Writing the history of Aloha Township will be easier for me because I live there, on Long Lake. Aloha Township was taken from Grant Township. It’s name came from a Mr. Patterson, one of the first settlers there. Mr. Patterson had visited Hawaii and he loved the peace and beauty there; and he could see both peace and beauty in this new area where he was making his home on Mullett Lake. But Aloha was not always known by that name. The first post office for this area was located at Ball, Michigan. Mail could arrive only by horse or boat. One could receive penny post cards, and a stamp cost 2 cents. The post office was established Aug. 12, 1883. It was located in an area which became Pioneer Road.

Aloha Township has an area of 32.4 square miles. 29.5 square miles are land and 2.9 square miles are water. The gold coin of Aloha Township is Long Lake and the silver coin is the much smaller Devereau Lake. A portion of Aloha Township borders on Black River, and a considerable portion of the township borders on Mullett lake.

The first settlement was on Mullett Lake, and it was called Aloha, an unincorporated community on the lake’s shore. Aloha Township’s first white property owner was Medard Metevier. He moved to this area just 6 years after Jacob Sammons became the first settler in Cheboygan. Medard arrived in 1851 and he purchased land where the community of Aloha would later develop. Then he moved to Cheboygan, where he became a leader in developing what would become Cheboygan City.

The early settlement was about 8 miles south of Cheboygan. The settlement was formed around the James Patterson saw mill and the E. Haut General Store. Later it became a station for the Detroit and Mackinaw Railroad; and now many more people would arrive, to lumber the trees and clear the surrounding land for farms. Later the state of Michigan would build Aloha State Park just south of Aloha settlement. This was a brilliant decision, for it brought many campers and it provided boat access to the Inland Lakes Waterways. A person could now easily launch a boat and go to Cheboygan or almost all of the way to Lake Michigan.

Many of the new settlers were French Canadian. 18 families arrived from Montreal. These families settled between Long Lake and Mullett Lake. They named their new homeland “Little Canada,” and that name persists today. There is a road called Little Canada Road. These families were tightly united by intermarriage. St Francis Catholic Church Records show the following names: Aubin, Bonsecours, Allaire, Chevalier, Couture, La Franier, Fougere, Gauthier, Gervais, Leduc, Robideau, Sarrault, Sauve, Trudeau and Vasseur. Also, Paquette and Merchant, Obin and Eno.

What was life like for these pioneer settlers? Horses and buggies provided summer transportation. During the winter, one family walked a five mile round trip, to attend Mass at St Francis Church. Oxen were used to plow fields and to clear stumps. There was a lumbering camp. John Merchant was a cook at the camp. Cooks were treated with great respect. They controlled the dining room with a butcher knife. Before the Black River froze, a family member would travel by boat to Cheboygan to purchase winter food supplies. They bought barrels of pork, flour, sugar and coffee, salt, etc. bringing them home in the boat. Families were large and they consumed a lot of food. Some homes were built of logs and some were covered with tar paper. They usually had a kitchen, living room and one bedroom on the main floor. The upper floor was open and held at least three beds. Families used kerosene lamps, outhouses, and they carried water in pails from wells. The men were hard working and plain farmers. Area lumbering camps floated logs down the river to the Cheboygan mills. When the camps closed, many logs were left floating in the river. Little Canada families sometimes retrieved the logs and they sawed them for firewood.

Today, the great forests of ‘Little Canada” are gone. So is the French language that once filled the air. The family names, the strong faith, the generous hearts and many of the homesteaded farms remain; a tribute to the 18 families who had the courage to settle in the lovely area of Aloha Township. Next weeks column will continue the story of Aloha Township.