Abundant Natural Resources lead to Prosperity
The confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa Rivers has been referred to as "The Forks" for over 200 years. The waters flowing to this spot have carried the birchbark canoe of Native Americans, steamboats from Saginaw, and billions of board-feet of white pine logs.
Midland's three-legged pedestrian bridge, "The Tridge," was built in 1981 through funds raised by area schoolchildren, the Rollin M. Gerstacker foundation, and the Midland Area Foundation. Each of the three arches is 180 feet long and rises 33 feet above the pedestrian walking deck.
FIRST PEOPLE: Thousands of years before lumbering and industrial eras, The Forks was a congregating area for Native Americans, whose settlements were located at the confluence of the Chippewa and Tittabawassee Rivers even before fur traders arrived. Archaeological findings in this area show human activity as far back as 4,000 years! The 6,000 acre tract of land bordering The Forks was set aside by the federal government for a Chippewa Indian Reservation, 1819-1837.
FUR TRADE: Fashionable Europeans were never without their furs in the 1800's. The demand for this raw material first brought such traders as Charles Rodd to Midland. Rodd operated a trading post at The Forks beginning in 1891. He was followed by the Williams Brothers, c. 1821, who operated under the auspices of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Trading Company. With fur prices dropping and furbearing animals depleted, the fur trade era drew to a close by 1840. A bronze plaque in Whitman Park near The Tridge locates the site of one of the trading posts.
BOARD FEET: Although the Tittabawassee is a major river, its fast, narrow waters did not provide the slow-moving, open water needed to hold logs in place for a sawmill. By 1897, lumber production on the Saginaw River (which is fed by the Tittabawassee and other tributaries) had leveled a staggering 22,930,757,551 (nearly 23 BILLION) board-feet of pine lumber, enough to construct a fence of white pine all the way around the world!
BROMINE: Naturally-occurring bromine is found in brine deposits located beneath the ground surface as a result of the ancient seas that once covered the region. In 1878, the first brine wells were constructed along the banks of the Tittabawassee River by the Larkin and Patrick Mill, and Midland's salt production was begun. Herbert H. Dow, founder of The Dow Chemical Company, was attracted to Midland by the rich deposits of bromine, and in 1890 introduced a new process using electrolysis rather than evaporation to separate the bromine. A bronze plaque at West Main and Auburn Streets located the site of the mill where Dow developed the process.
The Forks has long been a favorite spot for recreation and entertainment, whether by Native Americans coming from hundreds of miles to trade, fisherman awaiting a spawing run of walleye, or families for a summer picnic and a swim. The coming together of the rivers has long signified a spot for PEOPLE to come together as well. This phenomenon is celebrated during RIVERDAYS, a festival first held at The Forks in 1953, and continues today, rejuvenated by the Midland Area Community Foundation and held the third weekend of July each year.
The Midland County Convention & Visitors Bureau wishes to extend its sincere thanks to Mr. Gary Skory, Director of the Midland County Historical Society, who wrote the above for a brochure and for allowing us to copy the above information for our website.
