Archaeological atlas of Michigan [by] Wilbert B. Hinsdale...

MANISTEE-MIDLAND

The paragraph upon "Trail southwest from Mackinaw," in
the second chapter of this compilation, describes the probable
north and south paths of travel along the Michigan shore.
Bass Lake was surrounded by Indian camps. There were also
small mounds and burying grounds near by. Mr. C. E. Kistler, of
Ludington, states that, "when he was young," there was a circular
inclosure over one hundred and fifty feet across, with banks six
feet high, situated in Section 20, Riverton Township. See notes
upon Emmet and Mecosta counties.
Acknowledgment is made of valuable assistance rendered and
information given by Judge C. B. Jaeger and Mr. C. E. Kistler
of Ludington.
SITES IDENTIFIED
Villages -------------22
Burying grounds -- '-- 4
Mounds -------------15
Circular inclosure _ 1
TOWNSHIPS

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Grant
Free Soil
Meade
Hamlin
Victory
Sherman
Sheridan
Pere Marquette

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Amber
Custer
Branch
Summit
Riverton
Eden
Logan

There were two routes from Mackinaw to Green Bay. One
followed the shore line; the other, a water route and probably a
trail most frequently traveled, was by the way of Beaver Islands.
In this connection reference is made to notes upon Charlevoix
County.
The explanation of the continuous residence of Indians in a
locality is to be sought in the economic conditions determined by
gratuities of nature. Where she was bounteous, there the Indians
could thrive; where she was parsimonious, there the population
was proportionately sparse. The nearer one approached Green
Bay, the more plentiful was the wild rice, a most important food
staple, especially when the population was entirely dependent
upon the local resources. From the outlet of Lake Superior to beyond the Straits of Mackinac, fishing was a rewarding occupation.
Toward Green Bay wild rice and fish conduced to an increasingly
numerous population, but there were more Indians living across
the border in Wisconsin than upon the Michigan side of the line.
The name of one of the tribes, Menominee, from which the country and river take their name, signifies "Wild Rice People."
In considering the food supply of this and similar regions,
mention should be made of the flocks of innumerable wild fowl
that were themselves attracted in the autumn by the rice. Not
only did the flesh of ducks, geese, swans, and other water birds
afford palatable meals for hungry Indians, but during the spring,
when the birds were breeding, the eggs were gathered and consumed in large numbers. Large fish, sturgeon particularly, were
very abundant in the bay and larger streams. Quarreling was
common much of the time among the tribesmen over the rice and
fishing grounds.
Upon the Michigan side of the Menominee River, for a distance of eighty miles, fourteen village sites and ten burying
grounds are located upon the map. Mr. A. W. Wolf states that
there were Indian settlements along the Cedar River. A group of
six mounds stood four miles above the mouth of the Menominee,
and another group of eight lay forty miles beyond.
A trail skirted the bay and Michigan shore. There was a cutoff trail across the river bend in Lake Township. The Menominee
afforded canoe travel for a long distance, but portages had to be
made around the numerous rapids. A trail followed the bank of
the river also, but the exact line cannot be definitely marked, and
consequently it is indicated by broken lines.
It has been noted elsewhere that mound-building was not a
feature of the Upper Peninsula Indian culture. Wisconsin is
known to be one of the greatest mound states of the country. It
is estimated that there were ten thousand mounds in that state.

According to the showing made for Menominee County in this
Atlas, it is evident that the Wisconsin trait of mound building laps
over slightly into Michigan.
SITES IDENTIFIED
Villages -----------16
Burying grounds --11
Mounds -----------14

MECOSTA COUNTY
(Map 8)
Mecosta County must have been good winter hunting grounds.
In the notes upon Mason County it is stated that the Indians left
the Lake Michigan shore, which was rather bleak in winter, for
the interior. Blackbird says that his people abandoned their village in the fall for their favorite winter quarters among the hardwood trees, somewhere above Big Rapids on the Muskegon River.
There they hunted and trapped and made maple sugar in the
early spring, after which they returned to L'Arbre Croche for
the rest of the year to plant and cultivate their corn.
The only village sites in the county that have been definitely
located were at Pretty Lake, in Martiny Township. Six mounds
stood south of Barryton, in Fork Township, and a group lay beside
the Muskegon in the northwestern part of Grant Township.
SITES IDENTIFIED
Villages --- 3
Mounds ----9

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

TOWNSHIPS
Green 9. Mecosta
Grant 10. Austin
Chippewa 11. Morton
Fork 12. Wheatland
Big Rapids 13. Aetna
Colfax 14. Deerfield
Martiny 15. Hinton
Sheridan 16. Millbrook

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

TOWNSHIPS
Meyer 8.
Spaulding 9.
Harris 10.
Faithorn 11.
Nadeau 12.
Gourley 13.
Holmes 14.

Daggett
Cedarville
Lake
Stephenson
Mellen
Menominee
Ingallston

MENOMINEE COUNTY
(Map 18)
It is unfortunate that the Menominee River district cannot be
presented as a territorial unit, but the limitations of this undertaking confine the work to the Michigan side of the stream. It is
archaeologically, ethnologically, and from the standpoint of local
history, one of the most engaging parts of the country. A few
notes will have to suffice, much as the urge is to treat it more extensively.
The north end of Lake Michigan afforded the Indian, and in
later years the missionary, explorer, and trader who trailed after
him, the easiest way of going from the Straits of Mackinac to
Green Bay, two important regions in aboriginal history.

MIDLAND COUNTY
(Map 8)
The villages that were aligned along the Tittabawassee River,
from its juncture with other streams to form the Saginaw, in
Saginaw County, extended into Midland. There were six villages
within eight miles of the present city of Midland, one of them
upon Pine River.

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