Time Line

1298: The Scottish Patriot, Sir William Wallace, fought the Battle of Falkirk July 22, 1298 and was defeated by the English under King Edward due to the treachery of some of the Scottish Barons (Downie). Family recollections (Downie) say that the Scotch Settlement pioneering Wallace clan were related to William Wallace's brother.

1500's: In the early 1500's, European nations were pressing westward in North America with ever increasing determination. Explorers were searching for a northwest passage, a colonial claims race was intensifying, missionaries were determined to convert heathen populations, business men were pursuing opportunities in undeveloped areas, farmers were hungry for fertile, inexpensive land, mineral wealth was waiting to be discovered, and natural resources like wood were in demand. Transportation was slow and dangerous but it was available and active. In the early 1500's, one thousand vessels a year were fishing off the coast of North America and returning with their catch to Europe.

1534: New France (French: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763.

1600's: French explorers came to North America, mostly to Canada. They were responsible for the earliest written records and their documents established the beginning of the historical era for North America. The French were the first Europeans to see Michigan. They were exploring Michigan about the same time the Pilgrims were landing in New England. From the early 1600's until the end of the 1700's, the French and the English established a fur trade that created an inter-dependency between them and the Indians.

1712: At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

1760-1796: the British flag flew over “Michigan”. It was part of Canada- an area called Quebec. The land was dominated by Indians; the British held isolated outposts.

1774: British parliament passed the Quebec act extending the boundaries of the province of Quebec west to the Mississippi and South to the Ohio River.

1784: Northwest Ordinance: Established ten future states. One of these states was to be Michigania (became Wisconsin). The Ordinance of 1784 was not implemented; it was superseded by the act of 1787.

1785: Land ordinance of 1785: Established how the territories were to be surveyed and platted. Surveying had to be done before sale of land. Township size was to be uniformly six miles square with 36 sections one mile square. Land would be sold at auction with a minimum price of one dollar an acre. Buyers had to purchase at least 640 acres. Section 16 of each township was reserved for schools. “Although some modifications were made later, the Ordinance of 1785 established the policy followed by the United States government for the disposal of virtually all its lands in the West, including those in Michigan.” (Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State”).

1787: Land Ordinance of 1787: Set the boundaries of new states. It established three stages of development to reach statehood; and it set forth rights of the people who settled the new regions. Territories could only become states when their population (free inhabitants) reached sixty thousand.

All the lands in “Michigan” are occupied by Indian tribes (Chippewa, Huron, Miami, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Menominee); there are no permanent pioneer settlements.

1941: A fire destroys all records and files of the Almont Herald and Almont times dating back to 1875. Major fire occurred in 1859, 1861, 1866, 1867, and 1874. Schools burned in 1881 and 192?