Little Portage Lake in Washtenaw County, Michigan, is about 30 miles west of Ann Arbor. The small lake, formed between 10,000 and 75,000 years ago provided sustenance and a transportation route for Native Americans. Beginning in the 18th century, settlers discovered the area's clean rivers, pristine forests and abundant land for crops.
Wyandot Indians fished, hunted and grew crops in the area around Little Portage Lake. They built birch bark canoes like those used by the Algonquin, but took their farming practices from the Iroquois. Clear division of labor between the sexes required women to be in charge of all the crops except tobacco, which was the domain of male members of the tribe. Children were valued, and educated at an early age. The Wyandot participated in the beaver fur trade, as other members of the Huron nation did, paddling their canoes through the lakes in search of the animals.
Little Portage is a kettle lake, formed when a large hunk of ice remained after the glacier receded. The lake formed as the ice melted and pushed soil and rocks up the side of the depression. Michigan's kettle lakes, formed during the Wisconsinan glacial age, have curvy shorelines and varying depths. Part of a chain of lakes variously known as the Portage Chain, the Pinckney Chain or the Huron River Chain, the 112-acre lake is fed by the Portage River to the north and an inlet on the east and drains into Big Portage Lake.
Area Historic Sites
The North Lake Methodist Church, built in 1866, was established a year before Michigan became a state. Glenn Chase, founder of the church, is buried in the adjacent graveyard. Hudson Mills, a small town built along the Huron River, was a sawmill around 1827 and expanded over the years to include a gristmill, cider mill and plaster mill. A portion of the ruins of the sawmill and dam remain. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Bell Road Bridge is a Pratt through-truss structure assembled in 1891. Nearby, the remains of a sawmill built in 1832 and its millstream are visible.
Little Portage Lake, as shallow as 10 feet in many areas, suffers from invasive plant growth, most notably milfoil. The lake is classified as multi-use, suitable for swimming and fishing, and as wildlife habitat. Most of the lakeshore is undeveloped, unlike the adjacent Big Portage Lake where private properties surround the lake. The Portage Chain of Lakes is an excellent walleye fishery, with both a natural population and fish stocked by the state. Bass, crappie and pike also inhabit the lake.
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