Well, all the way up until the mid 1790s de facto control was by the British. Strategically important locations like the city of Detroit and several major forts along the Great Lakes were stubbornly held by Great Britain long after the Treaty of Paris (1783) supposedly gave that land to the United States. The British finally gave up these lands in the 1790s.

In the War of 1812, Great Britain retook these important locations and also maintained a large naval presence along all of the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The constant quarrels between the British and Americans no doubt proved bothersome for any frontiersman who wanted to be left alone.

Local Indians also proved particularly bothersome as seen in the Northwest Indian War. After ten years of fighting from 1785 to 1795, an agreement was signed in which it was agreed settlers would not encroach any further north that central Ohio, meaning Michigan was supposed to be left alone.

Additionally, Michigan was very sparsely populated; in 1810, five years after Michigan became a territory, only 10,000 souls were living in Michigan. It did jump up considerably between 1830 and 1840, but until then things were relatively quiet, especially if you didn't live in Detroit, but out in the wilderness where you probably were alone most of the time.

Other than the scuffles with the British and a harsher climate, it's fair to say that any struggles that plagued the families on the frontier of Michigan also plagued the families on the frontier of any state. Indian rivalries, non existent infrastructure, and sparse population were definitely the key hardships that all people faced no matter where they went.