|
1618-20 |
Etienne Brule' and Grenoble, first white
men in Michigan; Michigan Indian population about 15,000 |
|
1621 |
Brule returns, explores Lake Superior
coast, and notes copper deposits |
|
1634 |
Jean Nicolet passed through the Straits
of Mackinac |
|
1641 |
Isaac Jokues and Charles Raymbault
reached rapids, which they called Sault de Sainte Marie |
|
1660 |
Father Rene' Mesnard established first
'regular' mission, held throughout winter at Keweenaw Bay. |
|
1668 |
Marquette and Dablon founded first
permanent settlement in Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie |
|
1669 |
Adrien Jolliet first white man in Lower
Peninsula |
|
1671 |
Francois Daumont claimed interior of
continent for French
St. Ignace
is founded when Father Marquette builds mission chapel
First of the military outposts, Fort
de Buade [later known as Forty Michilimackinac], is established at St.
Ignace. |
|
1673 |
June 17. Jolliet and Marquette discover
the Mississippi River |
|
1675 |
May 18. Father Marquette dies at site of
present-day Ludington |
|
1679 |
LaSalle builds Fort Miami on site of
present-day St. Joseph |
|
1680 |
LaSalle marches across Lower Peninsula,
reaching Detroit River in 10 days; first white man known to have
penetrated this territory |
|
1686-1697 |
Daniel Greysolon built Fort St. Joseph
at present-day Port Huron |
|
1701 |
July 24. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac
founded Detroit
Cadillac moves
garrison at Fort Michilimackinac to Fort Pontchartrain [Detroit] |
|
1712 |
British-inspired Indian raids begin.
April 24. Fort Pontchartrain [Detroit]
is besieged by more than 1,000 Fox and Sauk Indians; defenders number
30
May 13. Detroit is relieved by
arrival of Vincennes with reinforcements; friendly Huron and Ottawa,
aid townspeople. Sauk and Fox are forced upriver, where 5-day battle
ends in surrender of invaders. |
|
1715 |
Spring. Fort Michilimackinac is
re-established on south shore of Straits of Mackinac. |
|
1730 |
October 18. Cadillac dies in France. |
|
1754 |
Outbreak of French and Indian War;
Michigan is drawn into war, although removed from chief fighting zone |
|
1756 |
France and England formally declare war |
|
1760 |
September 8. French surrender to British
at Montreal November 29. France
surrenders Detroit to British |
|
1763 |
May 7. Pontiac, Ottawa chief, and his
followers enter fort at Detroit in abortive effort to capture it from
British by surprise attack
June
2. Massacre occurs at Fort Michilimackinac, part of Pontiac's uprising |
|
1765 |
August 17. Pontiac signs treaty with
British at Detroit |
|
1771 |
Alexander Henry heads first minig
expedition in region of Porcupine Mountains |
|
1779 |
Nearly 3,000 living in Detroit area |
|
1781 |
Spanish flag raised over Fort St. Joseph
for short time. |
|
1783 |
September 3. Treaty of Paris -- British
forces are required to withdraw from all US lands. (British remain in
territory to become Michigan, however, for 13 years.) |
|
1787 |
Ordinance of 1787 established Northwest
Territory |
|
1796 |
July 11. British evacuated Detroit.
Stars and Stripes is raised for first time on Michigan soil |
|
1802 |
Detroit incorporated as a town |
|
1803 |
Michigan under Territory of Indiana |
|
1805 |
January 11. Michigan Territory created,
with Detroit as capital
June
11. Detroit is completely destroyed by fire
July 1. General William Hull, first
territorial governor of Michigan, reaches Detroit and assumes control |
|
1805-6 |
Commercial timbering begins, when
sawmills are built on St. Clair River to aid in rebuilding Detroit |
|
1807 |
November 17. Treaty of Detroit:
Chippewa, Ottawa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi tribes meet with General
Hull |
|
1809 |
August 31. Michigan Essay and
Impartial Observer, first newspaper, is printed by James M.
Miller; only few copies sold |
|
1810 |
Population 4,762; slaves, mostly captive
Indians, number 32.
Methodist
Episcopal Society is founded, first Protestant organization in Detroit
and first permanent Protestant society in Territory. |
|
1812 |
June 18. U.S. declares war against
England July 17. Fort Mackinac
falls to British
August 16. Hull surrenders Detroit to
British without firing a shot |
|
1813 |
October 29. Colonel [later General]
Lewis Cass military governor at Detroit. Cass continues, under
Presidential appointment as governor of Michigan Territory for 18
years. |
|
1814 |
Treaty of Ghent ends War of 1812,
British losing Mackinac Island [but occupying Drummond Island, to the
north, for eight years] |
|
1817 |
August 26. 'Catholepistemiad,' or
University of Michigania, is incorporated - first university, as
distinguished from college, in the United States
John Jacob Astor establishes trading
post at Mackinac Island, centering his fur-trading activities there |
|
1818 |
Public land sales begin at Detroit;
immigration from East is under way
March 31. Michigan's first Protestant
church [Methodist Episcopal] is erected about 7 miles from Detroit,
near banks of River Rouge
August 27. First steamboat,
Walk-in-the-Water, arrives at Detroit |
|
1819 |
September 24. By Treaty of Saginaw,
Governor Cass obtains for US about 6 million acres of Michigan land, a
cession that marks beginning of Indian exodus from Territory |
|
1820 |
Population of Territory, 8096. Detroit,
Mackinac, Sault Ste. Marie are largest towns |
|
1821 |
August 29. Cass negotiates Treaty at
Chicago, gaining from 'big three' nations - Chippewa, Ottawa,
Potawatomi - all Michigan territory south of Grand River that had not
previously been ceded |
|
1825 |
Opening of Erie Canal facilitates
settlement of Michigan and shipping of farm products to East
Land values rise |
|
1828 |
Michigan's first capitol building is
completed [site Capitol Park, Detroit] |
|
1830 |
Population 31,639
Severe depression strikes Michigan |
|
1831 |
August 1. General Lewis Cass, appointed
secretary of war by President Jackson in July, resigns governorship
Stevens T. Mason, at age of 19, becomes
acting governor - a post he holds several times during following four
years |
|
1832 |
July 4. Seven-week cholera epidemic
devastates Detroit; Belle Isle is used for quarantine |
|
1834ca |
March. Territorial legislature petitions
Congress for permission to form State government. Southern States
protest admission of another free State; Ohio protests the boundary
Michigan claims on the South; Congress refuses permission
July 6. Second cholera epidemic at
Detroit begins with death of Governor George B. Porter; wipes out one
seventh of population |
|
1835 |
February 23. Ohio legislature passes act
asserting claims to the 'Toledo strip,' along her northern boundary
April. Acting Governor Stevens T. Mason
calls out militia; Toledo War begins, with more anger than gunfire.
Border incidents continue into September, jurisdictional wrangling
through all of 1836
May 11. Convention at Detroit forms
State constitution in preparation for statehood; approved by general
electorate on October 5 |
|
1836 |
Daily stages begin carrying mail and
passengers to Sandusky, Chicago, and Central Michigan; railroad to
Jackson is under construction; ship building becomes important along
nearby rivers and lake shores - during 7 months of navigation, 200,000
persons pass through Detroit's port
Quaker preacher employs underground
railroad to bring slaves into Cass County, and movement of fugities
and freed slaves into State begins |
|
1837 |
January 26. Michigan admitted to the
Union as a free State
Upper
Peninsula [lost to Wisconsin Territory when that was created April 20,
1836] is restored to Michigan, substantially in exchange for accepting
Ohio's boundary claims |
|
1841 |
February 1. Dr. Douglass Houghton, first
State geologist, reports on rich copper deposits of Superior region,
and makes cautious mention of possibility of iron ore in Marquette
district Fall. University of
Michigan opened at Ann Arbor |
|
1842 |
Indians cede Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle
Royale, rich in copper, also valuable iron districts - the last Indian
holdings in State |
|
1844 |
September 19. Iron ore discovered on
site of present-day city of Negaunee by surveyor William A. Burt
[inventor of solar compass]
November 18. Cliff Lode is discovered, first copper location to be
opened in Keweenaw district |
|
1846 |
September. Dr. A.C. Van Raalte, Dutch
secessionist pastor, sails for Rotterdam with 53 Hollanders; they form
nucleus of western Michigan's large Dutch settlements begun the
following winter.
The Jackson
Mining Company begins operations on site of Burt's 1844 discovery;
first iron-ore mining in State |
|
1847 |
March 17. Old capitol of Detroit used
for last time by State legislature, which directs that the capital be
permanently located at Lansing |
|
1848 |
Legislature met for first time in
Capitol in Lansing |
|
1849 |
Cliff Mine [of Cliff Lode] pays a
dividend of $60,000, first sum of this magnitude distributed in North
America on copper investment
There are 558 sawmills operating in State |
|
1850 |
Population 397,654 |
|
1854 |
July 6-8. Republican party first
organized at Jackson |
|
1855 |
May 21. Sault Ste. Marie ship canal
opened; destined to be among world's most important waterways
commercially |
|
1857 |
Christian Reformed Church [in North
America] is founded by Michigan's Dutch settlers, following secession
from Reformed Church
Railroad
is completed between Ishpeming and Marquette, speeding mineral output
of Upper Peninsula |
|
1860 |
Population 749,113
Successful well-drilling of salt begins
in Saginaw County |
|
1861 |
April. Thomas A. Edison erects his first
electrical battery and begins experiments at Fort Gratiot [Port Huron]
May 13. First Michigan Regiment leaves
Fort Wayne; first western regiment to reach Washington during Civil
War, in which 90,000 Michigan soldiers see service |
|
1864 |
February 17. First Michigan Colored
Infantry [USCT] is mustered in. Black Michigan troops number 1,673
The copper lode at Calumet is
discovered. Michigan's production of copper exceeds that of any other
state until 1887 |
|
1870 |
Population 1,054,670; chiefly rural |
|
1871 |
Summer. Forest fires sweep across State,
destroying towns, leveling thousands of acres of pine, causing losses
in the millions of dollars
Calumet & Hecla Mining Company consolidates local [Calumet] mining
interests, controlling one of the world's richest copper districts.
Calumet becomes company town.
Negaunee's average annual iron-ore
production reaches 135,000 tons |
|
1876 |
Ontonagon mine operator builds first
telephone system [20 miles] in Michigan, after seeing Bell's invention
at Philadelphia exposition |
|
1877 |
Active operations begin in the mines of
Menominee iron district |
|
1879 |
New State Capitol dedicated at Lansing |
|
1880 |
Population 1,636,937 with 75% living in
rural areas
Discovery of Gogebic Range iron ore
in large quantity at Bessemer |
|
1881 |
October. Railroad ferry service connects
Upper and Lower Peninsulas, making Upper Peninsula readily accessible
for first time |
|
1883 |
Compulsory school-attendance law is
passed Half of copper mined in
US since 1847 has come from Michigan
Cherry orchards in the upper fruit
belt first begin to bear |
|
1884 |
Working of iron-ore deposits of Gogebic
Range begins, when transportation facilities are acquired
John and Thomas Clegg build first
self-propelled vehicle of Michigan manufacture, a four-wheeled steamer
auto |
|
1885 |
September 15. Michigan College of Mines
opens [Houghton] |
|
1886 |
June 4. Gogebic County becomes a county, breaking
away from Ontonagan County. |
|
1887 |
Iron-ore shipments from Menominee Range
begin; at end of year, total shipments amount to 6,000,000 tons
Ransome E. Olds' first auto steamer
appears [steam generated by burning gasoline] |
|
1890 |
Population 2,093,889
Peak period for manufacture of patented
road carts at Flint, laying foundations for automotive industry in
that city |
|
1891 |
October 1. Port Huron, Michigan, and
Sarnia, Ontario, are joined by Grand Trunk R.R. tunnel under St. Clair
River; first underwater railroad tunnel linking foreign countries |
|
1893 |
Olds brings out a practical four-wheeled
auto. The first practical Ford car is made. |
|
1896 |
First automobile at Detroit |
|
1899 |
Olds Motor Works erects in Detroit first
factory built in America for manufacture of automobiles
Detroit Automobile Company organizes to
build Ford's car [this becomes Cadillac Company after Ford withdraws] |
|
1900 |
Population 2,420,982 |
|
1902 |
Packard Motor Car Company and Cadillac
Motor Car Company are organized |
|
1904 |
Organization of Buick Motor Company
marks beginning of auto manufacture in Flint on large scale |
|
1906 |
Timbering of second-growth forests
begins in Upper Peninsula |
|
1908 |
William C. Durant organizes General
Motors Company [later Corporation]
Fisher Body Corporation is founded
First Model T Fords |
|
1911 |
November. Durant organizes Chevrolet
Motor Car Company |
|
1913 |
July 23. Western Federation of Miners
calls strike among 13,514 Upper Peninsula copper miners; violence and
bloodshed result
There are
60,000 autos registered in Michigan |
|
1914 |
January. Henry Ford announces adoption
of $5 minimum wage for 8-hour day
Following the 1913, Finns initiate
cooperative stores in the copper country
First permanent and independent
symphony orchestra organizes in Detroit |
|
1916 |
WWI. Many Michigan men join Canadian
companies leaving for France.
Annual copper production reaches peak of 270 million pounds refined
copper; iron ore from Marquette Range alone at peak of 5.5 million
tons |
|
1918 |
Michigan men in World War service
reaches total of 135,485 |
|
1919 |
Influenza deaths in Detroit number 3,814 |
|
1920 |
Population 3.668,412 |
|
1922 |
Airline service is established between
Detroit and Cleveland |
|
1926 |
November 3. Worst disaster in Michigan
iron mining occurs at Barnes-Hecker mine, when quicksands break
through walls entombing 52 men 1,000 feet below surface; mine is
sealed and abandoned |
|
1929 |
Some large copper mines of Keweenaw
Peninsula close; 85% of Keweenaw County population goes on relief
Ambassador Bridge opened between Detroit
and Windsor, Canada |
|
1930 |
Population 4,842,325. Indians in State
estimated at 7,000, about 1,214 full-bloods. Blacks number 169,453.
Urban centers account for 68.2% of population, almost an exact
reversal of 1880
Detroit-Windsor, Canada tunnel opened |
|
1932 |
February 14. Governor William A.
Comstock calls State-wide 'banking holiday' to avoid bank runs after
disclosure of condition of Union Guardian Trust Company, Detroit
March 7. "Ford Hunger March' riot occurs
at Ford plant in Dearborn |
|
1935 |
United Automobile Workers organized |
|
1936 |
December. General Motors strike begins,
affecting 150,000 workers and closing more than 60 plants in 14 states |
|
1937 |
Keweenaw Peninsula copper mining again
turns upward, production reaching 75,000 pounds |
|
1939 |
August 9. Tornadoes and freak storms
injure scores of persons and cause damage estimated at over a million
dollars in Lower Peninsula. |
|
1940 |
Population 5,256,106
July 15. The world's tallest man, Robert
P. Wadlow, 8'9-1/2" tall, dies at Manistee at the age of 22
November 11. Coast Guard officials
estimate 65 persons lost their lives in the waters of Lake Michigan in
78 mph gale; sixteen bodies washed ashore at Ludington |
|
1957 |
Mackinac Bridge opened |
