9/16/2025. Tuesday
Frankenmuth to Chesaning MI via Saginaw MI
Stats: Miles: 46 AIS: 4:22 Speed: 10.6 mph. Elev. 239 ft
What a beautiful morning it was as we left Frankenmuth. The early morning sun low in the sky shining long shadows and making the yellowing leaves of the crops shine so brightly.
Once again we were treated to several miles of lonely backroads in the farmland. Looked as though some were harvesting sugar beets this morning. After a few miles we turned to jump on a shorter rail trail section. Much to our surprise it said closed…. Kinda. It was obviously just repaved and you could easily slip by the barricade. An older gentleman was just parking to use the trail for a walk. He said people have been using it for a few weeks now. So off we went!
At this point we only had about 4-5 miles to Saginaw. Our intention was to ride into Saginaw to the County Government Center. The Clerk of Courts office specifically.
Genealogy Hunt… Saginaw to Montana. Seeking birth record of my maternal grandmother.
As we were riding through the east side of Saginaw I realized we were close to the St Joseph Parish. This church has been there since 1873. I had called yesterday to see if they could find a baptismal record. Since we were just a couple of blocks away we stopped in. The ladies in the Parish office were so nice. They did not find anything and even the Father gave them a hand. First disappointment. They did however give me another church parish to check with that had alot of Irish immigrants.
We were told that my maternal grandmother Mary MacHale (born Bridget Mary MacHale) was born June 8, 1884 in Saginaw Michigan. I went to the Clerk of Court to try to find her birth record in these giant books they had organized by years. The years 1883 and 1884 had a book all to itself! I spent nearly an hour trying to find her name and came up empty-handed. Second disappointment. I’m not sure why there was no record. I may have the wrong date… who knows. 1884!!
I was impressed with the penmanship of the birth recording in 1884. It was so perfect!
Babe’s family came from Ireland and eventually came to Saginaw for jobs. Most of the jobs at the time were with the lumber industry. In my research Saginaw grew from 3,000 to 75,000 between 1850- 1884 due to the lumber industry.
My grandmother lived there until her early teens when with her parents and sister Sarah they moved. They took a train to Havre Montana…to meet her older brothers Michael and Austin. Her brothers were proving up land in the Sweetgrass Hills in an area called Gold Butte just west of Havre. They had a hard life in the Sweetgrass Hills and her brothers told my Grandmother “Babe, this is no place for a lady.” They sent her back to Saginaw to get her Secretarial education. She did return and worked in Havre, MT. This was where she met my grandfather, married and started a family. They eventually ended up in Billings, MT (in the lumber business) and lived to be well into their 90’s.
I’m trying to imagine living in the 1880’s in timber heavy Michigan then moving to “the high line” of Montana in sweeping prairie grass land and trying to farm and ranch. Both places know cold but they are extremely different habitats. What courage it must have taken to go somewhere so far from family and so unknown. GrandMary (we called her) lost her two brothers in the Sweetgrass Hills. Michael died being struck by lightning on horseback and Austin died of acute appendicitis on a buckboard wagon trying to get to Havre. I don’t recall where Sarah ended up living… but I know my mother knew her.
Back to Saginaw…
Several older white men kept warning us to be careful in Saginaw and make sure we didn’t go into certain neighborhoods because they’re not safe. We did try to take their advice but there was so much construction we finally found our own route and bridges to cross. When people suggest roads they don’t think of what the route would be like on a bike. Is it busy with traffic? Shoulder? Yes we did go through a “project” neighborhood but it was 10am. Roads and area were empty of people. Not scary for us. Ignorance is bliss sometimes…. We’re just passing through. They think we’re strange.
We had a pretty easy time in and out of Saginaw. They do have some rough asphalt in the neighborhoods though.
Didn’t take long to exit the west side of Saginaw. After a couple miles we were on another great rail trail. This one was almost 10 miles. A few people, walking, riding, recumbents…. Enjoying the beautiful warm afternoon
After the trail the last 6 miles to Chesaning were meandering on backroads again. We are camped at another City Park Campground. It’s along a slow moving river. It’s huge with ball fields, folf course, bathrooms, hot showers and who knows what else I can’t see. We are lucky it’s Tuesday because they’re gearing up for Halloween weekend Friday/Saturday/Sunday. The campground is first come-first served so the campers are rolling in to claim their campsite for the weekend! The host told us it will be full… probably Thursday. Since we arrived at 4pm we have had 3 RV’s dropped off next to us. Guess we lucked out by arriving early in the week.
Tomorrow we have a longer day 50-ish. It’s supposed to hit 83’. We will try to get going 8/8:30.
cinnicrew 