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The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 3, 1995 - 3

land

Dbody
anted

Marquette Sault Ste. Marie
The Upper Peninsula's largest city, with Home of the Soo Locks, the
about 22,000 people. only way to travel between
Home of a U.S. Winter Olympic Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
training facility. The National Ski Also home to Lake Superior
Hall of Fame isnearby.State University.
twsFalls

r Megan Schimpf
laily Staff Reporter
P opularly regarded at the times
the "poor, frozen country
beyond Lake Michigan," the
Jpper Peninsula was granted to the
tate of Michigan as a consolation prize
n the dispute with Ohio over a strip of
and containing Toledo.
As Michigan sought statehood in
836, issues including the balance be-
ween slave and free states and the
pcoming presidential elections caused
clash in Congress. Michigan was seen
s a counter to Arkansas' recent admis-
ion to the Union as a slave state.
But the issue that concerned
dichiganians more than any other was
border dispute with Ohio over a 468-
quare-mile strip of land in the south-
ast corner of the state, which included
'oledo-considered valuable because
fits harbor on Lake Erie and control of
he mouth of the Maumee River.
In a scuffle called the "Toledo War,"
he Michigan Militia organized to fight
hie Ohio Militia. In fact, there were two
asualties - a pig and a man who fell
n a knife.
" There was more brawling in taverns
ndthings like that," said Eastern Michi-
;an University history Prof. Jo Ellen
Vinyard.
Congress settled the dispute June 15,
836, with the Northern Ohio Bound-
ry Bill, giving Toledo to Ohio and
;ranting Michigan the 13,000-square
miles of the Upper Peninsula and im-
nediate statehood.
'President Andrew Jackson worried
hat giving Toledo to Michigan would
)ffnd Ohio, Indiana and Illinois -
ifd their 25 combined electoral votes
hgaining only three votes from Michi-
;an for his chosen successor, Martin
Van Buren.
Mi'chiganians on both peninsulas
Nero unhappy with the decision.
"People in the Lower Peninsula had
io'idea what was up there and thought
liey were getting some kind of waste-
ahd," Vinyard said. "People in the
Jpper Peninsula - and there weren't
hat many up there at this time - were
nudre interested in being separate than
)eing tacked on to somewhere else."
'Most Upper Peninsula residents at
he time felt closer ties to Wisconsin.
)etroit is closer to New York City than
o parts of the Upper Peninsula, both
;eographically and logistically.
"There was some sentiment in the
Jpper Peninsula as to whether they
vanted to be a part of Michigan," said
)avid Armour, current deputy director
f the Mackinac State Historic Parks.
It was kind of a controversial thing."

of Mount ArYOn
Michigan"s highest
point: 1,979 feet high.

Lakeshore

4

Lower Peninsula Michiganians were
even more appalled by the ruling. A
petition signed by 1,000 Detroiters re-
jected the gift of "the sterile region on
the shores of Lake Superior, destined
by soil and climate to remain forever a
wilderness."
Resigned, some groups favored ac-
cepting the Upper Peninsula and be-
coming a state, but others rallied against
losing Toledo, which they felt was more
important than the "whole of Wiscon-
sin."
The ruling - and statehood - re-
quired a convention, which was con-
vened in the Washtenaw County Court-
house in Ann Arbor in the summer of
1836. Delegates, elected on the basis of
population, rejected the compromise,
28-21, after a few days of debate.
But even with the widespread disfa-
vor with the congressional compromise,
public opinion began to favor state-
hood.
In addition to balancing free and slave
states, Michigan, as a state, would re-
ceive a share of the $500,000 treasury
surplus to be divided on Jan. 1, 1837.
More importantly, states received 5
percent of all public land sale money.
Stephens T. Mason, the territorial
governor, decided the money was more
important than debating about Toledo
and convened a second convention in
Ann Arbor, using delegates chosen to
approve the resolution.
The results of the two conventions
were debated in Congress for several
weeks.
Jackson signed the bill granting
Michigan - both peninsulas -state-
hood on Jan. 26, 1837.
The compromise paid off well for
those most unhappy with it. Copper
was discovered in the Upper Peninsula
in the 1840s, and the Upper Peninsula
led U.S. copper production until the
late 19th century.
"All the wealth of the resources was
unknown," Vinyard said. "In fact, the
wealth of the resources of the Upper
Peninsula would be the mainstay of the
Michigan economy in the last decades of
the 19th century. But it was an unknown.
"I guess Michigan certainly, defi-
nitely came out ahead. As transporta-

Escanaba
_Third-largest
city in the

ids

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V*)

JONATHAN BERNDT/Daiy
UP draws
visitors
year-round
By Lisa Dines
Daily News Editor
sports lover's haven, a winter won
derland and a family adventure cen-
ter, the Upper Peninsula draws tourists
from around the state and the Midwest.
"The Upper Peninsula is unique in
the state because of the variety of major
attractions," said Dan Spotts, assistant
professor at the travel, tourism and rec-
reation resource centerat Michigan State
University. "It's outstanding for hunt-
ing, fishing and fall colors. It's gener-
ally considereda sportsman's paradise."
Family attractions include abandoned
mining towns, natural wonders, out-
door sports and historic areas. Visitors
are drawn to the beauty of places like
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Park,
the largest virgin redwood forest in the
region, Presque Isle Falls and
Tahquamenon Falls.
The shoreline is an excellent site for
outdoor sports like water-skiing, fish-
ing and boating. Wildlife buffs can try
to catch a glimpse of the Upper
Peninsula's only moose herd or scores
of wild bird varieties.
"We are finding in our research that
natural resources are becoming more
important in tourism destination deci-
sions," Spotts said.
Mackinac Island's state park, his-
toric fort and Grand Hotel are some of
the most common Upper Peninsula va-
cation spots. More than I million people
visit the island each summer.
The island's attraction comes from
its historic charm and family atmo-
sphere, said Len Trankina, director of
the Mackinac Island Chamber of Com-
merce. Mackinac offers visitors an es-
cape from the realities of city life as no
automobiles are allowed on the island
during the summer.
This summer was an exceptionally
good one for the entire region, said Jim
Rink, a spokesman for the American
Automobile Association."We predicted
record numbers heading into the season
and that was the case," he said.
Unemploymentwas at its lowest sum-
mer rate in 30 years and the average
family income in the state was at a new
high. Bridge crossings overthe Mackinac
Bridge, which leads to the Upper Penin-
sula, were at an all-time high.
Summer festivals in the Upper Penin-
sula, including the Mackinac Island Li-
lac Festival, the Hessel Antique Boat
Show and the St. Ignace Antiaue Auto

SiTEPHANIE GRiAC2E LIM/Daily

On Isle Royale, Michigan's national park in Lake Superior, a moose scans the terrain.

tion changed, the mouth ofthe Maumee
turned out to be not so important -
certainly not as important as all that
copper,"
All from a frozen, barren wasteland.

Profiling the
Upper Peninsula
Almost 314,000 people live in the Upper Peninsula's 15
counties. Here are some numbers comparing the
"Yoopers" to the rest of the state.
Percentage of state's population: 3.3 percent
Racial Breakdown

Students find UP great North home

By Jennifer Harvey
Daily Staff Reporter
T othe University students and fac
ulty who call the great North home,
there is more to the Upper Peninsula
than pasties, trees and solitude.
Steve Bigelow, a Kinesiology junior,
hails from Sault Ste. Marie and says he
is a definite UP enthuisast. "At night we
can see all the stars and during the day
we don't have to worry about smog," he
said. "Our winters consist of fluffy

people and more things going on,"
Miller said.
It's a 7 1/2-hour drive from her home
to Ann Arbor. Miller said it is too time-
consuming to make the trip often. "I
probably won't go home again until
Christmas break," she said.
Miller said she often rides with other
'Yoopers' when she does make the trip.
She said she takes such opportunities
when she can. "You just don't run in to
many Yoopers around here."
Miller said few people are aware of
her roots. "The first year I was here,
people would ask if I was from Canada.
I don't have a big Yooper accent," she
said.
Maurita Holland, a professor in the
School of Information and Library Sci-
ence, grew up in Guliver, on the north-
em shore of Lake Michigan. She and
her husband, University Prof. John Hol-
land, spend three or four months of
every vear at their nerrmanent residence

virtual environments via the modem a
bit difficult."
Holland is a University graduate and
she said one of her favorite stories re-
lates to her first year on campus. When
another student asked her where she
was from and Holland replied, the other
student said, "You don't look like you're
from the UP!"
Holland admits that there are major
differences between the two peninsulas
she calls home. She said the UP is not
nearly as cosmopolitan as Ann Arbor,
with "almost no cultural activity per se."
Up north, she said, there is a basic
trust among people and a great concern
for education. She described the UP as
quiet and peaceful. She said her hus-
band always completes his work faster
and easier up north.
"There's a part of me that's always
there," she said. "Although it's iso-
lated, it's ever-changing. We have a
moose that visits our yard and our own

Upper Peninsula

Statewide

lt~s a very
beautiful place,
but it's also a
very weird place
41's a time-warp

snow; yours
(downstate) consist
of freezing rain."
"We have cool
shipwreck songs
like, 'The Wreck of
the Edmund Fitz-
gerald.' ... We
have Lake Supe-
rior, the largest and
cleanest of the
Great I .ae. Vou

4.5% Hispanic
0.5% Aian
Z3.%Native
American
1.3% Black
94.6% 11White

2.2%
1.1%
0.6%
13.9%
83.4%

Unemployment Rate

20

Uinner Peninsua

Statewide

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