by Suzette Baker

Created on: October 05, 2010

Also known as the Wolverine State, Michigan is situated in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The state's nickname comes from the wolverine pelts brought to the region by the early fur traders. Michigan not only touches four of the five great lakes, it also has the longest shoreline of any state except Alaska. There are two separate land areas that separate the state-the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula.

When the Europeans first arrived in the area, Michigan was home to several Indian tribes including the Chippewa, Ottawa, Miami, and the Wyandot. Arriving in the area some time in or around 1620, Etienne Brule is believed to be the first white person to explore the Upper Peninsula. Years later in 1634, Jean Nicolet was sent to the Michigan region by Governor Samuel de Champlain for the purpose of searching for a route to the Pacific Ocean. While he was there, Nicolet explored parts of Upper Peninsula. Later explorers of the Michigan region included Father Rene Menard who founded a mission at Keweenaw Bay in 1660 and Father Jacques Marquette who established the first permanent settlement at Sault Ste. Marie.

Throughout the late 1600’s, Marquette and others explored much of the region, mapping several of the rivers and lakes. Sometime around 1673, Marquette founded an Indian mission at St. Ignance which was located in the Upper Peninsula. Six years later in 1679, Cavelier Sieur de la Salle built the first sailing vessel of the Upper Great Lakes which he named the Griffin.

By 1700, numerous missions, forts and trading posts built by the French dotted the landscape along the Upper and Lower Peninsula. In July, 1701, Fort Pontchartrain, which would eventually become the city of Detroit, was established by the French Army officer Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac. With permission from Count Pontchatrain, chief minister of King Louis XIV, Cadillac constructed the settlement for the purposes of aiding the French in their fight against the British and maintaining control of the Upper Great Lakes. While under control of the French, the Michigan region realized very little development. The few farmers who settled in the area did so primarily along the Detroit River.

In the mid-1700’s, Michigan fell into the hands of the British when the French lost a series of wars that were fought for the control of North America.  During Pontiac’s War in 1763, Indians attacked Fort Michilimack located in Mackinaw City. They also attacked numerous other

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>