People lived on the terrace between Moccasin Bluff and the St. Joseph River for eight thousand years, beginning with small temporary camps as early as 6300 B.C. By A.D. 500, residents traded with groups in Indiana and Illinois, and those living there 600 to 900 years ago farmed and maintained more permanent villages. As white settlers began farming and logging the St. Joseph River Valley in the late 1820s, the federal government adopted a policy of moving local Potawatomi Indians west. The bluff is said to be named for Cogomoccasin, leader of one of the permanent Potawatomi villages. Riverboats remained the valley’s main transportation until the St. Joseph Valley Railroad was built in 1881 along the route that became the Red Bud Trail. In 1977, Moccasin Bluff was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its archaeological importance.