[freakboy]

Post info and links about Michigan here

Michigan Info:

Where is Michigan?

Michigan is made up of two peninsulas of land separated by the Straits of Mackinac. It is bordered on the south at 42º north latitude by the states of Ohio and Indiana. Its northernmost border, at 48º north latitude, lies in Lake Superior north of the shore of Isle Royale. Michigan lies between 82°30' to about 90º30' west longitude. It is bordered on the west by Lake Michigan and Wisconsin, and on the east by Ontario, Canada; Lake Huron and Lake Erie; and Detroit River and St. Clair River.

Michigan covers 58,110 square miles of land, 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes waters and 1,305 square miles of inland waters. (See Michigan on a map of the United States.)

Visit the Michigan Department of Transportation Web site to request a copy of the state transportation map or learn about the various maps that may be purchased.

What does the name "Michigan" mean?

"Michigan" comes from the Indian word "Michigama" meaning great or big lake. The French first used the word for the Great Lake that Native Americans called the "Lake of the Illinois"--now Lake Michigan. It was first used officially to refer to this land area when Congress created the Territory of Michigan in 1805.

When was Michigan settled?

Native Americans have lived in the area called Michigan since the last ice age glacier retreated about 10,000 years ago. Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit priest, established the first permanent French settlement at Sault Ste. Marie in 1668. Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac led the French to Detroit in 1701. The British gained possession of this region in 1760 after the French and Indian War. After the American Revolutionary War it became part of the United States under the Treaty of Paris of 1783. However, the British did not turn this area over to the Americans until 1796. Maps show it as part of the Northwest Territory in 1787 and part of the Michigan Territory in 1805. Michigan was admitted to the Union as the 26th state on January 26, 1837. Oh, election info? Sorry. I voted in Ann Arbor straight Republican.

[Amish]

Voted in Battle Creek this morning. Arrived 30 minutes
early and was #5 to vote in my precinct. Must have been almost 100 in line by the time I left at 7:05.

The last on-line poll at the Battle Creek Enquirer was about 51% for Bush. Gore to this county 4 years ago, and if Bush takes it, this would be a sign of trend upward for him.

[michigander]

You MAY be a Michigander if...

If you define Summer as three months of bad sledding...

If your definition of a small town is one that doesn't have a lake...

If your family breaks into violence during a UM-MSU game.

If snow tires came standard on all your cars....

If at least 50% of your relatives work for the auto industry...

If you have ever gotten frostbitten and sunburned in the same week...

If you can identify an Ohio accent...

If owning a Japanese car was a hanging offense in your home town...

If you learned to pilot a boat before the training wheels came off your bike...

If you think Alkaline batteries were named after a Tiger outfielder...

If you point at the palm of your right hand when telling people where you grew up...

If you don't understand what the big deal about Chicago is...

If someone asks you if you've ever been to Europe, and you answer, "No, but I've been to Ann Arbor..."

If "Down South" to you means Toledo...

If you have any idea who Bob Ufer was...

If octupus and hockey go together as logically as hot dogs and baseball...

If travelling coast to coast means going from Port Huron to Muskegon...

If you refer to your relatives in southern Michigan as "Trolls" or "Lopers"...

If the "Big Three" can mean either Ford, Chrysler and GM or Dominos, Little Ceaser's and Hungry Howie's...

If the Big Mac is something you can drive across...

If you have no problem spelling Mackinac Island...

If you had to get a passport to travel to Ohio...

If you have as many Canadian coins in your pocket as American coins...

If you kids' baseball game has ever been snowed out...

If the trees in your backyard have spigots...

If you know that a place called Kalamazoo actually exists...

If you bake with "soda" and drink "pop"...

If you know what a pastie is...

If you drive 70 in bumper to bumper traffic and always pass on the right...

If your favorite hockey team's mascot is an octopus...

If you have a favorite hockey team...

If you don't have a coughing fit from one sip of Vernor's...

If you know how to play Euchre...