Oral traditions of the Anishinaabek and archaeological evidence show that people lived here for thousands of years. Both Odawa and Ojibway were once in this area, but the Odawa had moved north by the 1750s. The Ojibway village was Ketchewandaugoning, meaning big salt lick. According to some accounts, this area was the birthplace of Okemos and the summer residence of Wasso, two Anishinaabe chiefs. Henry Bolieu, a trader, was the first Euro-American settler and built a cabin here on the Shiawassee River around 1817. When the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw reserved this land for tribal use, Peter Whitmore Knaggs built a trading post here that he maintained for several years. Later, a relative, John Knaggs, operated a store and tavern at the same site, which closed in 1839. The first bridge was built here in 1838, and a dam, the remains of which can be seen, was added in 1856.