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in the heart of Michigan's Sagenov
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Valley long before sawmills buzzed and
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railroads crisscrossed the landscape a
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small log building stood alone on the
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west bank of a winding river it was
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built of squared timbers two stories
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tall with a view over the forest and
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water this was Campa's trading house and
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in the years following the War of 1812
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it was the only sign of a permanent
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white settlement for miles
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this is End of the Road in Michigan
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where we explore the turning points
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quiet places and nearly forgotten
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stories that shaped Michigan's past
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today we follow a fur trader a treaty
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and a log post that sparked the founding
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1815 the War of 1812 had just ended and
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Michigan still a territory was on the
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a 25-year-old fur trader named Lewis
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Campo traveled up from Detroit with a
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team of matei workers his destination
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the upper reaches of the Sageno River
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home to the Sageno Ojiway and a key
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route for fur trade campa wasn't just
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any trader he came from a powerful
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French Canadian family with deep roots
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in Detroit commerce his uncle Joseph
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Campa was one of the wealthiest men in
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the state but Louie wanted more than
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money he wanted territory trade and
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influence and in the thick forests of
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the Sageno Valley he saw an opportunity
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he chose a high point on the riverbank
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near what's now downtown Sageno and
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built his post sturdy defensible and
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right in the middle of Ojiway territory
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for the next few years Campao lived
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there year round trading with the
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Anishinab for pelts offering goods in
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return and slowly becoming the area's
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central point of contact between
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indigenous communities and the outside
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world campa's trading house wasn't just
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a business it was a meeting ground where
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native leaders trappers and traders came
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together in a fragile sometimes uneasy
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exchange fur was king beaver otter fox
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and muskrat campow traded calico kettles
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knives tobacco even whiskey and he
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treated the sagino ajiway with what many
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saw as fairness earning their trust one
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of his closest allies his own younger
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brother Antoine Campo known as Wabos or
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Rabbit antoine would later take over the
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post when Louieie moved west to
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establish Grand Rapids but for now the
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Camp House and the Ojiway coexisted at
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the edge of a growing American frontier
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their trading house became so wellknown
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that it appeared on official maps even
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more it became the landmark used to
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describe the boundaries of land sessions
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that would come because in 1819 that's
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exactly what happened in September 1819
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Governor Lewis Cass arrived in Sageno
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with a military escort his mission to
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negotiate a treaty with the Anishinabi
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nations Ojiway Odawa and Podawatami that
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would open millions of acres for white
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settlement where did he set up camp
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right at Campo's trading house for
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nearly 2 weeks hundreds of native men
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women and children camped in the woods
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around the post they gathered for
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council feasts and ultimately a
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negotiation that would forever change
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Michigan's map with Campow interpreting
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the US government secured the Treaty of
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Sageno seeding over 6 million acres of
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indigenous land in central Michigan from
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Sageno to Flint Lancing to Midland the
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land passed into US control in return
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the tribes were promised annuities small
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reservations and continued hunting
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rights promises that as history shows
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would not all be kept after the treaty
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Louis Campo moved on to Grand Rapids
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where he'd go on to build another post
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and another city but in Sagena his
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trading house stood for several more
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years the army even built Fort Sagen on
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the same site in 1822
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by the 1840s the fur trade had faded but
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the log post had already done its work
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it laid the foundation for the city of
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Sageno which would grow into a lumber
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powerhouse before the centuries end
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campa's trading house is long gone but
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the place where it stood on the banks of
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the Sagen River remains a symbolic
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starting point it's where cultures met
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traded clashed and signed away futures
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today as you walk the streets of
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downtown Sageno or trace the curves of
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the river you're walking through a story
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that began with a handful of logs a
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trapper's eye for opportunity and a
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handshake that changed Michigan forever
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campa's trading house reminds us that
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every town has a beginning and every
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beginning a cost this has been End of
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the Road in Michigan if you enjoyed this
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story please leave a review or share it
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with someone who loves Michigan history
