Honoring the First Michigan Sharpshooters
On Tuesday, November 12, 2024 Mr. Scott Schwander testified before the Michigan State Senate Transportation Committee on SB30, a bill to designate a portion of M-22 as the “Company K Indian Veterans 1st Michigan Sharpshooters Civil War Memorial Highway” Mr. Schwander is an elder of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and serves as a volunteer at Oakwood Cemetery in Traverse City. At the 91-acre cemetery, he has restored 3000 military and historical headstones and monuments in the last nine years, including many graves of the fallen from the Civil War, including indigenous members of the famed Company K of the First Michigan Sharpshooters. After testifying, Scott and his wife Tina also made a visit to the battle flag storage unit at the Michigan History Center with STF staff where they viewed the battle flag of the First Michigan Sharpshooters.
