When the first French explorers invaded the northwest, about the year 1615, the Wyandot Indians occupied the territory between Georgian Bay and the Muskoka Lakes in Ontario.

These Frenchmen named the tribe Huron because of the manner in which they wore their hair.
At this period the Hurons were at war with the Iroquois, and the two tribes kept up a bitter fight until in 1649, when the Hurons suffered a decisive defeat.

They then abandoned their villages and sought other hunting grounds.

They travelled south and settled in Ohio along the south and west shores of Lake Erie.

The present site of Zanesfield, named from Isaac Zane, marks the spot where the largest tribe of Hurons once lived.
In a grove of maples on the banks of a swift little river named Mad River, the Hurons built their lodges and their wigwams.