# Geographic anomaly: Tiny bits of Michigan that drain into the Mississippi. Share your geo-anomalies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033 "2020-02-16T17:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/101 "2020-02-19T02:09:37Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > Actually the western border of Colorado takes a short jog somewhere near the middle. Surveyors started at the north and south, and when they were supposed to meet in the middle, they were a few miles apart. So they drew a diagonal line to connect the border. > > I think that’s the story from “How the States Got Their Shapes.” The border of Saskatchewan and Manitoba is a series of saw-teeth. Sask was laid out in square-mile sections, but the boundary meridians converge toward the poles’. Thw width of the province is always a whole but decreasing number of miles. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/102 "2020-02-20T17:35:30Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I think the surveyors got tired of mapping every twist and turn of the Wabash to establish a border with Illinois, so when they reached Terre Haute they just said “Screw it” and drew a straight line north to Lake Michigan. > [@dtilque](#): > > Possibly, although I really doubt it. More likely the border was described as being along a specific longitude south from the lake until it hit the Wabash and then followed the river to the Ohio. **Kent Clark** actually got it pretty close. According to [this PDF](https://igic.org/archives-committees/boundariesbook/fronts/02_territoriaandstatel.pdf), the border follows the Wabash until a specified point above the town of Vicennes, whereupon it heads due north for Lake Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/103 "2020-02-20T19:32:05Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Now can you reconcile [this GL watershed map](https://www.erbff.org/programs/great-lakes/great-lakes-watersheds-map/) with the state boundaries? > > “Lac Vieux Desert” in Wisconsin? I gotta see this. Road trip! Why “desert”? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/104 "2020-02-20T20:34:21Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Why “desert”? see [Post #71](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22144676&postcount=71) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/105 "2020-02-21T03:58:18Z")
Pend Orielle County, Washington, and Pondera County, Montana, are pronounced the same. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/106 "2020-02-21T14:50:25Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Pend Orielle County, Washington, and Pondera County, Montana, are pronounced the same. And to simplify it as much as possible, Ponderay, ID is also pronounced the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/107 "2020-02-21T15:10:40Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Pend Orielle County, Washington, and Pondera County, Montana, are pronounced the same. Seems plausible until I get to the “m”. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/108 "2020-02-21T16:17:51Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Seems plausible until I get to the “m”. Ba-dum tis! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033.md?page=5)