Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

It was a time in history when news and rumors could travel no faster than a trotting horse, yet Americans were keenly aware of the progress being made in the west. By the time the Erie Canal was open for business, wagons were ready to roll. With babies and belongings in hand, these soon-to-be pioneers bid a forever sort of goodbye to their homes and their loved ones. If what they'd heard was true, good things awaited them in the newly rebranded Michigan Territory. Particularly desirable was the White Pigeon Prairie, known for its breath-taking beauty and its plentiful resources of fresh water, fertile soil, and wild game. This book outlines the development of a community and follows the lives of some of the most interesting families to pass through the area. Whether they stayed for three years or for thirty, they left footprints that should not be swept away. The prairie that became the village was a vital part of Michigan's history that is little remembered today. As much as I hope the reader is entertained, I also hope to bring a renewed enthusiasm for exploring and preserving history, wherever you may be.

As with the previous volume of this series, Tales of Michigan II is a collection of fifteen stories from across the “Great Lakes State.” Chosen to give the reader an insight into Michigan’s rich and varied historical heritage, each of these tales relates a different aspect of the state’s past. Among others, stories in this book include: Ø A misunderstanding between a bridge tender and a lake freighter captain that resulted in a collision that severed the only land link between the upper portion of the Keweenaw Peninsula and the rest of the state. Ø A mistake made by the overworked operator of an interurban railway car that led to a fatal collision near Monroe. Ø The pioneering effort by Captain Curtis Boughton to open the hungry markets of Chicago to western Michigan fruit farmers. Ø The days when dog sled teams provided many remote communities located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with their only connection to the outside world during the long winter months. Ø The devastation left behind by a fire that erupted in downtown Alpena during the summer of 1872. Ø The tragic Easter Sunday crash of an airliner that investigators initially blamed on its crew until new information came to light nearly seven years later. Ø The tale of a gasoline tanker stranded in Lake Michigan that prompted a series of dangerous salvage efforts to remove its valuable cargo. Ø An international railway tunnel constructed below one the busiest waterways in the world.