# Upper Michigan **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412 "2005-11-30T18:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![karen\_burznski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@karen\_burznski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karen_burznski)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/1 "2005-11-30T18:05:35Z")
Why is Upper Michigan part of the state of Michigan, the 2 Michigans don’t even border each other. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/2 "2005-11-30T18:14:25Z")
Because Ohio got Toledo. After the [“Toledo War”](http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17451_18670_18793-67860--,00.html) of 1835, Michigan was forced to accept a compromise which granted Toledo to Ohio and the western UP to Michigan in order to be accepted into the Union. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/3 "2005-11-30T18:15:41Z")
Ohio and Michigan almost got into an actual interstate war over the city of Toledo in the early 1800’s. (Yeah, Toledo!). The federal goverment stepped in and gave the UP to Michigan as a compromise. For the longest time Michigan thought they got screwed in the deal. Today, the UP is the playground of the state. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/4 "2005-11-30T18:21:39Z")
Because Ohio got Toledo. That’s the short answer. Michigan and Ohio were both interested in the “Toledo Strip” at the mouth of the Maumee River. As part of a compromise reached by Congress, it was given to Ohio and Michigan was granted a larger portion of the upper peninsula. Do a search for the “Toledo War” for more information. Upon preview, what **Uncle Beer** said ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/5 "2005-11-30T18:22:06Z")
North of 8 Mile indeed. Gotcha by a whole minute there, Amigo. Ohio (I’m in a Toledo 'burb which tucks right up against the state line) defeats Michigan again! Anyway, here’s a pretty good page for Karen detailing the history of the UP. [http://www.geocities.com/lukefisk.geo/history.html](http://www.geocities.com/lukefisk.geo/history.html) ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/6 "2005-11-30T20:48:03Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Ohio (I’m in a Toledo 'burb which tucks right up against the state line) defeats Michigan again! I used to live in Toledo, aka Zero City. Trust me; Michigan got the far, far better end of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/7 "2005-11-30T21:48:07Z")
Hey!!! I live just outside of Toledo, and I represent that remark… 😛 It should be noted for clarity that Ohio didn’t own the Upper Peninsula; it was part of the Wisconsin Territory before they gave it to Michigan. So, Ohio got a strip of land that included Toledo, Michigan got the Upper Peninsula, and the future state of Wisconsin got cheesed. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/8 "2005-11-30T22:11:37Z")
> [@Si Amigo](#): > > Today, the UP is the playground of the state. Yeah, if your idea of “playground” includes cheap beer and snow 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/9 "2005-11-30T22:59:17Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > It should be noted for clarity that Ohio didn’t own the Upper Peninsula; it was part of the Wisconsin Territory before they gave it to Michigan. So […] the future state of Wisconsin got cheesed. :eek: It wasn’t necessarily in the cards that Wisconsin might have had Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, under any circumstances. Large territories often had names later inherited by a smaller state carved from them. For example, Oregon Territory covered what are now the states of Washington and Idaho, some of Montana, as well as the present state of Oregon of course. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/10 "2005-11-30T23:22:30Z")
Yeah, the state of Minnesota was carved out of the ‘Wisconsin’ territory, also. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/11 "2005-11-30T23:29:31Z")
If all current states had the name of the territories they came from, then Louisiana is going to be one really big state. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/12 "2005-11-30T23:45:03Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Yeah, if your idea of “playground” includes cheap beer and snow 🙂 Mine does! Course, I’m from the U.P. At least some of the U.P. was always part of the Michigan Territory, as well. The best online [cite](http://www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/toledo_war.html) I could find shows that it would be pretty much Mackinac and Chippewa counties. Others showed it going as far west as Marquette, or so. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/13 "2005-11-30T23:47:30Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Yeah, if your idea of “playground” includes cheap beer and snow 🙂 Those are just a couple of things included in my playround. 😉 BTW, I am from Ohio and went to OSU. How about them Buckeyes! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/14 "2005-12-01T03:54:54Z")
> [@St. Urho](#): > > Mine does! Course, I’m from the U.P. Yeah, I know, you’re following in my footsteps. Born & raised in the UP, then 11 years in Colorado… now back in the UP. If you’re lucky, you’ll keep following me 🙂 I’ll keep the beer cold, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/15 "2005-12-01T08:47:10Z")
Whenever I talk to someone about the Michigan-Ohio war over who got Toledo, I always make sure to point out that Ohio lost. 😃 Lok ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/16 "2005-12-01T12:07:53Z")
> [@Si Amigo](#): > > BTW, I am from Ohio and went to OSU. How about them Buckeyes! 🆒 So, the football rivalry between the University of Michigan and OSU is just a continuation ofv the Toledo War by other means? That explains a lot! [OSU vs. Michgan](http://library.osu.edu/sites/archives/OSUvsMichigan/osuvsmichigan.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/17 "2005-12-01T13:01:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > So, the football rivalry between the University of Michigan and OSU is just a continuation ofv the Toledo War by other means? That explains a lot! > [OSU vs. Michgan](http://library.osu.edu/sites/archives/OSUvsMichigan/osuvsmichigan.htm) Yes indeed. I love living in Michigan now, but every November the old battle flags and taunting starts up again. I guess I’ll always be viewed as a spy in enemy territory. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/18 "2005-12-01T13:28:32Z")
Go packers Say ya to da UP Say NO to Sulfide Mining in the UP This probably Since there are probably a few resident yoopers reading this, what’s the buzz locally on putting the salmon trout and yellow dog at risk? I’m afraid I live with the trolls nowdays. It barely makes the papers down here. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/19 "2005-12-01T13:57:23Z")
> [@Keweenaw](#): > > Say NO to Sulfide Mining in the UP > > This probably Since there are probably a few resident yoopers reading this, what’s the buzz locally on putting the salmon trout and yellow dog at risk? There’s a lot of negative press about it, and people are organizing to fight Kennecott and what they want to do. As happens so often in these types of things, I’m afraid it’s going to come down to who has the most money. Luckily it’s caught the attention of some of the more monied people in town, and the Huron Mountain Club has come out against it. Still, it’s not like everyone’s against it. There’s a lot of people who think it’s going to bring jobs to the area, even though most of what I read says that Kennecott has a history of bringing in their own people for everything but the lowest level crap jobs. That coupled with the enormous probability of a great deal of pollution resulting from the mines doesn’t paint a very happy picture. News can be found [here.](http://www.ydeaglescry.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412/20 "2005-12-01T14:19:15Z")
> [@Keweenaw](#): > > I’m afraid I live with the trolls nowdays. And before anybody hits the report button on this, it has nothing to do with The Name That May Not Be Called on SDMB; it’s an “affectionate” term used by Upper Peninsula folks for those who live on the Lower Peninsula, i.e., “below the [Mackinac] Bridge.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upper-michigan/333412.md?page=2)