Article

Evolution of Agriculture at Sleeping Bear Dunes

People have relied on food and income from the lands that would become Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for millennia. Farming culture shaped the history and landscape of the park that we enjoy today. Agriculture here has undergone different periods of growth, change, and decline.

Various environmental factors have shaped farming in the region. The glacial soils are poor and can only support a few hardy crop types at a large scale. Even though the region gets ample rainfall, water quickly drains out of the sandy soil. However, the lake effect climate allows for a longer and later growing season. These factors caused the region's farms to specialize and become globally famous.

Agriculture Before Colonization

A dark-haired woman sits at the base of a tree with rough bark. She has tapped wooden spiles into the tree's trunk and is gathering the sap in bowls made of birch bark. — An Anishinaabe woman gathering maple sap in birch bark containers.
Library of Congress Photo

Native people have practiced subsistence agriculture in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area since time immemorial. The Anishinaabe people came seasonally to forage, fish, make maple sugar, and grow corn. Permanent villages arose after the Treaty of Washington in 1836. They cleared large areas of land to cultivate staple crops like corn, beans, and squash.

Extensive trade routes existed across North America by the time Europeans arrived. Some foreign crops from Europe dispersed across the continent on these routes. Native farmers adopted European crops like apples, plums, and watermelons. Early French traders in the area did business with Anishinaabe villages. They noted how mature orchards existed well before Europeans settled there.

European Americans wanted to harness the region's thick forests and dense fisheries. The government divided up Anishinaabe land to sell to these emigrants.

European American Settlement

Northern Michigan was opened for settlement in 1852. Families from the east coast and Europe bought up many plots of land. These people would arrive by steamship and hack through forests and fields to find their own plot. Families began their homesteads by clearing a small area of land for a simple log cabin. Barns and other farm buildings were built shortly afterward.

Early farmers practiced subsistence, meaning they grew what they needed to survive and not much else. They started by clearing brush and plowing a field. Some newcomers found that the land they bought already contained old Anishinaabe farmland. Corn and potatoes were the earliest survival crops, since they were nutritious and easy to grow. This allowed farmers to focus on other tasks like clearing land and tending to animals.

Wives and children were typically responsible for the vegetable garden and chicken coop. Families lived off potatoes, corn, garden vegetables, and orchard fruits. Any surplus crops could be sold to passing steamships or to other community members. Life was difficult, and people needed to help each other to survive. Communities like Port Oneida arose from this interdependence.

A long steamship with a dark hull and a white deck house sits anchored at a dock. The ship has a tall smokestack, two arches along either side of the deck, and several people peering out from the deck and portholes. — The docked steamship "Oneida", namesake of Port Oneida.
C. Patrick Labadie Collection, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Alpena, MI

Harvesting cords of wood and selling them to steamships for fuel was more profitable than farming. Lumbermills sprang up all over the area, which attracted more people. After the potato and corn harvest, families spent the whole winter felling trees and dragging them to the mills. Steamships did not stop at Sleeping Bear Dunes after every harvest. With less access to markets, many farmers fed their potato harvests to livestock to avoid waste and spoilage. Farmers began to grow more grains and hay, which fed the oxen and horses that hauled logs all winter.

Livestock could be shipped in from Chicago or Detroit or purchased from local breeders. The most common livestock were cows, pigs, and chickens. Dairy cows were vital because they provided milk, cream, and butter. Beef could be sold for a lot of money, so families didn't typically eat their cattle. Pigs and chickens were far more likely to end up on the dinner table because they were cheaper to care for.

Commercial Agriculture

Advances in transportation dramatically changed farm life in the Sleeping Bear Dunes region. By the 1880s, many steamships switched from cordwood to coal, so they didn't need to stop at local docks ot refuel. This was an issue for farmers since they sold their produce on visiting ships and relied on cordwood for money.

Piles of cut logs sit in front of a large wooden lumber mill. The mill has two tall chimneys and many entrances and vents. Trees line the background and a small stream cuts across the foreground. — The Aral lumbermill, with logs ready to send down Otter Creek.
NPS Photo

The growth of cities around the country renewed interest in logging for building materials. Even more lumbermills sprang up across the Sleeping Bear Dunes region. Local farmers continued to chop and haul logs to make money, especially in winter. Soon the forests were all cut down, so residents had no choice but to turn to farming for income.

New roads and rail lines gave local farmers reliable access to national markets. This encouraged them to farm for profit instead of just survival. Telegraphs and other forms of communication let farmers know which crops might be profitable that year. Much of the cleared forest land was converted into farm fields and orchards. Potatoes were usually the best cash crop, but a spike in wheat prices after the Civil War made grains more prominent. Intensive dairy production made grains and hay even more important.

Orchard fruit from the area became nationally famous because of the late growing season. These apples, peaches, and pears could stay edible all the way until the following summer. They were packed into barrels and loaded onto visiting steamers. Fruits from Benzie and Leelanau counties were highly regarded by Chicago residents.

Modern Farming

The early 20th century was marked by experimentation in agriculture. Growing cash crops every year exhausted the soil and resulted in lower yields over time. Scientists developed many processes and inventions to make agriculture more productive.

A long red building labeled — The historic fruit cannery building located in Glen Haven.
NPS Photo

A historic photo of cherry orchards on either side of a road leading towards a large body of water. — Historic landscape of the Glen Haven area, featuring cherry orchards.
NPS Photo

The lumberman D.H. Day advocated for replanting trees and starting orchards. He operated a 5,000-tree orchard, a dairy farm with 200 cows, and a cannery at Glen Haven.

Cherries, peaches, and raspberries went to the cannery to be processed and shipped. The cannery encouraged local farmers to plant even more fruit trees. Cherries from this area became famous in the 1910s after two advancements. First, fertilizers and pesticide sprayers increased the number of cherries each tree produced. Second, refrigerated train cars allowed fresh produce to be shipped across the country.

Label that was used on cherries canned in Glen Haven.

NPS Photo.

Scientists at the Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) sought to create better crops. Plant breeder Frank Spragg invented many new varieties that could thrive in Michigan. The Michelite navy bean and Rosen rye were two of Spragg's projects. Spragg selected isolated South Manitou Island farms to grow the pure seeds for these crops. These seeds were sold to farmers across the Midwest and fed generations of people.

Many small family farms across Michigan failed during the Great Depression. In 1933, the New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Administration encouraged conservation, consolidation, and specialization. Local farms received money and land advice from the government to stay afloat. Some farms even signed federal contracts to produce specific goods. During WWII, the government contracted local farms to produce beans, tomatoes, and turkeys.

By the 1950s, modernization led to the decline of farming in the area. The Cherryland Rural Electrification Association had brought power to most homes. Inventions like tractors, balers, and combines allowed fewer people to run a farm. Not needed at home, the area's youth moved to urban areas for better job prospects. Many people were aging out of farming, and no one was in line to replace them. It seemed like agriculture would no longer play a role in the history of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Preserving Agricultural Heritage

When the National Lakeshore was established in 1970, many local historic farms were in disrepair. While most farmsteads were generally intact, others only left behind remnant orchard rows. Some families sold their farms to the park, while other signed contracts to keep living there for a time. Preservation work on these farms has taken place since the park's beginning.

Today, the Port Oneida Rural Historic District is the largest publicly protected agricultural landscape in the country. The farm buildings are repaired with period-accurate techniques as much as possible. The fields are mowed and left open to present visitors with a glimpse of what the landscape looked like in the late 19th century. The area's agricultural heritage is showcased every year at the Port Oneida Fair. The park, along with local partners, works to raise antique apples that have been lost to time. Remnant fruit trees can still be found while exploring these old homesteads. Be sure to check the superintendent's compendium for limits on how much you can collect.

Sources

Fritz, David L. United States Depatment of the Interior, National Park Service. History Data Report on North Manitou Island, Leelanau County, Michigan. Denver Service Center Central Team, April 1987, http://www.manitouislandarchives.org/literature/govtpub/hdronmi.pdf.
Haswell, Susan and A Alanen. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. A Garden Apart: An Agricultural and Settlement History of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Region. Midwest Regional Office and State Historic Preservation Office, 1994, https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/51542.
McEnany, Marla, W Tishler, A Alanen. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Farming at the Water's Edge: An Assessment of Agricultural and Cultural Landscape Resources in the Proposed Port Oneida Rural Historic District at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan. Midwest Regional Office, 1995, https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2188089.
Oneida (1862, Propeller). 1862. Alpena County George N. Fletcher Library - Thunder Bay Research Center. Alpena, MI. https://greatlakeships.org/2898747/image/2215105.
Reed, Roland. Indian woman tapping maple sap. Circa 1908. Library of Congress. Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/92511364.
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Landscape Culture Newsletter. Fall 2022, Park Cultural Landscapes Program, 2022, https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2299402.
Van Zoeren, Tom. A Port Oneida Collection: Oral History, Photographs, and Maps from the Sleeping Bear Region. In partnership with Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear. Volume 1, Edition 2. 2019.
Williams, Brenda, A Alanen, W Tishler. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Coming Through with Rye: An Historic Agricultural Landscape Study of South Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan. National Field Area, 1996, https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2188445.