Battle of Manton

In 1881 Manton became the Wexford County seat as a result of a compromise between Cadillac and Sherman. Those towns had quarreled over the issue for years. Cadillac partisans renewed the feud and won the county seat at an election in April 1882. After the election a sheriff’s posse left Cadillac for Manton by special train to seize the county records. An angry crowd confronted the Cadillac men and drove them out of town. Collecting several hundred lumbermen, a supply of whiskey, and a brass band, the sheriff returned to demand the records. Manton residents barricaded the courthouse, but the posse broke through doors and windows, seized the documents, and returned to Cadillac triumphant. Cadillac was victorious, but the battle of Manton left injuries and hard feelings.