Martin recovered in a couple weeks. More than that, St. Martin’s wound healed in a peculiar way – forming a gastric fistula, a kind of opening into his stomach.
  • For the next 11 years, St. Martin agreed – perhaps unwittingly – to work as Beaumont’s servant, which included letting the doctor conduct groundbreaking experiments in human digestion by observing what happened to food inside his stomach

Beaumont’s first-of-its-kind research produced a massive advance in understanding of digestion. To this day, the name of the so-called “Father of Gastric Physiology” lives on in the title of schools and medical centers around the country.

St. Martin, remembered as a guinea pig of sorts, lived until he was almost 80 and by some accounts fathered as many as 17 children.

Fun Mackinac Island Trivia

Sign outside the Historic Mackinac Island American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum

Visiting the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum on Mackinac Island

The American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum is located on Market Street in Historic Downtown Mackinac along with the McGulpin House, Benjamin Blacksmith Shop and Biddle House Mackinac Island Native American Museum. Together, the Mackinac State Historic Parks attractions offer fascinating glimpses into Mackinac Island’s past.

Admission to any or all sites is included with a same-day ticket to historic Fort Mackinac. Or, you can buy a separate Historic Downtown Mackinac pass for same-day access to all of the Market Street sites as well as the Richard & Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum.

While many historical sites on Mackinac Island are open from May into October, both The American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum and the McGulpin House are typically open from June through late August.

Each day, the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum is staffed by a historical interpreter who can share enlightening details on Mackinac Island’s fur trade era as well as the experiments that Beaumont conducted on St. Martin’s stomach. The displays inside include a period setting of what the store looked like in the 1820s and a detailed exhibit on Beaumont and St. Martin.

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