Sleeping Bear History

The Sleeping Bear Dunes took their name from the Ojibway legend to the left and from "the Bear", a tree covered bump in the shape of a bear that was eroded away by wind and water in the middle part of this century. There were many people whose lives were tied to this land long before it became a parkland -- Indians, lumberman, merchant sailors, farmers. Glen Haven and the Manitou Islands were once busy communities supplying lumber for construction and fuel for wood-burning ships that sailed the Great Lakes in the mid and late 1800s. Ruins of sawmills and fueling docks can still be seen. Crop farming followed the cutting of the forests but it, like lumbering, soon faded. Many farmers abandoned their fields and orchards, but many fruit trees and berries still grow in the park. For more historical information, visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes History Pages. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was established by Act of Congress October 21, 1970. Public Law 91-479 states, "...the Congress finds that certain outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena, exist along the mainland shore of Lake Michigan and on certain nearby islands in Benzie and Leelanau Counties, Michigan, and that such features ought to be preserved in their natural setting and protected from developments and uses which would destroy the scenic beauty and natural character of the area." The Congress also directed that "...the Secretary (of the Interior) shall administer and protect Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in a manner which provides for recreational opportunities consistent with the maximum protection of the natural environment within the area." Fossils tell of some of the earliest history, when a shallow warm sea covered the area. More recent history is revealed in the landscape. The shoreline, the hills, the valleys, the small lakes, and the sand dunes you see today are evidence that powerful earth-moving forces of ice, wind water have been at work here. Often geological changes occur slowly over millions of years, but here you can witness dramatic changes over your lifetime. Twice in this century sandslides at Sleeping Bear Point sent large land masses plunging into Lake Michigan and in June of 1998, a large slide at Pyramid Point took thousands of tons from the point. In their restless movement, the dunes can cover and kill trees forming "ghost forests" such as the one on North Manitou Island. Directory | History | Map | Links | Sign Up | Home w w w . l e e l a n a u . c o m / g l e n l a k e /