
Michigan

Deerings' Market in Traverse City,
Michigan, has been selling smoked meats since around the turn of the last century.
The same family still runs it, and they sell beef, venison, and turkey jerkey.
It's not like Memphis barbecue at all, but it's still slow-cooked, smoked meat.
This style of smoking meat preserves it and keeps it from spoiling. Native Americans
used this basic method in Michigan, and so did early fur traders there.
(sources: http://www.deerings.com/history.html, Weavre's old anthropology notes)