History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

478

H -ISTORY OF OAOT*KLAND COUNTY

WEST 1:BLOOMFIELID AS A LAKE TOWNSH-IP
West Bloomfield is, beyond compare, the most magnificent lake township in Oakland county, about one-fifth of its entire area being covered
by beautiful bodies of fresh, sparkling water-Orchard, Cass, Pine,
Walnut, Green, Union, Pleasant and Middle and Upper Straits. The
largest of these, Cass, discharges its waters through Pickerel and Timber
lakes and the Clinton river into Lake St. Clair to the east; the eastern
lakes discharge through small branches into the Rouge river; those lying
west of Orchard lake, into the headwaters of the Huron river. The
only stream of even moderate size within the limits of the township, with
the exception of the short channel that connects Cass and Pickerel lakes,
is a creek which rises in some small lakes southeast of Orchard and UpON TEII SflORES OF PINEI LAKE
per Straits, unites its two branches in section 26 and leaves the township
as one stream at its southeastern corner. The result of this marked
absence of water courses has been that West Bloomfield has virtually
never had an established mill, as it has no water power; but the beauty
and value of its lakes have been ample compensations for the denial of
these natural advantages, as the reader has learned ere he has reached
this point in the narrative, if he has considered the statements in the
chapter devoted to the development of the summer resorts and residence
properties of Oakland county.
EARLIEST PIONEERS
The territory of the present West Bloomfield township was early
settled. James Herrington, of Cayuga county, New York, made the first
entry of land in 1823. John Huff, of Orleans county, also in the Em