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revised 9-17-03

MICHIGAN

    France maintained an outpost in Detroit in the region of Michigan from very early on, however French domination ended in 1763, when a British victory in the French and Indian Wars finally forced the French to cede Michigan along with the remainder of Canada and the Great Lakes to their victors.  Even with end of the war the Native American factions continued to battle against the American settlers, attacking Great Lakes outposts even to to the borders of New York before they were finally brought under control.

    When the American Revolution started, the British used these same Native American factions to battle against the settlers in Ohio and western Pennsylvania and in fact, the British encouraged these raids.  Although the Michigan area was deemed part of the United States at the end of the Revolutionary War, the British continued to rule the area until 1796.  This area became a further issue in the subsequent War of 1812.  With the support of the Native American tribes, the British forces took control of the area from Mackinac Island to Detroit.  They retained control of the area until the following year, at which time the American colonials scored major naval victories on Lake Erie and the Thames River in Canada and finally restored Michigan to the Union.

    Upon return to the United states, the settlers rapidly poured into the area via the upper Great Lakes, which were traversed by steam ships as early as 1818 when settlers came to participate in the first public land sales, and the grand opening of New York's Erie Canal, which occurred in 1825.  The earliest wave of settlers came in from New England, as early as 1796.  

    Following the construction of the territorial road through the Kalamazoo Valley in 1829, many New Englanders began arriving in the Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, and Allegan counties.  After that, they moved into the Saginaw valley and the counties of Shiwassee, Saginaw and Bay began obtaining residents.  By 1840, the immigration   had extended settlement to about half of the southern Peninsula, bringing settlers from New York, the New England sections and from Germany.  From 1840 to 1890, lumber camps and mining camps drew even more settlers.  The man power came from such diverse areas as Canada, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Wales, Poland, Italy and England, and brought also tin miners from Cornwall, England.  Religious refugees from Holland came into the Grand Rapids area and the Western coast of the state.  

    Michigan's borders continued to be an issue.  by 1834, the Michigan Territory included lands as far west as the Missouri River.  It's request to become a state was also complicated by a territorial dispute with Ohio as to an area known as the Toledo Strip.  There was also an issue of whether it would be a slave state or a free state.  A compromise on the issue was resolved by allowing Arkansas to be admitted as a slave state, while Michigan would be admitted as a free state.  Ohio was given the Toledo Strip as consolation and Michigan received a new piece of territory known as the Upper Peninsula, which was created from the New Wisconsin Territory.  Michigan became our 26th state on 26 January 1837.  

Many of the Michigan counties had their names changed in 1843, in what was called the "Great Renaming."  I have no idea what necessitated all of these name changes, perhaps someone would care to enlighten me.

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