The Saginaw Trail led from the frontier town of Detroit into the wilderness, weaving through towering trees and swamps to distant Native American villages. Presenting a forbidding landscape that was also a settlers' paradise, the road promised great riches in natural resources like lumber and agriculture, and a future of wheeled vehicles that would make Michigan the center of a global industry. Leslie Pielack tells the story of the ancient path that transformed early Michigan and of the peoples whose lives intertwined with the iconic road.

Leslie K. Pielack is museum director at the Birmingham Museum in Birmingham, Michigan. Leslie is also an author, her talk is based on her book: The Saginaw Trail: From Native American Path to Woodward Avenue.

EVERYONE WELCOME.