Outskirts Press, INC.

Early 19th Century History of Hillsdale County, Michigan

Following the War of 1812, pioneer settlement of the Northwest Territories began. The U.S. government encouraged the westward movement by offering newcomers cheap land at $1.25 per acre. The government purchased vast tracts of unencumbered land through numerous negotiated treaties with several Indian tribes, or it was taken by cheating or force. Tens of thousands of inhabitants from mostly New England states, and Europe, migrated to these new lands for an opportunity to begin new lives on the frontier. One of the more popular routes traveled by pioneers began in upstate New York along the Erie Canal to Buffalo and then across Lake Erie by steamship to Detroit. A family could buy wagons, beasts of burden, tools and whatever they needed in the future motor city to clear land, build a log cabin and start farming. A steady stream of covered wagons left Detroit along the old Sauk Trail called the Chicago Pike. Faded Memories: Examination & Profiles of Hillsdale County's Pioneer Period offers readers a glimpse of the lives and events experienced by original settlers and Native Americans. Although not the complete history of Hillsdale County and the tri-state area, 36 chapters plus the introduction and selected poems illuminate the beginnings of civilization upon these hills and dales. It's important to remember your own culture and heritage, and who you are and where you came from. Faded Memories will hopefully add to your knowledge about your own family history.

Dan Bisher’s Book that you are about to enjoy is a marvelous collection and sampling of major figures, historical moments, and first person accounts of the frontier settlements in what is now Hillsdale County, Michigan. The hard times, unfamiliar territory, illness, worries about Indians and about other pioneers’ intentions limited comfort levels and challenged optimism. But the joys of children, the thrill of establishing new homesteads and communities, and shaping the Midwest’s development in the 1800s triumphed. The people represented in this book were part of a special time, although they may not have known it at the time. By not skimping on the anecdotes, snapshots, tidbits and reflections of Allen, Jones, Baw Beese, Winona, Munro, Mitchell, as well as Cook and Ferris, Bisher lets us absorb more than a glimpse of the 1800s in Southern Michigan and beyond. A love of the legendary Indian Chief Baw Beese provides the hub. Moses Allen, Benaiah Jones, Henry Waldron, the rascal Sile Doty...the railroad, and various wars are the spokes. The resolve and ingenuity of the settlers form the rim that secures and unifies the rolling stock for this singularly enchanting journey! Read it cover-to-cover, or skip around and reread your favorite chapters. You will develop vivid images of the early historic, hospitable Hillsdale County. There’s no need to get into the chronological rut of other books. Researched, written and edited by my high school classmate - the Bard of Fields Corners - Dan Bisher’s Faded Memories becomes page after page of living images of a time, a culture and a people who formed the foundation for our little piece of heaven...Hillsdale County, Michigan. — Parke Hayes, January 1, 2002 (April 6, 1946 – January 10, 2013)