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to
Michigan's
Huron River

Detailed History, Michigan's Huron River

The Huron River and its watershed are a result of the retreat of the last glacier (Wisconsin of the Pleistocene Epoch). The river was formed by the melt water of the Saginaw and Huron-Erie lobes of the ice sheet. As the glacier went through several advances and retreats, the direction of flow andthe outlet changed numerous times (Russell and Leverett 1915).

The present course was settled upon around 16,000 years ago and the modern topography and soils are the result of postglacial erosion and soil formation processes acting on glacial deposits (Albert et al. 1986).

The earliest archeological records of human inhabitants dates to the Paleo-Indian period, more than 10,000 years ago. These were nomadic people who followed herds of game animals. By 500 B.C.,there was a change to a more sedentary lifestyle (Archaic period) as people established camps for a season or more and agricultural practices were developed (B. Mead, Michigan Department of State, Archeological Section, personal communication).

More recently, the Huron River watershed was of prime importance to the Potawatomi people. By travelling the mainstem up from Lake Erie to a tributary that became known as Portage Creek, it was possible for large canoes to reach within 64 chains (0.8 mi) of a tributary of the Grand River, now called Portage River, that flows into Lake Michigan. Therefore it was possible to cross the southern portion of what is now Michigan with only one land portage of less than one mile. The different tribes of the Potawatomi lived in what is now southern Michigan and were able to travel by this route (Tanner 1986).

The French explorer Rene-Robert Caveier Sieur de La Salle and his party are generally credited as the first Europeans to come into the area in 1680. The Ouendat (Wyandot) Indians, who lived in the lower portion of the river basin called the river "Cos-scut-e-nong sebee", or Burnt District river, meaning the plains or oak openings, lands, or country. However, the French explorers indirectly renamed the river. When they saw the members of this tribe with their 'bristly' hair, it reminded the 17 explorers of the stiff hairs along the spine of the wild boar or hure in French (Anon 1881).

From this developed the name Riviere aux Hurons, which is present on maps drawn in 1749 (Jessup 1993). The translation to English followed when most of the settlers spoke that language. A description of the river and its tributaries from the pre-1750 period could not be found. However,it is reasonable to expect that the area was similar to watersheds in northwest Ohio in the early 1700s.

Trautman (1981) described the banks of streams as being covered with woody vegetation that shaded much of the water. Streams were narrow and deep with woody instream structure and little aquatic vegetation in shaded areas. The waters were normally clear, containing little soil insuspension. The stream beds were free of clayey silts and largely composed of sand, gravel, boulders, bedrock, and organic debris.

Aquatic vegetation was abundant in quiet unshaded waterand especially so in marshes, bays, glacial bogs, and ponds.By the 1720s, European settlement within the watershed began in earnest. The area was considered highly desirable. The river was described as "a very rapidly flowing stream with a sand bottom" (Jessup 1993) that made it ideal for the construction of dams to create power for saw and grainmills. This lead to the clearing of land and development of agriculture in the basin.

However both the Potawatomi and Wyandot peoples suffered devastating losses of life from diseases brought into the region by settlers. In 1752, most of the Potawatomi died from smallpox.In 1787, the Wyandot people were struck by this illness. When whooping cough arrived in 1813, the few remaining groups were again devastated. The Wyandot who survived this moved to southern Ontario. By 1866, the Potawatomi of the Huron, now numbering less than 100 individuals, moved to Athens, south of Battle Creek. After this, except for isolated members, no North American Indians were left in the watershed (Tanner 1986).

The river was a principal means of transportation until the 20th century. Barges travelled as far as Snow's Landing (presently Rawsonville, where Ford Dam is located). Landings were areas where people had to disembark from barges and continue travel on foot. Continuing upstream from Snow's Landing, the gradient for the next 1.5 miwas 6.8 ft/mi (a rise of 10.2 ft in 1.5 mi) and for 1.1 mi upstream of that the gradient was 8.8 ft/mi, much too difficult for barges to traverse. Other landings, such as French Landing existed downstream from this point. This was also a true landing as defined above.

The type of barge determined where "the landing" would be.The high gradient waters of the Huron system, ideal for the location of dams to generate power formills, continued to attract more and more settlers into the watershed. The Huron River at Dexter contains 65% of the basin's drainage and drops 195 feet to Rawsonville (Russell and Leverett 1915). Saw, grist, paper, cider, and woolen mills were developed. By 1884, the use of water to produce electricity had begun, a practice that continues today (see also Dams and Barriers). In fact in1914, a study proposed that it would be feasible to operate 10 dams each 21 feet high from Dexter to Rawsonville (Russell and Leverett 1915).

Many of these good-gradient areas where mills werelocated became towns. Commerce, Milford, Delhi, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti are examples.All these historical developments have left traces. Many (492) archaeological sites are listed in thewatershed and most were reported independently by residents. Only 19 square miles, about 2 % of the watershed, has been surveyed professionally by archaeologists. They located 115 sites, giving a density of 6 sites per square mile. Therefore it is estimated that over 5,000 archaeological sites exist in the watershed. Unfortunately they are rapidly disappearing as urbanization, deep plowing, expansion of utility corridors, and widespread use of grading onconstruction projects continue (B. Mead, Michigan Department of State, Archeological Section,personal communication).

Two of the more significant archaeological sites in the watershed,Ticknor Farm and Parker Mill Complex, have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (B. Mead, Michigan Department of State, Archeological Section, personal communication). Forty-seven locations in the watershed are marked with State Historical Markers (Michigan Department of State, Michigan History Division).More recently, river and land uses have changed in the watershed.

Urban development is replacingthe agrarian development of the 18th and 19th centuries and the industrialization of the early and mid-20th century. Cities such as Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti continue to grow in population and size, and the Detroit Metropolitan area is expanding into Livingston and western Oakland Counties. The future of the river depends on how these changes are directed and the long range goals of the communities in the watershed.

(Note, this history was taken from a study done by the Department of Natural Resources. The study can be downloaded in pdf form by clicking here)