Bela Hubbard Programs Overview

As portrayed by Kyle Bagnall,
Chippewa Nature Center's
Manager of Historical Programs

A Message from Bela Hubbard / Kyle Bagnall

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An Afternoon With Bela Hubbard in 1837
By wagon, on foot and in canoes, three men (and a dog) set out to explore the new State of Michigan in the fall of 1837. Step back in time and listen to Bela Hubbard – geologist, naturalist, surveyor and explorer – as he describes an autumn journey when “there were no highways but the streams.” Using words from Hubbard’s own journals and dressed in period clothing, witness a first-person portrayal of this fascinating character from Michigan’s past. Travel back in time to a surveyor’s campsite as Hubbard describes Michigan’s forests before lumbering, time spent with a Chippewa elder at the Little Forks Reservation, encounters with animals and a 150-mile journey on Lake Huron in a dugout canoe. In eloquent and entertaining style, the words of Bela Hubbard provide a rare glimpse into Michigan’s past you won’t want to miss!


Bela Hubbard’s Wild Michigan
Join Bela Hubbard, 19th century naturalist, geologist and explorer, as he relates his observations of Michigan’s wildlife from the 1830s through the 1870s. Using journals and writings from the period, Kyle portrays Hubbard as he shares detailed and eloquent observations of Michigan’s wilderness more than 150 years ago. Tales of lynx, otter, passenger pigeons, wolves, elk, moose and more will spark your imagination!

US Fish and Wildlife Service photo


Lake Superior Journey with Bela Hubbard
In 1840, a party of scientists surveyed Michigan's rugged and remote shoreline of Lake Superior. Join Kyle in his first-person portrayal of expedition member Bela Hubbard, Assistant to the State Geologist. Using words from Hubbard's own journals, this exciting journey will come to life among the cliffs and outcroppings, trees and wildlife, traders and Native peoples he encountered along the route. The report on their trip to the region set off the mineral rush to Copper Country that changed the face of the Upper Peninsula forever.


Schedule a Bela Hubbard Program
The three Bela Hubbard programs described above are available for your group or organization! Programs can be presented either in the Chippewa Nature Center auditorium or at the meeting place of your choice. While an auditorium setting is ideal, these programs can also be performed in a classroom or other gathering place. Special versions are also available specifically for children’s groups.

The standard program charge for a 60-minute Bela Hubbard presentation is $100. If a 30-minute program better fits your needs, it may be scheduled for a rate of $50. Travel costs are charged at a rate of $.34/mile for programs outside the Midland area.

To schedule a Bela Hubbard program, please contact Kyle Bagnall at kbagnall@chippewanaturecenter.org or 989.631.0830.

Bela Hubbard self portrait, 1840


Bela Hubbard programs have been enjoyed by the following organizations:

  • Castle Museum of Saginaw County History

  • Dow Corning Technical Exchange Society Lecture Series – Midland

  • Friends of Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge – Saginaw

  • Michigan Community College Biologists conference – Bay City

  • Midland County Historical Society

  • Midland Nature Club

  • Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council conference - Grayling

  • Newaygo County Society of History & River-Runs-Through-It.org – Fremont

  • Pacesetters Group and St. John’s Lutheran 5th & 6th graders – Midland

  • Riverside Place Senior Center – Midland

  • Ruth Wickes Public Library – Saginaw  (children’s program)

  • Saginaw Valley State University Humanities Series – Saginaw

  • Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland



What Others Are Saying…

  • “What a great success the night was!”  - Jon Cleland-Host, DCTES

  • “We would like to thank you so much for being a presenter at our annual spring conference.  The conference was a great success thanks to your willingness to participate.” - Wendy Burns, Michigan Community College Biologists

  • “Your presentation…was very effective, especially with your historical costume and setting.” Mayor Jim Rynberg, City of Fremont

  • “Thank you for putting together such a wonderful program for us at Wickes.  It was in tune with the audience's age/knowledge level and you managed their attention spans perfectly.  I hope that there will be many more opportunities for you to present this children's version again.” – Jennie Tuttle, Ruth Brady Wickes Public Library

  • “The SVSU Humanities Lecture Series Committee expresses our sincere gratitude for you participation in the 26th Annual Series. We appreciate the research and time put forth in order to present such a fine program. The program was definitely enlightening and very well received by the audience.” – Charles Priem, Jr., SVSU Humanities Series Committee

  • “What a great pleasure it was to see and hear your marvelous presentation of your exciting journey along the southern coast of Lake Superior. I'm especially happy, Mr. Hubbard, that you graced the MCHS Heritage Series Program for the second year in a row. I am sure that the patrons are looking forward to your return visit in the not too distant future to share some of your other exploits in the hinterland and elsewhere. Thanks so much.” – Tom Bradley, MCHS Board Member

  • “Kyle Bagnall's excellent portrayals of Bela Hubbard at Heritage Park have been well received.” – Marcia Dilling

  • “Kyle drew 55 people last night at Green Point.....a total record high for us. Man was I thrilled. And as usual he did a great job.” – Janet Martineau, Friends of Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

Bela Hubbard Bibliography

  • Carter, James. L. and Rankin, Ernest H. (editors). North to Lake Superior: The Journal of Charles W. Penny, 1840. Marquette, MI: John M. Longyear Research Library. 1987.

  • Fuller, George N. Geological Reports of Douglass Houghton: First Geologist of Michigan 1837-1845. Lansing: The Michigan Historical Commission. 1928

  • Hubbard, Bela. Memorials of a Half-Century. New York: The Knickerbocker Press. 1887

  • Hubbard, Bela. “A Michigan Geological Expedition in 1837.”  Michigan Pioneer Collections. Volume III. Lansing: W. S. George & Co. 1881.

  • Peters, Bernard C. (editor). Lake Superior Journal: Bela Hubbard’s Account of the 1840 Houghton Expdition. Marquette, MI: The Northern Michigan University Press. 1983.

  • Holmes, John C. “The Knaggs Windmill, 1814-1858.”www.michigan.gov. 2001.