The Big Water: A History of Michigan’s Lower Au Sable River

by Thomas A. Buhr

As one of the country’s most popular recreational streams — with an international reputation for fly fishing — the Au Sable River is a crown jewel of Michigan waterways. However, underneath its surface lies a history of controversy and conflict. For 12,000 years its sylvan banks and clear waters have attracted everyone from the First People of North America to European explorers and American settlers. They came to trap, lumber, hunt, fish, canoe, and lately, to conserve.

The Big A History of Michigan’s Lower Au Sable River is an up-to-date, comprehensive, and unified account of the region’s history, from pre-European times through French and English exploitation, American Manifest Destiny, resource extraction and redemption, the rise of outdoor recreation, and the legacy of pollution from modernization. The Big Water is a tale of the Wild West ways of early industrialization that flows hopefully towards a future where we try to live in harmony with wild places.

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

I am a native Michigander and a lifelong fishing enthusiast chasing everything from bluegills and bass to snappers and snook. At 14 years old, I moved to Boca Raton – a place nobody had heard of yet – and fell in love with Old Florida. Watching "progress" steal away this magical land also spawned an interest in conservation.
While working my way through the academic thicket with degrees from Miami (FL), Central Florida, and University of Michigan, I found time for freelance writing. In over 30 years, I have written scores of articles in magazines, including Field & Stream, Florida Game & Fish, The Fisherman, Michigan Out of Doors, Midwest Fly Fishing, and several pieces for academic journals. I was an editor of The Riverwatch and won an Award for Conservation Journalism from The Sierra Club in 2011.
I founded the Au Sable Big Water Preservation Association in 2007 and have been a member of several Michigan-based conservation organizations, often serving on the board. When not fishing, writing, or protecting wild places, I cheer for my favorite sports teams: Leicester City Foxes, Michigan Wolverines, and Miami Dolphins.

Reviews

[Michael Vandenberg]

Great dive into Michigan history, conservation, hunting and fishing, logging, vacationing, etc.

[Erik]

Very fascinating book for anyone interested in the history of northeast lower Michigan. Learning about how so many towns along and near the Au Sable river came to be was very fun. This book covers the logging operations along the river, how the hydroelectric dams were established, how fishing has evolved over the years in the AuSable, and so much more. However, surprisingly absent is any mention of the AuSable River Canoe Marathon, which has existed for nearly 80 years and is a huge part of the area's history. Aside from a few careless instances of poor editing and this egregious omission, a good book.

[Matthew Graves]

Well written but i struggled to get into this book.