SCENE ON STATE STREET— Ann Akbuu.. BANK BLOC K -Ypsilantu LADI
ES' LI B R A R Y— Ypsilanti. MICHIGAN CENTRAL RAILROAD
DEPOT—Ypsilanti < — I idea of the ''Father of his Country" comes
the word Grand, Into which Washtenong has been But if enough
mystery surrounds the naming of the county to give rise to this
pretty, if idle, tale, so also does mystery darken the earlier
history of the county. It is not known w^hen Caucasian feet were
first set upon Washtenaw soil or who first penetrated its virgin
thickets. The noted French explorer, Robert de La Salle
undoubtedly explored the county. The French fur traders, who had
settled in Detroit as early as 1701, had unquestionably made
their way to the banks of the Huron in quest of furs, which must
have been plentiful in forests which teemed with wild game, as
did these of Washtenaw. In 1809 three adventurous Frenchnien,
Gabriel Gcjdfrey, Francis Pepin and Romaine de Chambre
established a trading post on the Huron river at Ypsilanti,
called then Godfrey's trading post.