South Bend: Crossroads of CommercePaperback, 24 October 2003

South Bend, Indiana stood at the crossroads of several major Native American trading routes long before the Europeans, led by the French, arrived from Canada and the East Coast to trade for furs.

The city on a bend of the St. Joseph River soon became an important commercial center for settlers moving west. Eventually, the University of Notre Dame and Studebaker would call the growing community home.