Image from the Michigan State University Museum

This week WKAR reported that this spring a 9000-year-old tool was found by Dale Kennedy while he was in his garden in Hermansville. The tool, pictured above, is not housed at the Michigan State University Museum. Bill Love, the museum’s anthropology curator, spoke with WKAR about the rare find.

Love mentions that the tool is distintive among the early time periods of the Great Lakes Region, known as the Paleo-Indian time period. He says it is one of the earliest pieces found, but very few pieces have been found in the Upper Peninsula. Love goes on to say…

“One of the things that’s important about this is that it doesn’t come from the area around Marquette, which is where almost everything else has been found. So, we had a very limited view of the kinds of environments people were adapting to as they moved into the western Upper Peninsula. It appears that what they were doing is moving between central Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, probably following migratory game such as caribou. Caribou have a very specific kind of habitat. This comes from a very different location. It comes from a more southern location, with a different environment, one that’s got more wetlands and is nearer Lake Michigan. It speaks to the fact that we have people occupying different habitats and exploiting them. We didn’t have that evidence before. It adds to the story. “

It’s an interesting and worthwhile read on the history of the Upper Peninsula. You can read more and listen to the full interview on WKAR’s website.

→ Courage

→ Determination

→ Strong will

→ Fortitude

→ Having guts

→ Grit

→ Endurance

Recently an article titled “Michigan’s Upper Peninsula struggles to survive” seemed to make headlines in every news source in the Upper Peninsula, many across the state, and a few national sources. In each case the reporters failed to mention that, Finnish or not, Yoopers have sisu.

Sisu embodies all of the characteristics mentioned above and is an ability to overcome adversity. However, sisu is not defined by a moment of courage. Sisu is continuous, the ability to sustain pressure and adversity over long periods of time.

The idea of sisu is highly regarded in the history of Finnish culture, a culture that has flourished in the Upper Peninsula. Today nearly 16% of people in the Upper Peninsula have a Finnish heritage. The core of it being in the Keweenaw, home to Finlandia University. With the Upper Peninsula’s strong Finnish heritage we too have embraced the quality of sisu.

Whichever words above you use to define sisu, it is an idea that’s been long embraced by Yoopers. The New York Times in 1940 said that sisu is “A word that explains Finland.” They go on to say:

“They will tell you it is the most wonderful of all their words. It is not easily translated, because no other language has its precise equivalent. Even the Finns have difficulty in defining it.”

A TIME Magazine article published in 1943 further elaborates on concept of sisu.

“… sisu enables [the Finnish] to say: ‘We have nothing worse than death to fear.’”

If the Upper Peninsula is “struggling to survive” or not (Yooper Steez remains biased), we’ll leave for the experts to determine. At the end of the day we have something more important, sisu.

Over two years ago I posted a blog about the origin and first use of the word Yooper. My source for the blog was Professor Richard W. Bailey from the University of Michigan who did a more extensive write-up on the history of Yooper.  It cites a contest that was held August 5, 1979 by the Escanaba Daily Press.  Brett Crawford of Bark River was credited with submitting Yooper.

Many people commented that they had heard the word used earlier than 1979, many stating that they recall hearing it used during their college days in the 70s.  I have no doubt that it may have been used earlier, but when was it first published?

However…

Introducing Dan Rosandich…

Recently I received an e-mail from Dan Rosandich who was a cartoonist for the Daily Mining Gazette.  He attached a few images and sure enough, they predate the Daily Press article.

Then editor, and U.P. evangelist, Bob Skuggen asked Dan to contribute a comic bi-weekly to the Mining Gazette.  At the time Dan, an Ontonagon High School graduate, was just 21 years old.  This was the very first comic which was published on May 11, 1979.

Dan had the following to say:

“Bob Skuggen has since passed away, but was a big promoter of the Upper Peninsula back in those days, when tourism wasn’t promoted like it is now. Initially the cartoons I showed him back in those days had no title, so he insisted I think one up… I showed all of these U.P. cartoons to a few friends and we brainstormed one day and eventually after saying “U.P. , U.P.’er….YOOPER hit me in the head like a ton of bricks and it stuck.”

–Dan Rosandich

When I posted the original blog entry there was a lot of conversation (mainly on the Yooper Steez Fan Page) if this was the first use of the word Yooper, or at least the first time being published which is what I focused on.

I think we can agree that it’s not difficult to derive the word Yooper.

U.P. —> U.P.-er —> and finally Yooper.

Regardless, I have to hand it to Dan Rosandich, Bob Skuggen, and Brett Crawford.  They have helped give the people of the Upper Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula itself a strong identity.  Well done gentleman, well done.  I owe you all a lot of credit (perhaps a beer and a pasty?) and it’s now a word that I use daily. I find it pretty remarkable how strong of an identity Yoopers and the Upper Peninsula have.  There are only a few places across the country that can compare.

By all means, let the conversation continue.  Leave a comment and share what you think.  Perhaps you can dig up some more resources on the early publications of the word Yooper.

(click the photos for a larger version)

An old 35MM scan of one of the old miners houses at the ghost town, taken probably 10 years ago, don’t think it is still standing. cminer52 on Flickr

About 12 miles southwest of Copper Harbor is the old ghost town of Mandan, a tiny mining town that was vacated in 1909. It was the site of the Mandan Mine and the Medora Mine.

At the turn of the century Mandan had a few hundred residents with a few dozen houses. Today, only a few of the buildings remain. Over the years there was a post office and a general store and Mandan marked the end of the line for the Keweenaw Central Railroad.

And of course, Mandan Road is one of the most scenic drives in the Keweenaw to see the fall colors. A worthwhile loop to take.

“The mine evidently underwent considerable hardship as there were huge beds of sand that made it difficult to mine the four inch wide band of very rich copper.

It is assumed that the mine closed in 1866 and remained dormant until 1899 when the Mandan and Medora Companies were sold to the Keweenaw Copper Company and reorganized in 1905.”

Check out Exploring The North for more detailed information.

Mandan Ghost Town, off US-41

View Larger Map

Thanks to Kimberly and David for bringing Mandan Ghost Town to my attention, it was a good topic to touch on that I didn’t know very much about.  Feel free to leave additional comments if there are other topics you’d like covered or specific places you’d like to know more about.

Since I was recently taking a look at Michigan historical film clips, you’ll definitely want to take a look at this one.

MUNISING, MICHIGAN, early part of 1960′s

Munising Michigan, Elm Avenue, Weiland’s Grill, the original Alger County Courthouse….all of it is here in this exciting compilation of Wally Ahlborn’s 8mm home movies taken in a blinding blizzard!

Thanks to @UpOverland for sharing this.

A must watch tourism documentary about Michigan from 1949.

I love my state!

Thanks @brockter for sending it my way.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald in the St. Mary’s River in May, 1975.  Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by Bob Campbell, Grand Ledge, Michigan.

Thirty-four years the Edmund Fitzgerald foundered on Lake Superior, about 17 miles from the entrance of Whitefish Bay.  All 29 crew members passed away.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was christened on June 8, 1958 where more than 15,000 people attended its launch.  The ship made regular routes between Duluth, Detroit, Toledo and other ports carrying up to 24,000 tons of taconite.

On Sunday, November 9, 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald left from Superior, Wisconsin heading for Zug Island, near Detroit.  The following day across Lake Superior there were reported winds of 60mph and waves of 35 feet.  The Soo Locks had already closed.  The Arthur M. Anderson had been trailing the Fitzgerald across Lake Superior and would eventually lose radio contact with the Fitzgerald.

Though my parents can recall the day the Fitzgerald sank, it was long before my life had begun.  It became Godon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” that would leave a memory in my mind.  The song was released in August 1976, not yet a year since the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.  The song was supposedly influenced by a Newsweek article titled “The Cruelest Month”,  which reported on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

by Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore – 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they’d been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T’was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it’s too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it’s been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed, ’til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

“The ill-fated Henry B Smith that was sunk in the Big Storm of November 1913. She is shown in Ashtabula Harbor in this 1910 postcard,”  Boat Nerd.  The Henry B Smith took all 25 lives on board, sinking off shore near Marquette, MI.  The ship has never been found, and is estimated to be 20-30 miles north of Marquette in deep waters.

Ninety-six years ago this week, between November 6 and November 11, 1913 marked the deadliest storm in the history of the Great Lakes.  This natural disaster known as the “Big Blow, “Freshwater Fury”, or “White Hurricane” took the lives of more than 250 people between Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie.

During the week long storm 19 ships were destroyed and another 19 were stranded.  The November storm merged from Alberta and the Rocky Mountains creating winds up to 100mph and waves over 50 feet high.

In addition to the stormy waters there were four-foot snow drifts surrounding Lake Huron and as much as two feet of snowfall in Cleavland, OH.

Ship Wrecks

Pictured above is the Henry B Smith, a 525 foot iron ore vessel, which is was the 2nd largest ship to go down during the Great Lakes storm of 1913.  Sinking off the shore of Marquette, 25 crewman lost their lives on the Henry B Smith.  The ship has never been found, and is estimated to be 20-30 miles north of Marquette in deep waters. Among the death totals, Lake Huron saw the worst…

• Lake Superior: 2 ships foundered, 43 deaths
• Lake Michigan: 1 ship foundered, 7 deaths
• Lake Huron: 8 ships foundered, at least 196 deaths
• Lake Erie: 1 ship foundered, 6 deaths

According to Wikipedia four ships have never bee found:Henry B. Smith (Lake Superior), Leafield (Lake Superior), James C. Carruthers (Lake Huron), and the Hydrus (Lake Huron).  The most recent discovery was that of Wexford (Lake Huron) in the summer of 2000.

For more information check out:
The National Weather Service
Shipwrecks of the 1913 Great Lakes storm on Wiki
Remembering the Great Storm of 1913
Michigan in Pictures: Freshwater Fury
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum

Photo by WisDoc on Flickr

Each day I check in to see the web stats of Yooper Steez and what people have been Googling to bring traffic to the site. I thought I could make good use of this information by answering all of the “how” questions that have landed people on Yooper Steez. All of the questions below are verbatim searches people used to land on Yooper Steez. You ask the questions, I’ll do the research.

Part 2 coming soon.

General Upper Peninsula Questions

Q: how to draw the upper peninsula of michigan
A: I am probably a terrible resource when it comes to drawing lessons. My co-workers were laughing at the giraffe I had to draw at work because they could tell which end was the head and which end was the tail. The best advice I can give is find a quality outline of the Upper Peninsula (if you’d like, you can purchase a Yooper Steez shirt and trace that to practice, they’re quite accurate). Trace it a few times, look at it, study it, and I have faith that you’ll master drawing the Upper Peninsula. Even I can draw it fairly accurately these days.

Q: how many square miles is the lower penninsula of michigan
A: 40,352 square miles of land area
16,452 in the Upper Peninsula (29% of Michigan’s land)

Q: how many square miles of water is in michigan
A: Michigan has the highest % of water of any state at 41.27%
Michigan has the 2nd most water of any state, only second to Alaska

Q: how many ppl go to northern mi university
A: As of 2008-2009 there were 8,438 undergraduates and 685 postgraduate students. (9,123 total)

Q: how far is detroit from the upper peninsula
A: Driving from Detroit it is approximately 295 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 258 miles.

Q: how many people live in the upper peninsula of michigan
A: 317,258 people, according to the 2000 Census

Q: how many inland lakes are there in michigan’s upper peninsula
A: Approximately 4,300. The largest is Lake Gogebic.

Q: how far is north pole from marquette, mi
A: Approximately 3,002 miles. What’s cool is that the 45 degree parallel runs right through Michigan, which is half-way between the equator and the North Pole.

Q: how did michigan acquire the upper peninsula
A: The western 3/4 of the Upper Peninsula came as a result of the Toledo War in 1836. As a result of the war, Ohio was given the Toledo Strip and in turn Michigan received the Upper Peninsula. At the time it was perceived that Ohio was the clear winner of the war. It wasn’t realized until many years later that the Upper Peninsula was one of the richest sources of minerals in the United States.

Lake Superior

Q: how big is lake superior in miles
A: Shore length of 2,725 miles

Q: how many rivers feed lake superior
A: over 200 rivers

Q: how many feet high is lake superior than the other great lakes
A: Lake Superior surface elevation: 600 ft
- Lake Michigan surface elevation: 577 ft
- Lake Huron surface elevation: 577 ft
- Lake Erie surface elevation: 571 ft
- Lake Ontario surface elevation: 246 ft

Q: how big is the surface of lake superior
A: read below

Q: how does lake superior compare to the great salt lake in size
A: Lake Superior surface area is 31,820 square miles and 2,900 cu mi in volume
Great Salt Lake surface area is ~1,700 square miles and ~2.7 cu mi in volume

Q: how many miles of lake superior shoreline does michigan have compared to canada
A: 917 miles of Lake Superior shoreline in the Upper Peninsula (read more)

Mackinac Bridge

Q: what two towns connect the mackinac bridge?
A: St. Ignace is on the north side in the Upper Peninsula and Mackinaw City is on the south side in the Lower Peninsula.

Q: how we can get best picture of mackinac bridge
A: To truly get the best photos of the Mackinac Bridge you should go to the very top (in my opinion), but this takes some connections. Some other suggestions are the Labor Day bridge walk, taking a boat beneath the bridge, from a park in St. Ignace, or an aerial view from a helicopter.

Q: how to get to the top mackinac bridge
A: It’s not an easy task. 1) You could be on Mike Rowe’s camera crew. 2) You could do it illegally, this is not recommended. 3) Be a worker on the Mackinac Bridge to help keep it in tiptop shape. 4) Each year the Bridge Authority gives away a designated number of certificates for tours of the Mackinac Bridge to go to the very top. Here’s the story of how I made it to the top of the Mackinac Bridge.

Q: how long is mackinac bridge
A:

Facts & Figures

Q: how tall is mackinac bridge
A:

Facts & Figures

Q: how to climb to the top of mackinac bridge
A: There are two ways to get to the top of the Mackinac Bridge. 1) Climb the large green cables that stretch from the base to the top. You’ll need a harness. 2) At the road-level of each tower you can enter a little cubbyhole where an elevator will bring you to the second cross beam. From there you climb a steel latter straight up to the top. Once again, there are several photos here.

Q: how far does the mackinac bridge move out when windy
A: The Mackinac Bridge bows as far as 20 feet on windy days. One misconception is that it actually sways, which is not the case, rather it will bow in one direction. In addition, the towers move as much as 18 feet in either direction, which isn’t from wind, but from the weight of traffic on the bridge.

Q: how many people cross mackinaw bridge a year
A: In 2005 there were 4,236,491 crossings (average 11,608 per day)

Q: how many people have been to the top of the mackinac bridge?
A: My guess is that the answer of this is probably unknown. Every year several workers of the bridge go to the top to make repairs, change light bulbs etc. Several others are given the chance, such as people from the governor’s office. The last I heard is that the Bridge Authority gives out 100 certificates each year for people to go to the top, though I am not sure of the accuracy on this.

Q: how long did it take to build the mackinac bridge
A: Construction on the bridge began on May 7, 1954 and was opened (on schedule) on November 1, 1957. The 50th anniversary was celebrated in 2007.

Q: how far can you see from the top of the mackinaw bridge
A: The distance to the horizon for a 5’7″ person is 2.89 miles. If this person was standing on the road level of the Mackinac Bridge (200 feet above the water) the horizon increases to 17.6 miles away. If a person is standing on the very top of the Mackinac Bridge (522 feet) the horizon is now about 28 miles away.

Q: how far is it from the mackinaw bridge to marquette
A: Driving from Marquette (via US-41 and US-2) it is approximately 175 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 137 miles.

Q: how far is it to mt. pleasant from the mackinac bridge
A: Driving from Mt. Pleasant it is approximately 161 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 149 miles.

Q: how far away from the mackinaw bridge is lake superior state
A: Driving from Lake Superior State University it is approximately 50 miles of driving. A straight line would be about 46 miles.

Look for part 2 to come out soon!

Let me know if you have questions of your own. Post a comment. You ask the question, I’ll do the research.

The Upper Peninsula seems to be mystery to much of the U.S. population outside of the Midwest, and even to some of those in the Midwest. It’s quite common to think that the Upper Peninsula is part of Canada and sometimes even textbooks don’t know what state the Upper Peninsula is in. More than anything, most people assume that the Upper Peninsula is part of Wisconsin.

A sample of search engine keywords to Yooper Steez:

It’s a fair question to ask. After all, the Upper Peninsula at no point touches the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Wisconsin is the only section of land shared between the Upper Peninsula, everywhere else is bordered by water.

The Toledo War

During the early 1800s there was a conflict between Michigan and Ohio (and I don’t mean a football rivalry). At the time Ohio had already been admitted into the union while Michigan was still a territory.

The dispute during the Toledo War (also known as the Ohio-Michigan War) began with different interpretations of the geographic boundaries and features between the State of Ohio and the Michigan Territory. Both governments were claiming sovereignty over a 468 square mile region, which became known as the Toledo Strip.

Until the year 1818, the Michigan Territory had ownership over the eastern section of the Upper Peninsula (the yellow region in the graphic above). The territory then expanded to include the rest of the Upper Peninsula, the entire State of Wisconsin and other parts of the Midwest.

Due to a financial crisis the Michigan Territory was under pressure from Congress and President Andrew Jackson, at which point the Michigan Territory accepted a resolution from the government.

173 Years Ago

On June 15, 1836, President Andrew Jackson signed a bill that first recognized Michigan as a state. However, Michigan would have to concede the Toledo Strip to Ohio, but was given the western three quarters of the Upper Peninsula in return (most of which borders Wisconsin along the Menominee River).

At first, Michigan rejected the offer partly out of pride and feeling that the Upper Peninsula was a worthless region. As their financial crisis lingered on they would have been left out of surplus government money if they had remained a territory rather than a state. Michigan accepted the terms in December in Ann Arbor.

When the Toledo War ended it was considered that Ohio had “won”. This belief changed in the 1840s when it was discovered that the Upper Peninsula was a vast region of resources including copper and iron ore. Considered to have produced more mineral wealth than the California Gold Rush, the Upper Peninsula supplied 90% of the United States copper supply by the 1860s and was the largest supplier of iron ore by the 1890s.

Had Michigan won the Toledo War they would have acquire the Toledo Strip, meaning that the Upper Peninsula probably would have become a part of the Wisconsin Territory and later a part of the State of Wisconsin.

Michigan was finally admitted into the Union on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state with the Upper Peninsula included.

……

Quite frankly, I’m pretty stoked that Michigan has the 16,452 square mile paradise of the Upper Peninsula rather than the 468 square mile region of the Toledo Strip. Clearly I’m biased, but I think we clearly got the better deal.

All you history buffs out there let me know if there is more info I should include.