The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the UP, or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land “above the Bridge” linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by the St. Mary’s River, on the southeast by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and on the southwest by Wisconsin. Based on geographical differences, the peninsula is sometimes divided into the Western Upper Peninsula (“WUP”) and Eastern Upper Peninsula (“EUP”).
The Upper Peninsula contains 29% of the land area of Michigan but just three percent of its total population. Residents are frequently called Yoopers (derived from “U.P.-ers”) and have a strong regional identity. It includes the only counties in the United States where a plurality of residents claim Finnish ancestry. Large numbers of Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian emigrants came to the Upper Peninsula, especially the Keweenaw Peninsula, to work in the mines, and they stayed on and prospered even after the copper mines closed.
Ordered by size, the peninsula’s largest cities are Marquette, Sault Ste. Marie, Escanaba, Menominee, Iron Mountain, and Houghton. The land and climate are not very suitable for agriculture because of the long harsh winters. The economy has been based on logging, mining and tourism. Most mines have closed since the “golden age” from 1890 to 1920. The land is heavily forested and logging remains a major industry.
History
The first known inhabitants of the Upper Peninsula were tribes speaking Algonquian languages. They arrived roughly around AD 800 and subsisted chiefly from fishing. Early tribes included the Menominee, Nocquet, and the Mishinimaki. Étienne Brûlé of France was probably the first European to visit the peninsula, crossing the St. Marys River around 1620 in search of a route to the Far East. French colonists laid claim to the land in the 17th century, establishing missions and fur trading posts such as Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace. Following the end of the French and Indian War (part of the Seven Years’ War) in 1763, the territory was ceded to Great Britain.
American Indian tribes formerly allied with the French were dissatisfied with the British occupation, which brought new territorial policies. Whereas the French cultivated alliances among the Indians, the British postwar approach was to treat the tribes as conquered peoples. In 1763 tribes united in Pontiac’s Rebellion to try to drive the British from the area. American Indians captured Fort Michilimackinac, near present-day Mackinaw City, Michigan, then the principal fort of the British in the Michilimackinac region, as well as others and killed hundreds of British. In 1764 they began negotiations with the British which resulted in temporary peace and changes in objectionable British policies.
Although the Upper Peninsula nominally became United States territory with the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the British did not give up control until 1797 under terms of the Jay Treaty. As an American territory, the Upper Peninsula was still dominated by the fur trade. John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island in 1808; however, the industry began to decline in the 1830s as beaver and other game were over-hunted.
When the Michigan Territory was first established in 1805, it included only the Lower Peninsula and the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula. In 1819 the territory was expanded to include the remainder of the Upper Peninsula, all of Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota (previously included in the Indiana and Illinois Territories). When Michigan was preparing for statehood in the 1830s, the boundaries proposed corresponded to the original territorial boundaries, with some proposals even leaving the Upper Peninsula out entirely. Meanwhile, the territory was involved in a border dispute with the state of Ohio in a conflict known as the Toledo War.
The people of Michigan approved a constitution in May 1835 and elected state officials in late autumn 1835. Although the state government was not yet recognized by the United States Congress, the territorial government effectively ceased to exist. A constitutional convention of the state legislature refused a compromise to accept the full Upper Peninsula in exchange for ceding the Toledo Strip to Ohio. A second convention, hastily convened by Governor Stevens Thomson Mason, consisting primarily of Mason supporters, agreed in December 1836 to accept the U.P. in exchange for the Toledo Strip.
In January 1837, the U.S. Congress admitted Michigan as a state of the Union. At the time, Michigan was considered the losing party in the compromise. The land in the Upper Peninsula was 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.”
his belief changed when rich mineral deposits (primarily copper and iron) were discovered in the 1840s. The Upper Peninsula’s mines produced more mineral wealth than the California Gold Rush, especially after shipping was improved by the opening of the Soo Locks in 1855 and docks in Marquette in 1859. The Upper Peninsula supplied 90% of America’s copper by the 1860s. It was the largest supplier of iron ore by the 1890s, and production continued to a peak in the 1920s, but sharply declined shortly afterward. The last copper mine closed in 1995, although the majority of mines had closed decades before. Some iron mining continues near Marquette.
Thousands of Americans and immigrants moved to the area during the mining boom, prompting the federal government to create Fort Wilkins near Copper Harbor to maintain order. The first wave were the Cornish from England, with centuries of mining experience; followed by Irish, Germans, and French Canadians. During the 1890s, Finnish immigrants began settling there in large numbers, forming the population plurality in the North-Western half of the peninsula. In the early 20th century, 75% of the population was foreign-born.
From 1861 to 1865, 90,000 Michigan men fought in the American Civil War, including 1,209 from the Upper Peninsula. Houghton County contributed 460 soldiers, while Marquette County, Michigan sent 265.
Geography
The UP contains 16,452 square miles, almost one-third of the land area of the state (exclusive of territorial waters, which constitute about 40% of Michigan’s total jurisdictional area). The maximum east-west distance in the Upper Peninsula is about 320 miles, and the maximum north-south distance is about 125 miles. It is bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by St. Mary’s River, on the south by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and on the west by Wisconsin and (counting the water border on Lake Superior) by Minnesota. It has about 1,700 miles of continuous shoreline with the Great Lakes. There are about 4,300 inland lakes, the largest of which is Lake Gogebic, and 12,000 miles of streams.
The peninsula is divided between the flat, swampy areas in the east, part of the Great Lakes Plain, and the steeper, more rugged western half, called the Superior Upland, part of the Canadian Shield. The rock in the western portion is the result of volcanic eruptions and is estimated to be at least 3.5 billion years old (much older than the eastern portion) and contains the region’s ore resources. Banded-iron formations were deposited 2,000 million years ago; this is the Marquette Range Supergroup. A considerable amount of bedrock is visible. Mount Arvon, the highest point in Michigan, is found in the region, as well as the Porcupine and Huron Mountains. All of the higher areas are the remnants of ancient peaks, worn down over millions of years by erosion and glaciers.
The Keweenaw Peninsula is the northernmost part of the peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, part of a larger region of the peninsula called the Copper Country.[citation needed] Copper Island is its northernmost section.
About one third of the peninsula is government owned recreational forest land today, including the Ottawa National Forest and Hiawatha National Forest. Although heavily logged in the 19th century, the majority of the land was forested with mature trees by the 1970s.
Look UP for natural beauty and man made wonders
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is boasts some of the most awesome natural beauty in the country. Woven into the natural scenery are artifacts from a history that epitomizes the American frontier spirit.
Early History
Michigan’s UP is 16,000 square miles filled with an assortment of natural and manmade wonders. The the Ojibway and Menominee Indians who were the regions first inhabitants were joined in the 18th century by French and British settlers, most of who came here for the fur trade. Miners, lumbermen, fishers and merchant sailors would follow over the next two centuries, harvesting the regions rich natural resources and leaving their personal mark on the history of the UP. Today, most of those mines are closed, with some serving as historical markers and tourist attractions.
Among one of the earlier settlers was America’s first millionaire, John Jacob Astor, who formed his American Fur Company at what is now Mackinac Island. He built the U.P.’s first railroad, a three-quarter mile line around the St. Mary’s River rapids in Sault Ste. Marie, which operated until the Soo Locks opened in 1855.
The Land of Hiawatha
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow chose Pictured Rocks as the back drop for his epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha. Today, Picture Rocks is a national park, where visitors enjoy 42 miles of Lake Superior shoreline with its spectacular rock formations, waterfalls and sand dunes. Hiawatha National Forest and the Isle Royale round out the nationally protect parks and forests in the UP. Joining the Federal parks are hundreds of state and municipal parks and wild life preserves open to visitors.
Riches from the earth
The UP was riddled with rich veins of copper and iron ore. Prehistoric natives mined copper on the Isle Royale where the world’s largest mine was once located. Archeologists have unearthed remains of hundreds of smaller mines on the island and throughout the UP. In modern times, Michigan was known for its iron mines. Of the six ranges in the U.S., three of them are in Michigan, with the largest, the Marquette Range, running 40 miles long and three to ten miles wide across the Upper Peninsula.
The Snow Belt
The Upper Peninsula has a humid continental climate. The Great Lakes impact the weather, although differently depending on which side of the peninsula you are in. Winters tend to be long cold and snowy, with as much as 250 inches of snow per year on the Lake Superior side. The worst snow falls in the Keweenaw Peninsula nd Gogebic County, which are the snowiest regions east of the Rockies. Winter days are short, with only 8 hours between sunrise and sunset. Winters are more mild on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula. Summers are mild, with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the mid 50s.
