Michigan's huge, untouched forests once seemed inexhaustible. Virgin White Pine often were over 5 feet in diameter and 200 feet tall.

The lumber era boomed in Michigan between 1880 and 1900. Giant trees were cut in winter and floated to sawmills during the spring thaw to be cut into lumber and shipped via lake or rail transport to Chicago and the treeless plains beyond.

Opposite you, on the point of land across East Moran Bay, was a major sawmill. Lumber milled here was used to build one of the largest resort hotels of the time - The Grand Hotel - and was hauled over the ice to Mackinac Island by horse and sleigh during the winter of 1886 - 87. When spring broke, over 30 teams of horses and wagons were needed to transport building materials from the Island dock to the hotel site.

Although the virgin pine were cut by the early 1900's, natural reforestation and modern forest management has allowed the wood products industry to remain an important part of the northern economy.

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Watery Graveyard
Commercial Fishing
Two Cultures Meet
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Native American Land Losses
Structures of Local Native Americans in the 1600's
What's in the Water?
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