PDF - Muskegon County

THE HISTORY OF MUSKEGON COUNTY
(Written 2009)
The name “Muskegon” is derived from the Ottawa Indian term
“Masquigon” meaning “marshy river” or “swamp,” in reference to both the
river and the lake. But the name does not do justice to the area or the
people who have come to live here. Located along Michigan’s west coast,
Muskegon is a land of windswept sand dunes, naturally impounded rivers
with natural harbors for shipping and recreation, an abundance of natural
resources, a temperate climate, and potential for tremendous growth.
During the early historic era, Muskegon was inhabited by various bands
of semi-nomadic Ottawa and Pottawatomi Indians. Perhaps the best
remembered of the historic Indian inhabitants of this area was the noted
Ottawa chieftain, Pendelouan. He and his people lived in the vicinity of
Muskegon Lake in the 1730s and 1740s, until induced by the French to
move their settlement to the Traverse Bay area in 1742.
No one knows for certain when the first Frenchman visited the Muskegon
area, but we do know that Father Jacques Marquette traveled northward
through this area on his fateful trip to St. Ignace in 1675, and a party of
French soldiers under La Salle’s lieutenant, Henry de Tonty, passed
through this area in 1679. If the French established trading posts in this
vicinity, their locations are not known.
The earliest identifiable white resident of the county was Edward Fitzgerald,
a fur trader and trapper, who visited the Muskegon area in 1748 and who
died here, reportedly being buried in the vicinity of White Lake. Sometime
between 1790 and 1800 a French-Canadian fur trader named Joseph La
Framboise built a trading post at the mouth of Duck Lake, one of a string
of trading posts he maintained along the West Michigan coast. Between
1810 and 1820 several French Canadian fur traders, including Lamarandie,
Jean Baptiste Recollect, and Pierre Constant, built posts along the shores
of Muskegon Lake.
The political history of Muskegon began in 1837 when Muskegon Township
was organized as a sub-division of Ottawa County. One of the earliest
settlers, Henry Pennoyer, was elected the first township supervisor in
1938. As a corporate entity, Muskegon County dates from 1859. Prior to
that time the southern three-quarters of the county were attached to
Ottawa County, while the northern quarter belonged to Oceana County.
At the time of the county’s creation, in 1859, the county was divided into
six townships, Muskegon, Norton, Ravenna, White River, Dalton, and
Oceana, with a total population of 3,947.
Political development of the area coincided with the start of the lumbering
era. The local lumber industry commenced in 1837 with the construction
of three small sawmills on the south side of Muskegon Lake and another
sawmill near the mouth of the White River. The first wave of lumbermen
included Charles Mears, Martin Ryerson, Lyman Mason, Charles Hills,
George and John Ruddiman, and the members of the Ferry family. By the
time the Muskegon lumber industry reached its peak in the mid-1880s, 47
sawmills surrounded Muskegon Lake, while another 16 dotted the shores
of White Lake to the north. Muskegon was then known as the “Lumber
Queen of the West.” The population consisted of native-born migrants
from the Northeastern states, plus immigrants from Canada, the British
Isles, Scandinavia, Germany, and the Netherlands.
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