Michigan touches four of the five Great Lakes and extends far into Lake
Superior—the largest freshwater lake in the world. The Keweenaw Peninsula
arches like a claw past the remote town of Copper Harbor into Superior. Across
the lake, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) northeast of Copper Harbor, Isle
Royale National Park stakes out the northernmost point in Michigan. This island is
a national park devoted almost entirely to wildlife preservation.

Although they cleave Michigan into the Upper and Lower peninsulas, the Straits of
Mackinac do not divide the state’s natural land regions. The eastern part of the
Upper Peninsula and entire Lower Peninsula together make up the Eastern Great
Lakes Lowland. The northern reaches of this lowland are awash in swampy bogs,
which hamper agricultural ventures here. But the sandy, moist soils of the Lower
Peninsula allow grains to grow plentifully. Along the shores of Lake Michigan,
especially around Traverse City, growers harvest cherries, apples, and a variety of
other fruits protected by the lake from harmful frosts. Richer soils found farther
south help produce most of the state’s agricultural revenues.

The heavily wooded Superior Upland ranges across the western reaches of the
Upper Peninsula, culminating in the Porcupine Mountains and the state’s highest
point, Mount Curwood, standing 604 meters (1,980 feet). To the northeast, the
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore wears the imprint of the severe winter weather
and intense winds typical of northern Michigan. The rough-hewn colors and jagged
rock formations of the Pictured Rocks contrast vividly with the rounded, constantly
shifting sand dunes along Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on the far more
populous Lower Peninsula.

Native American Ojibwa and Ottawa were trapping and fishing along the Upper
Peninsula when French missionaries and fur traders arrived in the 1600s. The
French maintained a stronghold here throughout much of the 18th century but
eventually lost the territory to British forces in 1763. The area’s Native American
populations—which also included the Miami and the Potawatomi in the
southwest—resisted European settlement of Michigan and at various times
attacked settlers. But the French settlement at Detroit, founded in 1701, and the
succession of fur-trading posts and forts at the Straits of Mackinac indicated that
European incursions into the area were permanent.

The Erie Canal, which links Lake Erie and the Hudson River, was completed in
1825, and Detroit became the area’s major commercial port. From that time on,
settlers had an easier route to unsettled territories further to the west. Eleven years
after completion of the canal, the railroad reached from what is now Toledo, Ohio,
to the small town of Adrian in southeast Michigan. Residents around Toledo, then
considered part of the Michigan Territory, began to insist that the town be
transferred to Ohio. After both Michigan and Ohio dispatched troops to the area,
the United States government intervened to end the bloodless Toledo War.
Michigan was granted statehood and the Upper Peninsula, and Ohio received
Toledo.

Railroads and agricultural expansion spurred widespread population growth in
Michigan throughout the 19th century. The defining moment for the state came
when Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, and W. C. Durant each founded their own
automobile manufacturing facilities in Detroit, Lansing, and Flint. Two world wars
boosted the production of automobiles and other transportation items, and the
state’s manufacturing sector expanded, bringing scores of residents to the state.

Cities in Michigan today spread out from Detroit, the state’s economic hub and
main port. The completion of the Mackinac Bridge in 1957 enabled travelers to
drive across the Straits of Mackinac, which join Lakes Michigan and Huron. The
vast majority of Michigan residents have nonetheless continued making their homes
in the Lower Peninsula. Lakeshore areas around the state’s 11,000 lakes have
become a leading destination for residents and visitors, especially vacationers from
the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic United States.

The long, finger-shaped lake west of the Lower Peninsula was originally called
michi gama, or “big water,” by local Algonquian-speaking Native Americans.
This name, anglicized into Michigan, was later applied to the territory and the state,
which seems appropriate given that no point in Michigan is farther than 137
kilometers (85 miles) from one of the Great Lakes.