The following news story and photo was taken from Kathleen Firestone’s book, “Meet Me at the Dock: in Greilickville, Grand Traverse Bay.”
When woodland Indians moved about the area of Grand Traverse Bay centuries ago, it was by canoe on the scarcely traveled waters or by footpath through the dense forests. Life was much quieter then, with only the sounds of nature mixed with the voices of native families. Grand Traverse Bay was saved from European exploration for a while, since entering the big bay from the waters of Lake Michigan held no clue of how long this inlet from the northern “grand traverse” would be.
In 1839 Henry Schoolcraft pointed Peter Dougherty to the tip of the Peninsula that became Old Mission, and that was the beginning of permanent contact between white settlers and Indian families along Grand Traverse Bay.
