First Bridge-Manistique River 1874
This is a picture of the first bridge built across the Manistique River in 1874. It was built higher than the dirt road since logs were floated under it to reach the sawmills. The sidewalls were built up for safety’s sake since traffic was either by foot, bicycle, or horse. In the background are buildings on the east side of Manistique.
153 years ago, our waterway community was founded in 1860 by Charles Harvey, a business man who sought to build a small dam on the Manistique River. He would first name the area Epsport, after his wife’s family name. Enjoy a very rare look back in time and enjoy the Manistique Centennial Parade 1960. Shot on 8mm film. See if you recognize some names of people on the floats at the end.
Surveys of of the Northwest Territories began in our area (Schoolcraft County) in the 1820’s, once the surveys were completed the government began handing out patents (land grants) of our territory from 1848 to 1860. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft originally came to the Great Lakes as a member of Lewis Cass’s survey expedition. The purpose of this expedition was to make topographical survey maps of Northern Michigan and the upper Great Lakes. In 1822, Schoolcraft was appointed Indian Agent with headquarters in Sault St. Marie and from 1836 to 1841 became the superintendent for the Native American affairs for Michigan. Besides being know for his writings about the manners and customs of the Chippewa Indians, his notable achievement to the government was his Treaty of March 28th, 1836, with the Native American and the Eastern half of the Upper Peninsula. Read More...