Michigan

a north central state of the American Union. It lies amid the Great Lakes and borders on four of them. With the exception of the southern border and a portion of the boundary line between the northern peninsula and Wisconsin, the boundaries are entirely natural. The state consists of two peninsulas, the upper and the lower, having a total area of 58,900 square miles, lakes and rivers included. The southern peninsula is hilly or level. The northern peninsula is decidedly rocky and rough. Porcupine Mountains, near Lake Superior, rise to an altitude of 1,830 feet above the sea. The entire drainage of the state is, of course, into the Great Lakes.

MINERALS. The rocks of the northern peninsula are granites, sandstones, and limestones, with vast veins of eruptive or volcanic rock. Traces of gold and silver are found. The northern peninsula, especially the county of Keweenaw, is celebrated for copper mines, including the famous Calumet and Hecla. Before the wonderful development of copper mining at Butte, Montana, Michigan led in the production of copper. The upper peninsula is noted also for its iron mines. For some years Michigan was the leading iron state in the Union. It still disputes supremacy with Minnesota. Coal of rather inferior quality is mined in paying quantities in Bay and Saginaw counties. The Saginaw valley is famous for salt. There are about 250 wells, yielding not far from 8,000,000 barrels of salt a year--more than is produced by any other state in the Union. The state is well supplied with building stone of excellent quality, especially sandstones and limestones. Ledges of finely grained sandstone suitable for grindstones are found along Lake Huron. The output of Portland cement, brick, and tile is large.

FORESTS. The entire surface of the state is covered with the glacial deposit known as till. Boulders strew the northern peninsula, but become scarcer as one goes southward. The state, from the latitude of Saginaw Bay northward, was covered originally with dense evergreen forests, white pine predominating. For many years Michigan produced more white pine lumber than any other state in the Union. In 1890 the lumber output of the state was valued at $83,000,000. The ravages of the lumbermen and the waste of timber have reduced the present output to but a fraction of that amount. The southern half of the state is a hardwood region, abounding in elm, butternut, walnut, hickory, basswood, maple, poplar, birch, beech, tamarack, cedar, ash, and other characteristic timber. This region rivals Indiana and Ohio in the production of oak, ash, and hickory, used in building vehicles and farm machinery.

GAME AND FISH. The fur-bearing and game animals of Michigan are those characteristic of the region, including the moose, deer, and black bear. The beaver is protected by law. The waters of the state are well stocked with fish. Whitefish and lake trout caught in the Great Lakes yield a large revenue.

AGRICULTURE. The leading industry of the state is agriculture. The last census returned the annual value of farm productions at $146,547,681. About thirty per cent of the total area is under plow. Reckoned in money value the field crops of the state rank as follows: hay and forage, corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, vegetables, rye, sugar beets, peas, barley, and buckwheat. The flower and nursery productions are valued at nearly $1,000,000 a year. The position of the lower peninsula, surrounded as it is by large bodies of water, is favorable to the production of orchard fruits, small fruits, and apples. The entire peninsula produces apples. A belt along Lake Michigan is famous for the production of peaches; grapes and plums are grown throughout the hardwood region. The vicinity of Detroit is noted for the production of garden seeds.

The state is not noted for live stock. It does not have the natural meadows and pasturage of the prairie states. Named in order of money value, the live stock interests are as follows: horses, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry. Horses are reared largely for agricultural and lumbering purposes. According to the twelfth census the annual animal productions of the state were valued at $53,921,966. The state stands fourth in the production of milk and next to Ohio in the production of wool.

MANUFACTURES. In manufactures Michigan ranks tenth in the Union. For reasons stated the products of the sawmill are on the decline. Grand Rapids very possibly leads the world in the production of furniture. Milling is an important industry. The state ranks second in the production of beet sugar. Large manufacturing interests are centered at Detroit. The city is noted for stoves, tobacco, and druggists' goods. Silk weaving has begun at Belding. Shipbuilding is carried on at Detroit, Wyandotte, and Port Huron.

HISTORICAL. Father Marquette established a Jesuit mission at Sault Sainte Marie in 1668. This was the first white settlement in the state. Detroit was settled by a French colony in 1701. In 1763 the infant settlements suffered from Pontiac's War. The Indians were not quieted until subdued by General Wayne in 1795. Michigan was a part of the Northwest Territory, then a part of Indiana. In 1805 Michigan Territory was organized. It passed into the hands of the British during the war of 1812, but was recovered by the battle of Lake Erie in 1814. Michigan was admitted to the Union in 1837. The northern peninsula was not originally a part of the territory. It was added when the state was admitted as a sort of compensation for a loss of territory claimed by Ohio. There are eleven cities having a population of over 15,000. Named in order of size in 1900, they are Detroit, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Bay City, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Port Huron, Battle Creek, Lansing, and Ann Arbor. About one-third of the entire population lives in cities having over 8,000 inhabitants. In 1900 the population was 2,420,982, making Michigan the ninth state in population. Michigan is known as the "Wolverine State."

EDUCATION. In matters of education, Michigan set the pace for the North Central States. The early settlers were largely from New York and New England. Common schools were established promptly. Michigan was the first to make a state university successful. Both in the management of common schools and of the university, Michigan has been the model of the newer states of the Northwest. The state maintains four normal schools, an agricultural college, and a college of mines. There are also nine private and denominational colleges. There are over 800 newspapers and many free public libraries. Despite recent immigration from foreign countries, the proportion of illiteracy is less than four per cent. In the number of adherents, the Roman Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, German Reformed, United Brethren, Disciples of Christ, and Adventists rank in the order named.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources:

See Cass; Detroit; Celery; Copper; Iron; Salt; Ann Arbor; University; Marquette; Sault Sainte Marie; Huron; Superior; Erie; Furniture, etc.