Tracking Chief O-ta-was – The Story of a Teen Fur Trader Edward Petit on Saginaw Bay
Update: 2025-04-13
Description
In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we uncover the remarkable 1838 journey of 15-year-old Edward Petit, the first European child born in Port Huron.
As a teenage fur trader fluent in Ojibwe, Petit set out to locate a lost winter camp led by the elusive Chief O-ta-was. Braving freezing rain, hunger, and vast wilderness along the shores of Saginaw Bay, he completed one of the most successful trades in Michigan's early frontier history.
This story sheds light on the human side of early settler-Indigenous relations and the forgotten routes that shaped Michigan’s Thumb.
A production of Thumbwind Publications
As a teenage fur trader fluent in Ojibwe, Petit set out to locate a lost winter camp led by the elusive Chief O-ta-was. Braving freezing rain, hunger, and vast wilderness along the shores of Saginaw Bay, he completed one of the most successful trades in Michigan's early frontier history.
This story sheds light on the human side of early settler-Indigenous relations and the forgotten routes that shaped Michigan’s Thumb.
A production of Thumbwind Publications
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