Map from an 1835 atlas, published in Boston by Thomas Bradford 

  Dr. A.C. Van Raalte  Sept.17, 1872     " Although the Americans recommended the localities along the rivers, and for the most part thought it to great a hazard to settle here, although the Hollanders avoided the forests- and it subjected my family and myself to the difficulties of such pioneer living, never the less, the combination of so many advantages, although at first they could be only slowly developed, left me no doubt as to my duty.  I knew that the rich forest was better fitted for dairying and the raising of winter wheat; that because of manufacturing and navigation, far  higher market prices could be obtained here than in any place in the West; and that the country near the shore of Lake Michigan, protected by the water from severe frosts, was a region peculiarly adapted to the raising of fruit. I could find no other place for our group where along inhabited rivers, lined with manufactories and mills, tens of thousands of our people could find work without danger of being scattered and at the same time be certain of an opportunity  continually to obtain new land without any interference.  I choose this region therefore on account of its great variety, being assured that if immigration from the Netherlands should develop into a powerful movement we ought to remain together for mutual support and ought to have this variety for labor and for capital, especially with a view to the future.
        In my mind I saw not only homes for a stream of working men but I also saw the ships of Hollanders, their flourishing fisheries, a fair harbor which inevitably would develop by the side of such activities, and also areas devoted to the production of fruit.  And especially I beheld the riches of rural villages for which even at the that moment I thanked God.  I was hopeful that our people also would manage mills and factories. The object of my settling between these two rivers was to secure the advantage of both streams, for we could not get along without the nearby settled areas, and at the same time to secure a center of unifying religious life and labor for the advancement of God's Kingdom."