The country had been at odds over the slavery issue for years by time the port at Michigan City was built. Although Indiana was considered a free state, its southern tip bordered with Kentucky, a slave state. It was there on the Ohio River at night that fugitive slaves would cross over into Indiana or Ohio and begin the long journey north to freedom. Some of the runaways came west from Missouri through Illinois and then crossed into Indiana. People living in the southern states, mainly, those who were slave owners or those who gained greatly by the use of free labor, wanted it stopped. So congress acted.

To appease the south, the second Fugitive Slave Act was passed as part of the Compromise of 1850. A section of this new legislation made it a crime for anyone to help or harbor a fugitive slave. If you were caught doing so, it was punishable by fine or imprisonment—or both. In the long run, the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act only infuriated people and caused them to resent the slavery issue even more—regardless of the personal outcome.

Michigan City now had a port and a railroad, and people living there sympathetic to the cause. It would become a perfect location to hide fugitive slaves during the day and then transport them by water or rail at night. For the fugitive slave, it would become a major hub of transportation to Detroit, Canada, and a new life. And if they reached the safety of Hungry Hollow, there was a good chance they would make it.

It would not have been out of the question for fugitive slaves hiding along the dune shore to be picked up by a lumber bark heading toward Michigan City. From there, they could be safely hidden away below deck and later transported to Canada via water or rail.

Like it or not, Michigan City had became a station on the Underground Railroad.