Twenty-thousand years ago, Michigan looked like the Antarctic. An ice cap more than a mile thick blanketed the Midwest.

Eleven-thousand years ago, the last ice sheets advanced south, gouging and ripping the Earth’s surface.

Eight-thousand years ago, the glaciers retreated above the Straits, leaving deeper gouges, new ridges and sand dunes, and deeper basins (which filled with water and became Lakes Michigan and Huron. Soon, inland lakes and rivers, including the Inland Water Route and Mullettt and Burt Lakes, would also fill and connect.

For thousands of years, Native Americans travelled the safer inland route for hunting, fishing, war and trade.

In 1846, Jacob Sammons, a cooper on Mackinac Island, moved his family to the Cheboygan River and built a house on Water Street. Others followed. The county had thick forests and few paths through them. Water was the only means of getting around efficiently.

The river was shallow. In 1869, the Cheboygan Slackwater Company built a dam and a lock, and dredged the river to make it more navigable.

In 1874, Sammons’ son Frank recognized the value of the inland route to avoid treacherous and unpredictable Lake Michigan.

Sammons proposed moving the mail through the inland route, starting at Oden through Crooked Lake, Crooked River, Burt Lake, Indian River, Mullett Lake, the Cheboygan River to Lake Huron, and beyond.

Not long after, investors from Chicago, Buffalo and elsewhere visited the area to scout investment opportunities.

The inland route charmed them. They camped on Mullett Lake for two weeks, calling the experience “sweet sleep at night” and “a dreamy existence” by day.

Several started looking for property on the lake to build hotels, resorts and cottages.

They held off to see which route, east or west of the lake, would be chosen for the extension of the Michigan Central Railroad from Gaylord. By 1880, developers were comfortable that the train tracks would come up the western shore.

In 1881, the M.C.R.R. tracks were extended. A depot was opened and named “Portage.”

H.H. Pike, who purchased 105 acres on Mullett Lake upon which he built the Pike House hotel, thought “Portage” was too common and not attractive, suggested the name “Topinabee” after the famous Potawatomi chief. Pike, from Niles, knew the story of Chief Topinabee well. The railroad relented.

Now, there were daily trains from Detroit and Chicago. Round-trip fares from Topinabee were $14 to Buffalo, $13.25 to Chicago and $9.30 to Toledo.

Several boat companies began running daily routes from Cheboygan, Oden, and various stops in-between. From the Cheboygan docks, people could catch boats to Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Buffalo. The newly opened route was said to be “exceedingly romantic and interesting.”

Soon after, promotors seeking to draw more people to northern Michigan, chartered the Northern Hay Fever Resort Association. Up north was already well-known as a good place for hay fever sufferers each fall. The clean, dry air and our inland lakes provide a perfect refuge.

In 1870, the “Valley Queen” became the first boat to carry passengers and goods along the entire Inland Water Route. It served for two years.

In 1880, Charles R. Smith of Cheboygan organized the Inland Navigation Company, which ran three boats until 1883. In 1884, two boats were carrying passengers, the “Mary” and “Northern Bell.”

In the late 1800s, August Liebner and his wife Amelia settled in Cheboygan with their children, Ernest, Henry, William and Ida. Ernest was a cashier at The First National Bank (now Citizens National Bank) and a local entrepreneur.

Seeing an opportunity to expand sight-seeing trips beyond resorters, Ernest and family built the “Ida L.,” named after his younger sister, Ida (Liebner) Ballard. It launched June 5, 1909.

Experiencing great success, the Liebner’s soon needed a bigger boat, so they built the much larger “Ida L. II.”

The boats carried passengers from Cheboygan to Oden, with stops in-between at Aloha, Topinabee and Indian River before entering Burt Lake. Sometimes they stopped at the Hack-ma-tack Inn for a fish dinner. The two boats, along with the largest boat on the route, the Topinabee, were themselves tremendous attractions.

The popularity of sightseeing boats bottomed out when automobiles came into the picture and when World War I, the Great Depression and World War II hit the economy. The boats were retired. Resorters started buying their own boats.

If you have not yet experienced this awesome and inspiring Inland Water Route, which I consider God’s greatest gift to Cheboygan, there’s no better time than this summer. Boat and canoe rentals are available. Make your plans now!