Facts of Michigan The discovery of Michigan by the French           The French started trading with the Indians in 1620. In 1688 Father Jacques Marquette, a missonary and explorer, founded a permanent village by the name of Saulte Ste. Marie. Other missionaries also established missions around the entire perimeter of Lake Michigan, coverting many of the Native Americans to Christianity. Michigan           There are two theories where the name Michigan was derived. The first states that it is derived from the Indian word 'Mishigamaa', which means 'Big Lake'. The second states it's from the Native American word 'Míshikehn' or 'Mákinaak,' which both means 'the big turtle'. Native Americans believe Michigan was started at 'Mackinac Island,' which is located in Lake Huron between the two peninsulas, after a deluge. Sand from the lake bottom covered a large turtle, which formed Michigan. With thanks to Jaawano Giijik (T. Geertsema), Warffum. The Flag At the top of the seal are the words 'E Pluribus Unum'. This means 'From many, one'. The word Tuebor means 'I will Defend', and refers to the frontier position of Michigan. The State Motto is 'Si quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice' means 'If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you'. Official State Symbols           Every state in the United States has official symbols, which are comprised of animals, plants, and other things which are special to the state. For Michigan it's:

	State ...	Symbol	Adopted	Picture
	Bird	Robin	1931
	Fish	Brook Trout	1988
	Flower	Apple Blossom	1897
	Game Mammal	Whitetail Deer	Unknown
	Gem	Chlorastrolie (Greenstone)	1972
	Motto	'Si quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice' ('If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you')	1835
	Nickname	'the Wolverine State'	Unknown
	Reptile	Painted Turtle	Unknown
	Soil	Kalaska Series	Unknown
	Stone	Petoskey	1965
	Tree	White Pine	1955
	Wildflower	Dwarf Lake Iris	1998

Other Facts The Territory In 1787, Michigan Territory was a part of other Central Western States On January 11th, 1805 it was declared a separate territory, effective June 30th On January 26th, 1827 Michigan became the 26th state of the USA The capital is Lansing, dedicated in 1847 Other big and important cities are: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo & Flint Michigan is split into the Lower and Upper Peninsula The most important cities in the Upper Peninsula are Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie The 'Mackinac Bridge' connects the Upper and Lower Peninsula It was opened in 1957 The bridge is five miles (eight kilometers) long The state of Michigan is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes Individually, they are Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Erie, and Lake Huron. The fifth Great Lake is Lake Ontario, which is located east of Lake Erie, does not touch Michigan. No point in Michigan is more than 85 miles (136 kilometers) from one of the Great Lakes No point in Michigan is more than 6 miles (8.5 kilometers) from a lake or river Michigan has a shoreline of 2,242 miles (3587 kilometers) Adding the shorelines of islands adds another 879 miles (1406 kilometers) of shoreline Timeline

	Year	What
	1805	The Michigan Territory is established with Detroit as the Capital
	1837	Michigan becomes the 26th state of the US
	1847	The Capital is moved to Lansing
	1914	Thousands of people come to Michigan to work in the auto industry, because Henry Ford promised $5.00 per day
	1957	The 'Mackinac Bridge' is completed, uniting the two Peninsulas

With thanks to the State of Michigan (Lt. Gov.) Why is Upper Peninsula from Michigan?           In 1834, Michigan wanted to join the US as a state. However, Michigan declared that their border was south of Toledo. Ohio said that Toledo was theirs. The federal government said that Ohio owned Toledo, but Michigan received Upper Peninsula for their loss. While at first the Michigan government was quite unhappy, they soon learned they had gotten the better deal when large deposits of iron ore and copper were found.   Back to History