Michigan's early history and development, as well as that of adjacent states, was influenced materially by the industry that utilized the timber resources of the state. Much of the wealth in the forest was extracted quickly by the lumber industry supplying work to the pioneer in addition to capital and building material to develop farms and villages. Log marks were an essential part of that lumber industry. They were the outposts of law and order in pioneering communities where social controls were often weak. Stamped on a log they carried the inviolate right of ownership of property on every stream and pond in Northern Michigan.