Government records show that Louis Chevalier, in the year 1800, was the first to settle in what is today, the Iosco County area. He primarily engaged in fur trapping along the AuSable River and traded with the local Indian settlements. Not long afterward however, the abundant fisheries of the AuSable River area began to receive significant attention.

   By 1848, the local population had expanded to a point where they felt a survey and the establishment of corporation boundaries should be performed. This was the birth of AuSable Township, whose economic base was supported by the commercial fishing industry which harvested the abundant trout and grayling. Supporting a fleet of fishing boats, the AuSable area would primarily remain a fishing community for less than 30 years though.

   Near the end of the Civil War, the lumber barons were attracted to the area by the many stands of extremely tall, virgin pine within close proximity of the AuSable River. Since the river provided adequate depth and wide, winding curves, it became an excellent avenue for floating logs down to the shores of Lake Huron. Over the next thirty years, lumber became the number one business of the area. And what a business it was! Resulting in the establishment of eight mills in the sister cities of AuSable and Oscoda, and a population of up to 10,000 in AuSable alone!