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Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY, MICHIGAN by Florence McKinnon Gwinn Huron County Pioneer & Historical Society, 1922 [page 1] CHAPTER I Early Beginnings In Huron County Settlements and Settlers Before we begin the study of the facts connected with the early history of Huron County, let us glance briefly at some of the physical features of Michigan, which are so intimately related to the soil formation of this section. For ages what is now Michigan was almost entirely covered by a great inland sea. In the Lower Peninsula by drilling into the underly- ing rock for hundreds of feet there has been found layer after layer of soft rock formed by the detritus brought into the old inland sea by its rivers. Part of the time this sea had no outlet and was salty. This ac- counts for the layers of salt which are found in so many places in the Saginaw Valley. Much later this sea dis- appeared and the present Great Lakes were only river valleys. Then still later came the great glacier periods which cover a great space of time. As these glaciers moved forward with slow but irresistable force they gouged out boulders from the rock, grinding them into smaller pieces, forming gravel, sand and clay. When the last great glacier had receded far enough to allow the water to pass out to the ocean the temporary lakes disappeared but left the present Great Lakes of which Saginaw Bay is a part. This bay has a coast line of several hundred miles in length and its shores lie 580 feet above the ocean's level. (I) The land bordering its ------- (I) History of Bay County [page 2] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY waters is generally low and sandy. In many places swamps surrounded by sand ridges are to be found. In the southern and central parts of the county the land is hilly and rolling. With few exceptions the soil is formed largely of lake drift and is very fertile. The early explorers followed the shores of the bay and the sand ridges found there naturally gave the im- pression that all of the land was of this type and there- fore worthless. Even as eminent an authority as Gover- nor Cass states in a letter that "the country in the angle, between Fort Gratiot, (now Port Huron) and Saginaw Bay can never be of any importance." He was referr- ing to the "Thumb" which now has some of the finest farming land in the state. (2) The Morse Geographies then used in the schools made similar statements, de- claring the interior of Michigan an inpenetrable swamp. What land there was between the swamps was barren sand and that it was not worth the expense of surveying. Such declarations naturally impeded the settlement of this section for many years. THE FIRST PEOPLE WERE TRAPPERS The first people who came into the country other than the Indians were trappers and shingle weavers. Then later came the lumbermen who founded small set- tlements to carry on their various enterprises Still later men of energy and courage with their families sought a home in this region that was without roads and with but few acres of tillable land and with impassable swamps and streams in many places. They laid broad and solid the foundations of a progressive civilization while they lived in log shanties, cabins and houses the latch-strings of which were always out. They were ever ready to assist other settlers in getting a start and in cases of sickness their services were freely given. The adventures and hardships of these pioneer settlers ------- (2) Michigan Historical Collection. [page 3] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY were many and varied. Some one has truly said, "That the pioneer was a child of progress. He looked up and not down; forward and not back. Behind him was the past; before him the future. His visions were of to- morrow. He foresaw hard work and hard times, blue days and weary nights, but he saw too in the dim future the town, the city, the county, the state, the schools for his children, the churches and fertiles fields yielding their treasures of grain. And of these things he was to be a part and parcel." Before the white man took possession of this sec- tion great stands of white pine covered the larger portion of what is now Huron County. There are about 80 varieties of trees native to Michigan and a large ma- jority of these were to be found in this region. There were the white and Norway pine, spruce, cedar, hard and soft maple, smooth and shag bark hickory, tam- arac, birch, hemlock, basswood, white and black ash, elm, oak, beech and numerous other kids of the cone- bearing evergreen trees as well as the various varieties of deciduous trees that shed their leaves in the fall. Besides these forests there were in many places great stretches of marshes and swamps with a dense growth of cedar and tamarac. As a rule the oak and hard wood were to be found upon the heavy clay soil; on the sandy soil the pine, hemlock and also groves of oaks. Beautiful shrubs, many of which have almost disappeared, covered the open spaces in the woods. Along the shores of the Bay and rivers many kinds of wild fruit were found growing, such as plums, grapes, wild crab apples, red and black raspberries, strawber- ries and on the sand plains an abundance of huckleber- ries. To add to the beauty of the scene in many places were the wild flowers each in their season. The violets, trilliums, honeysuckles, lady slippers, the wild rose and the sweet scented trailing arbutus. Deep forests, open woods, prairies, swamps, the rivers and bay afforded [page 4] PIONEER HISTORY OF HURON COUNTY havens for the great variety of animal life found in this portion of Michigan. The waters of the bay teemed with fish and in the woods roamed the moose, deer, elk, bear, wolf, wild cat, lynx, and along the rivers were found the beaver, otter, muskrat and mink. Wild ber- ries, seeds, insects furnished daily food for the bird life. On a spring morning the woods resounded with the music of these feathered songsters. Great flocks of wild pigeons used to almost darken the sky as they passed in their onward flight. Now that particular kind of pigeon is extinct. In 1868 men in the town of Sebewaing caught 16 barrels of these pigeons and sent them to the New York markets. The early settlers used to knock them down with long poles when their ammunition gave out. It was also a common sight to see flocks of wild turkeys in the woods, especially in the fall of the year. As late as 1875 the Anderson brothers in Caseville town- ship, captured 10 or 11 turkeys just where the Grand Trunk Railway now crosses their land. ===========================================================================