Behind the old jail in Cheboygan is an old log cabin. At one time it stood near Burt Lake in the town of Indianville. It was relocated to it’s current spot in the 1970s and stands as a reminder of a tragic day in Michigan history.
On October 15th, 1900 the sheriff came from Cheboygan to Indian Village located on Indian Point on Burt Lake. John Walter McGinn purchased the land for back taxes of which the Native Americans did not owe because the land was given to them in a treaty with the government. When the men in the village were out of town working, the women and children were forcibly removed from their homes and then their houses burned to the ground by the sheriff and his men. The former residents of the burned town moved to other Indian villages including Cross Village and the town of Indianville where this old log cabin once stood. Sadly, few people know the story of the Burt Lake Burnout.
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