GC7346A SwtM - Petoskey (Traditional Cache) in Michigan, United States created by The Mitten Crew

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GC7346A ▼

A cache by The Mitten Crew Message this owner

Hidden : 5/10/2017

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

The Little Traverse Bay area was long inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Odawa people. The name "Petoskey" is said to mean "where the light shines through the clouds" in the language of the Odawa. After the 1836 Treaty of Washington, Odawa Chief Ignatius Petosega took the opportunity to purchase lands near the Bear River. Petosega's father was Antoine Carre, a French Canadian fur trader and his mother was Odawa.

By the 1850s, several religious groups had established missions near the Little Traverse Bay. The Mormons had been based at Beaver Island, the Jesuit missionaries had been based at L'arbor Croche and Michilimackinac, with a Catholic presence in Harbor Springs, then known as "Little Traverse". Andrew Porter, a Presbyterian missionary, arrived at the village of Bear River (as it was then called) in 1852.

Amos Fox and Hirem Obed Rose were pioneer entrepreneurs who had made money both during the California Gold Rush and at Northport selling lumber and goods to passing ships. Originally based at Northport, Rose and Fox (or Fox & Rose) expanded their business interests to Charlevoix and Petoskey in the 1850s. Rose made additional money by being a part of a business partnership that extended the railroad from Walton Junction to Traverse City. H.O. Rose, along with Archibald Buttars, established a general merchandise business in Petoskey.

After the partnership split, Mr. Rose relocated to Petoskey and in 1873 started Petoskey's first dock. When the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was about to be extended into the Bay View area, Mr Rose purchased much land in that area as well as trolley cars to enable transport from Petoskey to Bay View. Rose contributed to many firsts of Petoskey, including the first dock, the first general store, extensive lime quarries (Michigan Limestone Company, or Petoskey Lime Company), erection of the Arlington Hotel, lumbering enterprises, first president of the village, harbor improvements in 1893, and officiating at early commemorative public events. Rose's influence on the city are also commemorated by the naming of the H. O. Rose room at the Perry Hotel.

In the late 19th century, Petoskey was also the location where 50,000 passenger pigeon birds were killed daily in massive hunts, leading to their complete extinction in the early 20th century. A state historical marker commemorates the events, including the last great nesting at Crooked Lake in 1878. One hunter was reputed to have personally killed "a million birds" and earned $60,000, the equivalent of $1 million today.

Petoskey is also famous for a high concentration of Petoskey stones, the state stone of Michigan. The Petoskey stone is named after Odawa Chief Ignatius Petosega (1787–1885). With members descended from the numerous bands in northern Michigan, the Little Traverse Bay Band is a federally recognized tribe that has its headquarters at nearby Harbor Springs

This city was the northern terminus of the Chicago and West Michigan Railway.

Petoskey and the surrounding area are notable in 20th-century American literature as the setting of several of the Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway, who spent his childhood summers on nearby Walloon Lake.