|
c. 5,000 years ago |
The "Old Copper Indians" occupy parts of the peninsula. They work U.P. copper into prized objects traded
among many tribes, then mysteriously disappear. |
|
1,200+ years ago |
Ojibway and Menominee Indians settle parts of the Great Lakes. Less
technologically sophisticated than tribes to the south, they depend on fishing with nets for much of
their food. |
|
1618-20 |
Explorer Etienne Brulé of France crosses the St. Marys River that forms today's
Canadian-U.P. border. Probably the first European to set foot in Michigan, he was seeking a route to
the Far East for the king of France. Michigan
Native population about 15,000 |
|
1621 |
Brule returns, explores Lake Superior
coast, and notes copper deposits |
|
1634 |
Jean Nicolet, an agent of the French, was the first European to pass through the Straits of Mackinac.
He was an agent of Champlain, Governor of Canada. |
|
1641 |
Isaac Joques and Charles Raymbault, Jesuit missionaries, reached the rapids at the foot of Lake
Superior, which they named the Sault de Sainte Marie. |
|
1654 |
Medard Chouart, the Sieur des Groseilliers and Pierre Esprit Radisson explored the shore of Lake
Superior. |
|
1600s |
In the late 1600s, highly lucrative trading of beaver pelts spreads into the Great Lakes region. Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac Island become strategic French fur trading posts. |
|
1660 |
Father Rene Menard, a Jesuit priest, is sent from Quebec to establish
the first mission among the Huron Indians. He spends the winter near the present town of L'Anse.
|
|
1667 |
Peace treaty agreed upon by the French and Iroquois Indians permitted
the French to travel the lower lakes. |
|
1668 |
Father Jacques Marquette and Claude Dablon founded first
permanent settlement in Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie. |
|
1669 |
Adrien Jolliet with an Indian Guide traveled through Lakes Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario on a
trip to Quebec and becames the first European known to have visited the southern Lower Peninsula. |
|
1671 |
Francois Daumont, Sieur de St. Jusson, representative of Louis XIV, claimed the whole interior of the
continent for the French as a result of the organization of the Hudson Bay Co. by the British in 1670.
St. Ignace
is founded when Father Marquette builds mission chapel
First of the military outposts, Fort
de Buade, later known as Fort Michilimackinac, is established at St. Ignace. |
|
1673 |
June 17 - Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette, fur trader Louis Jolliet and five
voyageurs leave the recently established Indian mission at St. Ignace to explore a great river
known by the Indians as the "Messissipi." However, they travel only as far as the
Arkansas River. |
|
1675 |
May 18. Father Marquette dies at site of
present-day Ludington |
|
1679 |
LaSalle builds Fort Miami on site of
present-day St. Joseph |
|
1680 |
LaSalle marches across Lower Peninsula,
reaching Detroit River in 10 days; first white man known to have
penetrated this territory |
|
1683 |
Fort de Baude was built at St. Ignace. |
|
1686-1697 |
Daniel Greysolon built Fort St. Joseph
at present-day Port Huron |
|
1689 |
War breaks out between the British and French, the first of a series
which lasts until 1815. |
|
1694 |
Cadillac serves as a commandant at Fort de Baude, later known as Michilimackinac. |
|
1701 |
July 24 - Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a 43-year-old French army officer,
selects a site at le détroit (the straits)—the waterway between Lakes St. Clair and Erie—and
establishes a French settlement. Cadillac moves
garrison at Fort Michilimackinac to Fort Pontchartrain [Detroit] |
|
1712 |
British-inspired Indian raids begin.
April 24. Fort Pontchartrain [Detroit]
is besieged by more than 1,000 Fox and Sauk Indians; defenders number
30
May 13. Detroit is relieved by
arrival of Vincennes with reinforcements; friendly Huron and Ottawa,
aid townspeople. Sauk and Fox are forced upriver, where 5-day battle
ends in surrender of invaders. |
|
1715 |
Spring. French
re-establish a fort on the south shore at the Straits of Mackinac and named it Fort Michilimackinac. The fort
was essential to French security and to keep the western Indians loyal. |
|
1730 |
October 18. Cadillac dies in France. |
|
1754 |
Outbreak of French and Indian War;
Michigan is drawn into war, although removed from chief fighting zone |
|
1756 |
France and England formally declare war |
|
1760 |
September 8. French surrender to British
at Montreal November 29. France
surrenders Detroit to British |
|
1763 |
May 7. During
the Indian wars in the area, Pontiac, Ottawa chief,
and his followers enter fort at Detroit in abortive
effort to capture it from British by surprise attack. Pontiac lays siege to Detroit for
135-days. The natives capture all the forts in Michigan, except
Detroit. June
2. Massacre occurs at Fort Michilimackinac, part of Pontiac's uprising |
|
1765 |
August 17. Pontiac signs treaty with
British at Detroit |
|
1771 |
Alexander Henry heads first mining
expedition in region of Porcupine Mountains |
|
1779 |
The (Northwest) Ordinance of 1787 defines the procedure for obtaining
statehood in the Northwest Territory, of which Michigan is a part.
British abandon Fort Michilimackinac on the mainland and begin building a new fort on Mackinac Island to defend against the Americans.
Fur trading continues to thrive in the region.
Nearly 3,000 living in Detroit area |
|
1781 |
Spanish flag raised over Fort St. Joseph
for short time. |
|
1783 |
September 3. Treaty of Paris --
created at the termination of the Revolutionary War.
British
forces are required to withdraw from all US lands. (British remain in
territory to become Michigan, however, for 13 years.)
Land taken from the French in 1763 is given to
the United States.
|
|
1787 |
Ordinance of 1787 established Northwest
Territory, of which Michigan is part, and defines the
procedure for obtaining statehood. |
|
1791 |
Michigan is incorporated into Upper Canada under the provisions of
the constitutional act by British Parliament. |
|
1792 |
Under the Constitutional Act the first election is held in Michigan.
|
|
1796 |
In an article in the Jay Treaty, the British agree to evacuate the
forts and furt posts in the west on or before June 1, 1796.
July 11. British evacuate Detroit.
Stars and Stripes is raised for first time on Michigan soil.
New county of Wayne is created. It embraces all the present
State of Michigan except the western part of the Upper Peninsula, with the addition of northern Ohio
and Indiana, and a strip of eastern Illinois and Wisconsin bordering on Lake Michigan. |
|
1799 |
Michigan Territory has enough inhabitants to entitle it to
representation at the General Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787.
|
|
1802 |
Detroit incorporated as a town |
|
1803 |
The Territory of Indiana, of which Michigan is now part, was created
by the division of the Northwest Territory. The seat of government is located at Chilicothe, Ohio.
|
|
1805 |
January 11. Michigan Territory created,
with Detroit as capital June
11. Detroit is completely destroyed by fire
July 1. General William Hull, first
territorial governor of Michigan, reaches Detroit and assumes control |
|
1805-6 |
Commercial timbering begins, when
sawmills are built on St. Clair River to aid in rebuilding Detroit |
|
1807 |
November 17. Treaty of Detroit:
Chippewa, Ottawa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi tribes meet with General
Hull |
|
1809 |
August 31. Michigan Essay and
Impartial Observer, first newspaper, is printed by James M.
Miller; only few copies sold |
|
1810 |
Population 4,762; slaves, mostly captive
Indians, number 32. Methodist
Episcopal Society is founded, first Protestant organization in Detroit
and first permanent Protestant society in Territory. |
|
1811 |
John Jacob Astor monopolizes the Great Lakes lucrative fur trading business, using
Mackinac Island as his base of operations. The trade flourished into the 1830s, then quickly
declined. |
|
1812 |
June 18. U.S. declares war against
England July 17. Fort Mackinac
falls to British
August 16. Hull surrenders Detroit to
British without firing a shot |
|
1813 |
January 22- A British force of 1,300 soldiers and Indians falls upon an American army at the
River Raisin near present-day Monroe. Against direct orders, U.S. Brigadier General James
Winchester has moved his force of 700 Kentuckians and 200 regulars to the River Raisin.
American forces reenter Detroit. Lewis Cass is appointed military and civil governor of the
Michigan Territory.
October 29. Colonel [later General]
Lewis Cass military governor at Detroit. Cass continues, under
Presidential appointment as governor of Michigan Territory for 18
years. |
|
1814 |
Treaty of Ghent ends War of 1812,
British losing Mackinac Island [but occupying Drummond Island, to the
north, for eight years] |
|
1817 |
August 26. 'Catholepistemiad,' or
University of Michigania, is incorporated - first university, as
distinguished from college, in the United States
John Jacob Astor establishes trading
post at Mackinac Island, centering his fur-trading activities there |
|
1818 |
Public land sales begin at Detroit;
immigration from East is under way
March 31. Michigan's first Protestant
church [Methodist Episcopal] is erected about 7 miles from Detroit,
near banks of River Rouge
August 27. First steamboat,
Walk-in-the-Water, arrives at Detroit |
|
1819 |
September 24. By Treaty of Saginaw,
Governor Cass obtains for US about 6 million acres of Michigan land, a
cession that marks beginning of Native exodus from Territory |
|
1820 |
Population of Territory, 8096. Detroit,
Mackinac, Sault Ste. Marie are largest towns |
|
1821 |
August 29. Cass negotiates Treaty at
Chicago, gaining from 'big three' nations - Chippewa, Ottawa,
Potawatomi - all Michigan territory south of Grand River that had not
previously been ceded |
|
1822 |
Fort Saginaw built on the Saginaw River; Fort Brady established at
Sault Ste. Marie. |
|
1825 |
Opening of Erie Canal facilitates
settlement of Michigan and shipping of farm products to East
Land values rise |
|
1828 |
The Territorial Capitol building is built at Detroit for a cost of
$24,500 [site Capitol Park, Detroit]. |
|
1830 |
Population 31,639
Severe depression strikes Michigan |
|
1831 |
August 1. General Lewis Cass, appointed
secretary of war by President Jackson in July, resigns governorship
Stevens T. Mason, at age of 19, becomes
acting governor - a post he holds several times during following four
years |
|
1832 |
July 4. Seven-week cholera epidemic
devastates Detroit; Belle Isle is used for quarantine |
|
1834 |
Michigan Territory includes present states of Michigan, Iowa,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and part of Dakota. March. Territorial legislature petitions
Congress for permission to form State government. Southern States
protest admission of another free State; Ohio protests the boundary
Michigan claims on the South; Congress refuses permission
July 6. Second cholera epidemic at
Detroit begins with death of Governor George B. Porter; wipes out one
seventh of population |
|
1835 |
February 23. Ohio legislature passes act
asserting claims to the 'Toledo strip,' along her northern boundary
April. Acting Governor Stevens T. Mason
calls out militia; Toledo War begins, with more anger than gunfire.
Border incidents continue into September, jurisdictional wrangling
through all of 1836
May 11. Convention at Detroit forms
State constitution in preparation for statehood; approved by general
electorate on October 5
Michigan is not admitted to the
Union because she will not surrender her claim to the Toledo strip. The area was later
relinquished in exchange for the western section of the Upper Peninsula - and a promise of
Statehood. |
|
1836 |
Daily stages begin carrying mail and
passengers to Sandusky, Chicago, and Central Michigan; railroad to
Jackson is under construction; ship building becomes important along
nearby rivers and lake shores - during 7 months of navigation, 200,000
persons pass through Detroit's port
Quaker preacher employs underground
railroad to bring slaves into Cass County, and movement of fugities
and freed slaves into State begins |
|
1837 |
January 26. Michigan admitted to the
Union as a free State The Upper
Peninsula [lost to Wisconsin Territory when it was created April 20,
1836] is restored to Michigan, substantially in exchange for accepting
Ohio's boundary claims. Described in a federal report as a "sterile region on the shores of
Lake Superior
destined by soil and climate to remain forever a wilderness," the U.P becomes a part of the new
state of Michigan. Ohio, in turn, is given the disputed city of Toledo. |
|
1839 |
Astor's American Fur Company builds the U.P.'s first railroad, a .7 mile long line
around the St. Mary's River rapids in Sault Ste. Marie. It operates until 1855 when the Soo canal
Locks are completed. |
|
1841 |
February 1. Dr. Douglass Houghton, first
State geologist, reports on rich copper deposits of Superior region,
and makes cautious mention of possibility of iron ore in Marquette
district Fall. University of
Michigan opened at Ann Arbor |
|
1842 |
Treaty of LaPointe: Indians cede Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle
Royale, rich in copper, also valuable iron districts - the last Indian
holdings in State. Copper mining operations begin near
Keweenaw Point.
U.P. copper in the Keweenaw and iron mines just south and west of Marquette
proliferate, but won't become profitable for another 2 or 3 decades. The federal government creates
Fort Wilkins near Copper Harbor to maintain order on this frontier. |
|
1844 |
September 19. Iron ore discovered on
site of present-day city of Negaunee by surveyor William A. Burt
[inventor of solar compass]
November 18. Cliff Lode is discovered, first copper location to be
opened in Keweenaw district Fort Wilkins built at Copper
Harbor. |
|
1846 |
September. Dr. A.C. Van Raalte, Dutch
secessionist pastor, sails for Rotterdam with 53 Hollanders; they form
nucleus of western Michigan's large Dutch settlements begun the
following winter. The Jackson
Mining Company begins operations on site of Burt's 1844 discovery;
first iron-ore mining in State |
|
1847 |
January 27 - Underground Railroad: Francis Troutman and several others arrive at the home of
the Adam Crosswhite family—Kentucky slaves who have escaped to Marshall.
March 17. Old capitol of Detroit used
for last time by State legislature, which directs that the capital be
permanently located "in the township of Lansing, in the county of Ingham." |
|
1848 |
Legislature met for first time in
Capitol in Lansing |
|
1849 |
Cliff Mine [of Cliff Lode] pays a
dividend of $60,000, first sum of this magnitude distributed in North
America on copper investment
There are 558 sawmills operating in State |
|
1850 |
Population of Michigan 397,654 |
|
1853 |
Ontonagon lighthouse completed. Samuel Peck is
appointed as the station's first keeper on August 26, 1853, and displayed the station's Lewis lamp
array for the first time that shipping season. In 1867 wooden lighthouse would
be rebuilt of brick in the "schoolhouse" style used frequently
throughout the Western Great Lakes during this time period. |
|
1854 |
July 6-8. Republican party first
organized at Jackson |
|
1855 |
May 21. Sault Ste. Marie ship canal
opened; destined to be among world's most important waterways
commercially. Eventually its tonnage will surpass both
the Suez and Panama canals. |
|
1857 |
Christian Reformed Church [in North
America] is founded by Michigan's Dutch settlers, following secession
from Reformed Church The first U.P. railroad
is completed between Ishpeming and Marquette, speeding mineral output
of Upper Peninsula |
|
1859 |
The first dock for shipping U.P. iron ore from the Marquette Range (from Neagunee to
Michigamme) to the rest of the country opens in Marquette, which becomes the commercial center of
the U.P. |
|
1860 |
Michigan population is 749,113
Successful well-drilling of salt begins
in Saginaw County |
|
1861 |
April. Thomas A. Edison erects his first
electrical battery and begins experiments at Fort Gratiot [Port Huron]
May 13. First Michigan Regiment leaves
Fort Wayne and is the first western regiment to reach Washington during Civil
War, in which 90,000 Michigan soldiers see service |
|
1864 |
February 17. First Michigan Colored
Infantry [USCT] is mustered in. Black Michigan troops number 1,673
The copper lode at Calumet is
discovered. Michigan's production of copper exceeds that of any other
state until 1887 |
|
1866 |
Brothers Thomas and Bartley Breen
discover an iron-ore outcropping near Waucedah, and are credited with
being the first whites in that area. |
|
1868 |
Frederick Baraga, the first bishop of the Catholic diocese of the
Upper Peninsula, dies in Marquette. |
|
1870 |
Population 1,054,670; chiefly rural |
|
1871 |
Summer. Forest fires sweep across State,
destroying towns, leveling thousands of acres of pine, causing losses
in the millions of dollars
Calumet & Hecla Mining Company consolidates local [Calumet] mining
interests, controlling one of the world's richest copper districts.
Calumet becomes company town.
Negaunee's average annual iron-ore
production reaches 135,000 tons |
|
1873 |
John Lane Buell discovers the Menominee
Iron Range, leading to
development of the area
and subsequent creation of Dickinson County. |
|
1876 |
Ontonagon mine operator builds first
telephone system [20 miles] in Michigan, after seeing Bell's invention
at Philadelphia exposition |
|
1877 |
Active operations begin in the mines of
Menominee iron district |
|
1879 |
New State Capitol dedicated at Lansing |
|
1880 |
Population 1,636,937 with 75% living in
rural areas
Discovery of Gogebic Range iron ore
in large quantity at Bessemer |
|
1881 |
Lumbering begins in Ontonagon County;
October. Railroad ferry service connects
Upper and Lower Peninsulas, making Upper Peninsula readily accessible
for first time |
|
1883 |
Compulsory school-attendance law is
passed Half of copper mined in
US since 1847 has come from Michigan
Diamond Match Company opens in Ontonagon |
|
1884 |
Working of iron-ore deposits of Gogebic
Range begins, when transportation facilities are acquired
John and Thomas Clegg build first
self-propelled vehicle of Michigan manufacture, a four-wheeled steamer
auto |
|
1885 |
September 15. Michigan College of Mines
opens [Houghton] |
|
1887 |
Iron-ore shipments from Menominee Range
begin; at end of year, total shipments amount to 6,000,000 tons
Ransome E. Olds' first auto steamer
appears [steam generated by burning gasoline] |
|
1889 |
First railroad logging in Ontonagon County |
|
1890s |
The booming Gogebic Range around Ironwood helps the U.P. become the nation's
biggest supplier of iron ore. The industry peaks in 1920, then steadily declines as deeper
mines and scarcer iron ore make production too costly. |
|
1890 |
Michigan's population is 2,093,889.
Peak period for manufacture of patented
road carts at Flint, laying foundations for automotive industry in
that city |
|
1891 |
May 21. Dickinson County created
from Marquette and Menominee Counties.
October 1. Port Huron, Michigan, and
Sarnia, Ontario, are joined by Grand Trunk R.R. tunnel under St. Clair
River; first underwater railroad tunnel linking foreign countries |
|
1893 |
Olds brings out a practical four-wheeled
auto. The first practical Ford car is made. |
|
1896 |
August 25. The town of Ontonagon, with a population of 2,300, is
consumed by fire; 340 buildings, commercial and residential, were destroyed; 1 person died. |
|
1899 |
Northern State Normal School Michigan University is founded as a teachers' college by
the state legislature. It becomes Northern Michigan University and grows to become U.P.'s largest
university with 8,000 students. Olds Motor Works erects in Detroit first
factory built in America for manufacture of automobiles
Detroit Automobile Company organizes to
build Ford's car [this becomes Cadillac Company after Ford withdraws] |
|
1900 |
Copper mining in the U.P. begins a slow decline due to cheaper surface mines elsewhere. The
last mine closes in 1965. Michigan's population has grown to 2,420,982. |
|
1902 |
Packard Motor Car Company and Cadillac
Motor Car Company are organized |
|
1904 |
Organization of Buick Motor Company
marks beginning of auto manufacture in Flint on large scale |
|
1906 |
Timbering of second-growth forests
begins in Upper Peninsula |
|
1908 |
William C. Durant organizes General
Motors Company [later Corporation]
Fisher Body Corporation is founded
First Model T Fords are manufactured |
|
1911 |
November. Durant organizes Chevrolet
Motor Car Company |
|
1913 |
July 23. Western Federation of Miners
calls strike among 13,514 Upper Peninsula copper miners; violence and
bloodshed result There are
60,000 autos registered in Michigan |
|
1914 |
January. Henry Ford announces adoption
of $5 minimum wage for 8-hour day
Following the 1913, Finns initiate
cooperative stores in the copper country
First permanent and independent
symphony orchestra organizes in Detroit |
|
1916 |
WWI. Many Michigan men join Canadian
companies leaving for France.
Annual copper production reaches peak of 270 million pounds refined
copper; iron ore from Marquette Range alone at peak of 5.5 million
tons |
|
1918 |
Michigan men in World War service
reaches total of 135,485 |
|
1919 |
Influenza deaths in Detroit number 3,814 |
|
1920 |
The population of Michigan is 3,668,412. |
|
1922 |
Airline service is established between
Detroit and Cleveland |
|
1926 |
November 3. Worst disaster in Michigan
iron mining occurs at Barnes-Hecker mine, when quicksands break
through walls entombing 52 men 1,000 feet below surface. The mine is
sealed and abandoned. |
|
1928 |
....through 1931. Huge tracts of U.P. land, part public domain, part abandoned cutover timberlands,
are assembled to become today's million-acre Ottawa National Forest and 900,000-acre Hiawatha
National Forest. Together with the vast state park and forest lands, over one third of the U.P.
eventually becomes government owned recreational land. |
|
1929 |
Some large copper mines of Keweenaw
Peninsula close; 85% of Keweenaw County population goes on relief
Ambassador Bridge opened between Detroit
and Windsor, Canada |
|
1930s |
Sea lampreys invade the Great Lakes. The lampreys, along with alewives (introducted in
the 1870s), overfishing, and pollution largely destroys commercial fishing in the U.P. by 1960. The
only remaining commercial fishing in the U.P. is by Native Americans, who are allowed to use gill
nets. |
|
1930 |
Michigan's population 4,842,325. Indians in State
estimated at 7,000, about 1,214 full-bloods. Blacks number 169,453.
Urban centers account for 68.2% of population, almost an exact
reversal of 1880
Detroit-Windsor, Canada tunnel opened |
|
1932 |
February 14. Governor William A.
Comstock calls State-wide 'banking holiday' to avoid bank runs after
disclosure of condition of Union Guardian Trust Company, Detroit
March 7. "Ford Hunger March' riot occurs
at Ford plant in Dearborn |
|
1933 |
May 2. Two hundred young men from Detroit arrive at an isolated
spot in Chippewa County and set up Camp Raco—Michigan's first Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) facility. |
|
1935 |
In the midst of the Great Depression, the United Automobile
Workers of America (UAW)
is organized in Detroit. |
|
1936 |
December 30.
Spurred by an unfounded rumor that work is going to be transferred to plants with weak union
support, autoworkers begin a spontaneous sit-down strike at General Motors Corporation (GMC) plants
in Flint. The strike affects 150,000 workers and closes more than 60 plants in 14 states |
|
1937 |
Keweenaw Peninsula copper mining again
turns upward, production reaching 75,000 pounds |
|
1939 |
August 9. Tornadoes and freak storms
injure scores of persons and cause damage estimated at over a million
dollars in Lower Peninsula. |
|
1940 |
Michigan's population is now 5,256,106
The U.P.'s population declines by 20,000 as booming Southeastern Michigan factories
lure laborers.
July 15. The world's tallest man, Robert
P. Wadlow, 8'9-1/2" tall, dies at Manistee at the age of 22
November 11. Coast Guard officials
estimate 65 persons lost their lives in the waters of Lake Michigan in
78 mph gale; sixteen bodies washed ashore at Ludington. |
|
1941 |
Auto plants are converted to the production of war materials, helping
Michigan become known as the "Arsenal of Democracy" on October 1st. |
|
1944 |
Porcupine State Park is created, eventually growing to 58,000 acres and becoming one of
the country's premier parklands. |
|
1947 |
Tahquamenon Falls State Park, with the U.P.'s biggest waterfall, is finally created
after years of assembling parcels. Today it totals over 38,000 acres. |
|
1950s |
The U.S. Air Force establishes two huge B-52 bases in the U.P., positioned to attack
the Soviet Union across the Arctic Circle. Kincheloe AFB is built near Kinross; Sawyer is built just
south of Marquette. They both grow into sizable communities of about 10,000. Kincheloe closes in the
1970s, Sawyer in the 1990s. |
|
1957 |
November 1. Mackinac Bridge opens, united
Michigan's two peninsulas. U.P tourism grows substantially. |
|
1960 |
The only remaining commercial fishing in the U.P. is by Native Americans, who are allowed to use gill
nets. (See
1930s entry.) |
