HOB - Draft
6,300 BC - The area around Buchanan, in particular National Historic Register Site Moccasin Bluff, has been populated over 8,000 years by tribes from around the Great Lakes: the Neshnabék, or the Potawatomi. Initially used as a temporary camp site, Moccasin Bluff would become home to permanent villages and farms between 600 and 900 years ago.
1833 - The Treaty of Chicago arranges for the removal of the Chippewa, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes and expatriation of their 5,000,000 acres of land around Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Euro-Americans settle in the Buchanan area for the first time where McCoy Creek meets the St. Joseph river, building gristmills and sawmills along the creek.
1837 - Michigan becomes the 26th State admitted to the Union. Senator James Buchanan of Pennsylvania champions the territory's desire for statehood. He would later become the 15th President of the United States.
1842 - The village of Buchanan is platted. John Hamilton, a miller who platted the area, names the village in honor of James Buchanan.
