Tales of Southwest Michigan's Past

This episode takes you from when Michigan was part of the New France territory founded in 1534 by explorer Jacques Cartier.  Prior to that, the land was occupied exclusively by the First Nation people.  France ceded the territory to Britain and Spain under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and eventually the region was formed into the Northwest Territory by the United States Government follow...

In doing research on stories for larger projects, I occasionally come across stories of wolf encounters in the old newspapers of the 1800's.  In Southwest Michigan there were several encounters in the early 1830's as settlers began arriving in Calhoun, St. Joseph, Hillsdale and many other Southern Counties.  In researching the Hicks family history at Hicks Cemetery in Pennfield Township...

Have you ever heard of the story of Old Hannibal (AKA Hannibal) the elephant who visited Battle Creek Michigan in the 1850's as part of the Van Amburgh Menagerie, and while parading down Main Street fell through the wooden bridge over the Mill Race channel?  He was a 15,000 ib Asiatic elephant who toured North America for over four decades, and was larger in mass and weight than the more popu...

Prior to passing of Congressional funding secured by Michigan's 3rd elected Territorial Delegate to Congress, journey into the inland wilderness was near impossible.  With the survey and development of the Territorial Roads across lower and central Michigan, it opened up pioneer expansion into the newly organized lower counties.  This is the story of these vital roads that made Southwest...

This episode takes a journey from when Michigan was deparated from the Indiana Territory and became the Michigan Territory, and the path to statehood.  It is a shortened version of a longer episode to come later.  It covers the actions of the early Governors William Hull and Lewis Cass.   Follow & Subscribe to my channel on YouTube

The city of Battle Creek was founded by Sands McCamly and other pioneer industrialists.  When McCamly arrived into the wilderness region of present day Battle Creek in Calhoun County in 1831, he saw the potential of the confluence of two rivers at different elevations, envisioning a mill race between them.  This started his journey to acquire the land, which through delays and challenges...