Au Train

Au Train. . , AuTrain, a French term meaning "at the shortcut or traverse" was one of the earliest sites visited by white men as they travelled along Lake Superior's south shore. The river was part of an ancient Indian route between Lakes Supurier and Michigan., One of Alger County's oldest settlements, AuTrain was first inhabited by white men in 1856 when William Cameron began hunting and trapping here. Royal Whittlesey built a sawmill in 1862 and logging of Norway pine for dock pilings was begun. Later, choice white pine was hewed into squared timbers for shipment to England., By 1872 the Sault Ste. Marie and Grand Island State Road Extension was completed to the village., A number of Ojibwa Indians lived in the area, and they used the bluff just west of the village for a lookout and a fur packing station. A field of corn was planted at its base., Tye population of AuTrain had a big increase in 1877 when a number of families moved from Bay Furnace near Munising when that iron-making community was destroyed by fire. Among the new residents were the (illegible) Doucatites, Larmonds, Carriers and Reffruschinns, who built small (illegible) cabins where the Alger-Smith Company had begun lumbering operations., Logging of pine now began in earnest, and the AuTrain River and its tribuaries were filled with the big logs bound for mills here, in Lower Michigan, Rock River, Marquette, and later, to Munising., The Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Rallroad reached the village in 1881. A school was built shortly which also served as the social, political and religious center of the community. In 1883 a post office was established., A high point in AuTrain's history came in 1885 when the northern part of Schoolcraft County was organized as Alger County, with AuTrain becoming the county seat. The next year, a townsite was platted and a shingle mill was built. A business district typical of a county sest and sawmill town soon developed. There were several stores, two hotels, saloons and the AuTrain Alpha , the county's first newspaper., Commercial fishing became an important industry and the beautiful AuTrain Lake and River attracted a growing number of toutiats after advent of the railroad in 1881., Settlers began homesteads south of the village on AuTrain Lake, the first taken out by Emma Nellson in 1885, with others by Charles Paulsen and Alex McKinnon., One of the area's prominent early developers was Charles Schaffer of Marquette who was known as the "Charcoal King" because of his extensive activities throughout the region in the manufacture of charcoal for Iron making. He platted the village and donated land for the courthouse and cemetery., Brownstone was quarried four miles weet for builsing purposes, and it was used in construction of the county's first jail in 1890., After the turn-of-the century, the Standard Tie Company began extensive logging operations in the area, but by 1919, the last log wars bromed on the AuTrain River, ending a colorful era., In 1902, the county seat was moved to Munising, which was rapidly becoming the county's industrial and commercial center., During its long history, AuTrain has been an important transit and stopover point for both Indians and white man, a sawmill town, county seat, commercial fishing port and resort center., Tourism and recreation now give the village its livelihood, with a picturesque location on Lake Superior, flanked by its winding river, and skirting the beautiful shores of its inland lake, AuTrain is still a busy village among the pines proud of its colorful history.