Pioneers faced isolation, challenging travel

The following is an excerpt from “Good Harbor Michigan; The Story and the People, 18501931” by Norbert Bufka.

ISOLATION

It is difficult to imagine the hardships of the early pioneers but with a few facts to encourage our imagination it becomes possible. Ships gradually became more luxurious as the years went by but they were essentially the only communication with the rest of the world in the first few years. Once the settlers arrived, they were isolated. There were only trees and no roads in this new land. The people formed new communities so they could help each other and survive in the wilderness. The only ways to travel on land were walking or on horseback and buggy or with a horse, or wagon of some kind.