Manitou North America history

South Manitou Island was first settled by William Burton in 1838 as a cord wood refueling station for steamships building a dock in the middle of the deep-water, protected bay.

North Manitou Island was settled in by Nicholas Pickard in the mid-1840’s after much of the forest had been harvested on South Manitou Island.

North Manitou's earliest recorded landowner, Neil McFadyen of Erie County, Pennsylvania bought about 45 acres in 1848.

In 1854, North Manitou Island Volunteer Life-Saving Station was built by Nicholas Pickard to provide rescue capabilities for ships in distress in the Manitou Passage.

Cornelius Jones built a sawmill on the east side of the island which he operated until 1855.

In 1856, a second sawmill was built for Edwin Munger in the village, then knokwn as Aylsworth and later Crescent.

The first real land mogul was Albert W. Bacon of Grand Traverse County, who during the 1860's acquired 6,765.9 acres for later resale.

In 1894, Chicago residents Frederick Trude and George Blossom in cooperation with Blossom’s father-in-law, Silas Boardman created a resort development called Cottage Row where 10 lots were marked off for building sites for summer homes.

The first school, a log structure erected in 1895, could seat 36 students.

A lighthouse was built on Dimmick’s Point in 1898.

Crosby’s men then faithfully reassembled the dwellings in dimension and appearance to those in the four corners region, instead they used a concrete mortar in 1907 as opposed to the adobe mud/clay mortar the cliff dwellers used.

By 1908 the Smith and Hall Lumber Company began lumbering on the west side of the island and built the village of Crescent with a sawmill, a 600 foot dock, and rail line into the forest.

Roger Sherman and George McConnell held title to large tracts of island property in the early 1920's and became the basis for establishing the Manitou Island Syndicate, the forerunner of the Manitou Island Association.

By 1925, plans were underway to develop the island as a sportsman's hunting preserve.

In 1926, William R. Angell, under the aegis of the Detroit Trust Company, bought up much of the island.

A year later, in 1958, Louis and Cyril joined forces with Melroe Manufacturing to boost production and improve the device, shortly after which the Skid Steer began to resemble more of what we're accustomed to seeing today.

A specialist in warehousing products, Loc Manutention joins Manitou Group in 1993.

One of the most prominent modifications occurred in 1999, when the first "Tracked" machines hit the market.

In addition, every 1500 to 2000 hours, the Drive Belt needs to be changed.

Tom Leavitt founded Leavitt Machinery in 2001; he had previously worked as the General Manager of Material Handling at Finning.

Manitou saw an opportunity to buy Gehl Manufacturing, which was based in the American Midwest and made Skid Steers, in 2008 when the housing market was extremely hot in the United States and financial markets were sinking into free fall.