Isabella County: 1859-2009

Once an ancient revered hunting and gathering site for Chippewa Indians, Isabella County today is home to one of the nation’s largest Native American tribal-owned casino/resort complexes.

Incorporated in 1859, during the turbulent times just ahead of the Civil War and birth year of the United States oil industry, the area became a modern-day commerce center. A rough-and-tumble timbering center saw Michigan’s first lumber millionaire plat a town, and hardworking immigrants carved farms, villages, and towns from the timbered-out wilderness near the center of the Michigan Lower Peninsula. From harvesting lumber above the ground to harvesting petroleum below the ground, the area ushers in an oil boom just in time to be saved from the financial tribulations of the Great Depression. Today, thousands of young people flock to the area each year to attend Michigan’s fourth-largest university, Central Michigan University. This is the saga of Isabella County, told as the county celebrates 150 years of economic and cultural diversity.

Jack R. Westbrook, retired managing editor of the Michigan Oil and Gas News weekly magazine, is the author of three previous Arcadia Publishing books about mid-Michigan life and enterprise.