The first humans in the area that we know of are called the "Goodall-Hopewellians." They are also called "Mound Builders" because they heaped up great mounds of earth as sacred burial places. They lived in Michigan around 2,000 years ago, and some of their ancient stone tools have been found around Ionia County.

The Grand River flows nearly all the way across Michigan from east to west, emptying into Lake Michigan. This was a great natural highway for the natives, and the flood plains on its banks were a rich habitat for animals and fruits - very attractive to the ancient hunter-gatherers of the area. These clans of early natives moved around wherever they could find food, and eventually traditional hunting grounds and camp sites were established along the river.

Over the next several centuries, tribal cultures grew and spread across the land, and the great nation of the Algonquins became masters of this land. After them came the Saulk, Miami, Potawatomi, and by the late 1700s, the Ionia County area was home to year-round villages of Ottawa (Odawa) and Ojibway, with their farms, families, and prosperous commerce along the Grand River, which they called the "O-wash-to-nong."

The tribes of the Great Lakes area became known as the "Three Fires" - the Ottawa, Ojibway and Potawatomi. These three tribes are still the leaders of the Native Americans in this region, and have prospered alongside the white community. But Michigan was not always a peaceful place.

Tribes of Hurons, Algonquins, Iroquois and others often attempted to expand their influence into the mid-Michigan area, and of course there were always disputes between the local tribes as well. But overall they has a great sense of honor and respect, and a one-ness with the land that we can only envy today.

The map section reproduced here is from a map drawn in 1787 "layd down from the latest observations and best authorities agreable to the peace of 1783 for His Excellency the Governor of the State of Connecticut by Abel Buell." The "peace of 1783" is reference to the treaty with the British that ceded the Michigan territory to the Americans. It shows the general areas that were home to the Chippeway (Ojibway) and Ottawa (Odawa) nations. Also of note on this map is the "Saulk Trail" from Fort Detroit to Ft. St. Joseph along the bottom of the map. (Click here to see an enlargement of this map.)

The major native villages in Ionia County were located where present-day Portland, Lyons and Ionia are located now, with many seasonal camps to the north and south. These people were led by many famous chiefs, commemorated today with monuments and placenames throughout the Ionia County area. Click here to see a map of Ionia County Native Villages c.1800.

Ionia's Native American population was typical of Great Lakes natives, and when the whites came they reacted in a typical manner, trading with skepticism and humoring the white's strange customs. Many tribes were outright mercenary, and when the Europeans began to war over rights to the Great Lakes region, the native nations took sides and fought with the whites against each other. Many great chiefs were glorified in these wars.

The greatest casualties however were suffered from the numerous epidemics that swept through the native population time and time again. We hear a lot about the "Black Plague" in Europe, but the toll from disease in the Americas was even greater, and more recent. These epidemics included measles and small pox, but also less virulent diseases that the natives had no resistance to. Sadly, the progress made by the whites is greatly because their "Old World" diseases so decimated the native inhabitants.-

One of the last chiefs in the Ionia area was Cobmoosa. Several different stories have been related about his life and exploits. Whichever stories are true, he was a popular chief of the people along the central Grand River valley for many years. He accompanied other chiefs to the white governments in Detroit and Washington to negotiate treaties, and a monument stands near the site of Cobmoosa's village on the present-day Ionia Fairgrounds.

The native population at the local settlement was estimated at 50 in 1830, and many other seasonal encampments dotted the area. This was no wilderness to the natives - this was part of a prosperous community all along the river's banks.

The Ionia County Historical Society has many Native American artifacts in its collections. Many of these objects are on display at the John C. Blanchard House Museum in Ionia, and other local historical societies and individuals in the area have extensive collections as well.

There is more information on the the local natives in the following sections of this website, and many details of pre-white history can be found in the publication "Ionia County - Carboniferous Era to 1900," available through the Ionia County Museum Store.