Homesteaders
In January of 1863 the Homestead Act was passed by congress. At this time, this part of Michigan was covered with numerous varieties of the trees. The Homestead Act was designed to induce outsiders into trackless wilderness areas such as Northern Michigan. Lured by the free land to be had, a few adventuresome souls came to find homes here. Many came by way of the lakes, and others by the land. At that time the railroad terminated at Cadillac.
To the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad and the Michigan Central Railroad, the government had given a grant of every other section of land for eight miles on either side of the railroad. This was to finance the construction of their lines and to furnish quick and economical transportation into the unsettled inland areas.
The Boyne Falls Methodist church was built in the
fall of 1892 by Sidney Jones, George Stephenson
and others. The church is still located in the same
place on the corner of Center and Mill Streets.
The sections that the government owned were open to homesteaders. Settlers were beginning to arrive in increasing numbers now. Many who came in the seventies were Civil War veterans who were entitled to homestead one hundred-sixty acres of land.
When the George Bailey family came here from York state in 1873, no settlement had been made at the head of Pine Lake. The Bailey’s homestead lay south and west of Deer Lake. The Sudmans, the Burtons, the LeRoys, and the
Thompsons had preceded them in that vicinity. The Jones and Jubenville families also came here as pioneers.
The Town Hall was located on the corner of
Main and Railroad Streets. The Fire Deptartment was located
right behind the Town Hall on Railroad Street.
(circa 1905 photgraphs)
West of Deer Lake was the “Nowland District” where A.R. and S.R. Nowland lived. Here, the Hudkins, the Stackus’s, the Lewises, Newvilles, and Lem Hill had settled.
An inroad into the dense forestland lying to the south and east of Pine Lake had been made when the Cady’s, Swinnings, Haywards, Couriers, and Tainters established homes in Evangeline Township.
The 1905 members of the Boyne Falls
Volunteer Fire Dept.
Forests had to be cleared so that crops could be planted. Trees were felled in the winter and in the spring all the small limbs and brush were burned. The trees were then chopped into logs and dragged by ox teams to one place where they were piled in heaps four by six feet high and burnt.
There were no horses here and only about one settler out of every five or six had a team of oxen, a cow, or any other domestic animal. The settlers that had a cow and a steer, or an ox yoked them together using a forked stick to plow their fields and that of their less fortunate neighbors.
Many pioneers subsisted on a steady diet of mush and milk. Often the meal in the barrel was pretty low by spring. The standard fare of the settlers was mostly beans, salt pork, or “sow belly” and the grease from it was used in place of butter. The spring sucker runs in the creaks, provided a welcome change in diet. Some even salted and dried them for later use.
Charles Horn built the grist mill on the Boyne River
at the south end of town in 1879. He also built a
brick home which still stands as the Mountainside Inn.
He operated the grist mill for six years until his death
in 1885. the mill was later owned by Hankey Milling
Company of Petoskey.
During the years 1864-1874, Pine River was the nearest supply base for the settlers. The men made the trip on foot, wearing a specially made harness that bound their packs to their backs. In the summer some made the trip by boat. When the lake froze over many skated to Pine River to bring the needed provisions to their families.
Some settlers found that they had chosen their land hastily. It has been difficult to tell what the actual terrain of the land was in this dense forest. When cleared some found it hard to find enough level land for the hens to set so that their eggs wouldn’t roll from nests. There was no time for regrets. This was to be their home, and somehow, they would make a living for their families.