So when someone says upper Midwest do you think North Dakota or Michigan?
They call Michigan part of the midwest. Culturally, linguistically and geographically I think it actually belongs in the northeast.
CC
Both North Dakota and Michigan count as the upper Midwest to me (originally from Minnesota).
Of course in Minnesota (and other nearby states?) lots of stuff references the Northwest (like the airline company). I mean sure, at one time it was the NW, but not anymore!
North Dakota,
only the west side though, the oil-less eastern side I refer “back east”.
If the Mississippi River and St Louis are the gateway of the west, then anything east of there is “back east “.
Anything east of the Ogallala green line is “back east”. Migration west to the coast moved the frontier out past Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, all the way to the west coast.
When the Texas was having arguments with Mexico over the southern territory, that when the people of the USA should have quit using the term mid west to refer to the upper Northeast.
As for Minnesota, I rarely think of it at all, and when I do, I refer speak to that as: sad ceded territory. I feel the same re: other parts of the USA, including DC and the surrounding areas.