Michigan Local History
For information about Michigan Counties see County Material.
Local history matters. It should be a frequently visited keystone in our understanding of the past. Over the years, however, community histories have been far too often ignored in the creation of "professional" history. Those who write history for their livelihood had often viewed the almost always volunteer-created local histories as too weighted down with petty concerns of neighborhoods and the sheer ordinariness of daily life to shed significant information on the broader trends in American life. In truth some local histories, like some works of academic history, are narrowly rooted, but collectively Michigan's published local histories are a resource that is fundamental to our understanding of the past.
Local history, not surprisingly, is most often written for and is usually most important to the community described in the text. Local histories explain to the people who live in a place why that place is what it is. Local history creates a context that many will lovingly embrace, others will purposefully reject, and some will try to ignore, but to which everyone in the community must eventually react. As important as this sense of a place is for those who live there, local history is more than just a local concern. The importance of community history goes beyond the place which is described.
The history of communities is a fundamental element of all history. In the sweep of national histories, surveys of large military conflicts, or biographies of great individuals, we sometimes forget that what underlies and explains "great" history takes place in local communities. Local history is made up of the seemingly mundane; the development of neighborhood commerce, the ebb a flow of community spiritual values, or the outcome of local elections. The emphasis on local issues rather than grand narrative or complex analysis makes community history easily criticized. It is too parochial to say some, or too fixated, claim others, on the minor details of lives in towns and villages that appear to be little more than gas stations off the freeway.
Yet from learning these seemingly mundane pieces of information about local places there comes a broader sense of American culture, nuanced by the peculiarities and unique attributes of each community that contributes to the composition of the whole. Ultimately it is the history of local communities, large and small, that creates the context for the individual of exceptional merit, that explain the roots of military conflict, and that, in the end, creates national history. The issues and beliefs that frame and explain democratic societies start at the bottom and work up. Leaders may propose, but popular leaders find their fundamental ideas in local community values and successful leaders are those that can shape programs that reflect ideas that people, "back home," will follow. Local history may well be written primarily for a local audience, but the implications that can be drawn from these volumes goes far beyond the city or county boundaries that delimit their scope.
Because of our belief in the importance of local history in defining American culture, the Clarke Historical Library has worked with diligence to locate, acquire, and maintain what has become one of the finest collections of Michigan local history. As this bibliography attests, the Clarke now makes available thousands of volumes of community history.
Similarly it is the belief of the Library's staff and Board of Governors in the importance of local history that inspires us to publish this volume as well as to make its content available over the World Wide Web. We hope it will increase use of the material found within the Clarke both as a means to better understand state history and, through the best examples of the genre, as a model for the continuing production of new community histories.
In preparing this volume a debt of gratitude is owed to two individuals. Evelyn Leasher worked long hours to locate, edit, and prepare the entries found in this publication. Her tireless work went far beyond that called for by her position and demonstrated over and again that a simplistic belief in the ability of computerized retrieval of bibliographic records to replaced skilled reference librarians and complex research strategies is more a matter of wishful thinking than documented reality. Computerized catalogs markedly change the skills and search strategies that need to be employed to find material from the days when a researcher could "thumb the cards," but skilled researchers and sound search strategies remain critical to finding wanted material. Computers, sadly, do not "just do it."
Thanks is also owed to Christina Alger. As the student assistant who worked on several phases of this bibliography Chris logged long hours on the computer searching out bibliographic material and even longer hours entering the found entries into the word processor. If computer searches and data entry was not a cruel enough assignment she was also pressed into service as one of the volume's proofreaders. This bibliography would be much the poorer without Chris.
Frank Boles
Regional Material: Statewide Histories
Introduction
The Clarke Historical Library has a very large collection of material telling the story of Michigan's communities. For many years we have actively sought this material because, taken together, these local histories make up state history. By knowing what has happened in Michigan's cities, towns, and rural communities a researcher can develop more accurate generalizations about change and continuity throughout the state. Because of the importance of local history we hope that this bibliography will make these often elusive resources better known to researchers as well as stimulate use of our local history material. The bibliography was prepared to supplement an exhibit, "Local History: Isabella County," which appeared in the Clarke Library from January 13 through May 9, 1998
Although local history is important defining what it is, and is not, can be difficult. For the purposes of this bibliography we have defined local history sources to be published material intentionally produced to document residents of a specific place or publications that, while not specifically intended to document the residents of a place, nevertheless includes substantial information about a well-defined, geographically-based community. To illustrate this definition, consider publications about Michigan's mining industry. Mining is obviously an intensely local activity. A history of a mining town or a history of a mining company that included substantial information about the company's workers or the impact of the mine on the local community would be included in this bibliography. However, a book about mining operations, even if it incidentally described some specific activities that were undertaken in a particular Michigan mine, would not be included in this bibliography. Similarly, we would not include the history of a single family that might reside within a mining community. This bibliography cites sources that tell how either residents or scholars have consciously chosen to document the places where people live. It is only incidentally and tangentially about the individual families that make up those communities, the processes by which community residents live, and the natural environment upon which rests the local community.
This bibliography is organized by county. Although Michigan's county boundaries are not unchanging, for the last century the state's counties have had stable boundaries. Counties are also conveniently-sized. They are large enough to encompass inter-related nearby communities but sufficiently small so that unique local characteristics are not lost in broader generalizations. In a few cases, particularly for the upper peninsula, we have organized material by geographic region rather than a county. These are, however, the exceptions that prove the rule. Where possible we have taken multi-county, regional histories and made an entry for the work under each of the counties it covers.
Local history is documented through a variety of formats. Books, newspapers, photographs, postcards, manuscripts, maps, and videos all have been used to document a time and place. The Clarke Historical Library has materials in all these formats. All, however, are not found in this bibliography. Listed here are generally textual sources such as books, newspapers, and some term papers found in the Clarke Library, as well as birds-eye views. Excluded from this bibliography, primarily to make the publication of manageable size, are unpublished manuscripts, most maps, government documents, post cards, photographs, corporate history, and genealogical material.
Most of the entries found in this bibliography are for books. A few of the volumes were produced either by scholars or other professional authors but most are the product of the hard work and dedication of local volunteers and were published by small, local presses. A significant minority were self-published, either by the author or, more often, by the sponsoring organization. Because the critical ability and writing skill of local history authors varies widely, so to do the quality of these volumes. The intent of the author, however, is almost always to record and inform.
Local newspapers are a rich source of local history, both intentional and unintentional. Newspapers are almost always closer chronologically to the event then any subsequently published local history. Nevertheless newspaper accounts, like most published local history, represent the work and perspective of a third party. Because of an ongoing project to microfilm Michigan newspapers, the Clarke's holdings of microfilmed local newspapers is particularly extensive and thus are included in this bibliography.
Although maps are generally excluded from this bibliography on special category of map, called birds' eye views, has been included in this work. We decided to include birds' eye views for the pragmatic reason that the Clarke has the largest collection of these views of Michigan cities found anywhere outside the Library of Congress. To publish a bibliography of the library's local history holdings that excluded these unique visual representations because other cartographic holdings were not included seemed a foolish consistency. Rather we believed it was important to share with researchers our holdings of these carefully researched artist's renderings, named because they were usually drawn from the perspective of a bird looking down on the scene. Most birds' eye views detail major businesses, schools, and churches, delineate homes, and include various modes of transportation, including rivers and railroad tracks (usually with a train passing by).
Student works would also customarily be excluded from a published bibliography. However, at Central Michigan University for several decades professors who taught local history on daily basis asked their students to produce term papers about local communities. With equal routine nature, the professors deposited these term papers in the Clarke Library, presumably with the permission of the student. Very often the students chose to research the histories of small, otherwise undocumented communities. Some students included photographs with their term papers while others conducted and wrote up extensive interviews with local residents. Although the quality found in these papers varies dramatically, nevertheless the papers offer important and sometimes unique insights into Michigan communities. Researchers should know, however, that because of more recent federal legislation these term papers cannot be copied without the written consent of their authors. In most cases the Clarke does not have this written consent.
Collecting local history material continues to be a priority of the Clarke Library and new items are regularly added to the collection. However, materials accessioned after July 1997 are not included in this bibliography.
Evelyn Leasher
History of County Creation
Michigan's county boundaries were last changed in 1897. Although stable county boundaries have existed in Michigan during the twentieth century, the situation in the nineteenth century was just the opposite. Throughout most of the nineteenth century, county boundaries regularly changed. The legislature passed laws effecting the status of the state's counties in thirty-five of the sixty-one years between 1837, when Michigan became a state, and 1897.
Purposes
In nineteenth century Michigan the creation of county government served three purposes. First, it was a part of a process of government creation laid out by the Congress through the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The Northwest Ordinance outlined an extraordinary process through which the then frontier would eventually become incorporated into the United States as a full an equal partner with the then existing states. The benefits of local government, as it was understood "back East," was to also be extended to the frontier. The creation of counties was part and parcel of an ideological commitment to bring rational government order to the lands of the new United States.
The creation of counties, however, was more than mere ideology. Counties, working with other units of government, helped encourage settlement by simplifying the pioneers tasks. The land had been surveyed, federal agencies were prepared to give clear land title to those willing to stake a claim, the state stood ready to assure the general welfare, while county government met more local needs. Although this description of a government prepared to assist new settlers was sometimes more fiction than fact, nevertheless, government was present. As the nineteenth century progressed the pattern of creating counties prior to settlement continued. The state legislature, however, sought county borders likely to be retained after settlement.
Eventually pioneers would occupy the land. County government then implemented the will of the legislature that they serve the needs of the people. Roads were maintained. The sheriff ensured order. The courts existed to resolve criminal proceedings as well as to settle civil disputes. County government came to assume the responsibilities that are today expected of it.
Legal Creation
If the purposes for county government are clear, the process of county creation was complicated. Usually before significant settlement began in an area, the state legislature "set-off" a large tract of land, traditionally sixteen townships, with the intent that this area would become a county. The set-off land could not be incorporated into some other county without the expressed permission of the legislature. It was given a county name at the time that it was set-off and usually appeared on maps. Despite this appearance of legitimacy a set-off county was not a true legal entity.
For all legal, judicial, and taxation purposes, the set-off county was "attached" to and legally a part of an already organized county. Counties could remain set-off for long periods, often fifteen or twenty years, during which time the legislature might repeatedly detach the set-off county from one organized county and reattach it to another. Eventually, the residents of the set-off county would petition the legislature for "organization," that is the granting of full legal recognition to the county. A referendum election was held and, assuming a majority of those who voted approved, the legislature would pass the necessary act to officially organize the county.
Contemporary Lake County offers an example of how these changes took place. Lake County was originally set-off in 1840 with the name of Aishcum and was attached to Ottawa County. In 1843 the set-off county was renamed "Lake." In 1851 Lake County was attached to Oceana County, only to be reassigned to Mason County in 1855, and reassigned yet again in 1857 to Newaygo County. Just after the Civil War the legislature decided to assign some parts of Lake County to yet other organized counties; Mecosta becoming responsible for a part of Lake in 1867 and Osceola taking responsibility for a different section of Lake County in 1869. In 1871 Lake County was finally organized, with boundaries as established in the original 1840 legislation.
The implication of this sometimes complicated process is significant for researchers interested in finding local records. Researchers interested in Lake County, for example, need to know that the county once had a different name and that any legal documents relating to residents of Lake County issued between 1840 and 1871 will identify the individual's county of residence not as Lake but rather as any of six other counties. Similarly, published histories of other counties may include incidental information regarding the early history of Lake County. The Lake County example is typical. Most northern Michigan counties have similarly complicated histories. Thus an understanding of the general process through which counties came into being, as well as the specific history of a particular county, is of fundamental importance in making sense of what otherwise can quickly become a very confusing body of information.
History
As already noted, county organization in Northern Michigan predates the existence of the state. In 1787 the U.S. Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance, which outlined a process through which government was to be created for the Great Lakes Region. One result of this process was the establishment of Wayne County, Indiana Territory, in 1796. Wayne represented the first county to fully incorporate most of the land that would eventually become Michigan. Wayne County then included all of the lower peninsula and the eastern portion of the upper peninsula. In 1805, when Congress organized Michigan Territory as a separate entity, territorial governor William Hull abolished Wayne County and divided the new territory in districts of his own making. Hull's districts proved short lived. Lewis Cass, who became territorial governor in 1815, eliminated Hull's work and re-established Wayne County. He included in its jurisdiction all lands within Michigan Territory which had been ceded by Native Americans to the federal government through the Treaty of Detroit, signed in 1807.
In the years 1817 and 1818 the Territorial Government created four new counties to supplement Wayne. Monroe County, created in 1817, was located in the southeastern corner of the territory. Macomb County, created in 1818, controlled the lands north of Lake St. Clair ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Detroit. More important for the history of northern Michigan was the creation in 1818 of Michilimackinac county. Michilimackinac, which eventually would become known as Mackinac County, took responsibility for the northern two-thirds of the lower peninsula as well as the eastern half of the upper peninsula. Brown County, also created in 1818, incorporated those parts of the upper peninsula that lay to the west of Michilimackinac.
As the federal government gained title from the Indians to the land of Michigan, through the Treaties of Saginaw (1819), Chicago (1821), Carey Mission (1828), and Washington (1836), the territorial government established new counties. As suggested by the creation of Michilimackinac and Brown Counties however, the process of county creation was rarely impeded by the legal technicality that Native American rights to the land had not yet been surrendered. Rather the treaties often legitimized already set-off counties.
In 1819 Oakland County was set-off and in 1822 the land ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Saginaw was placed within Oakland County. Most of Michigan's Lake Huron shoreline thus became a part of Oakland County, while the central and western portions of the lower peninsula remained a part of Michilimackinac County. As Michigan approached statehood the territorial legislature began to rapidly set-off and organize new counties. In this period the territorial government set-off or organized most of the counties today found in the southern half of the lower peninsula as well as a few upper peninsula counties. Included among the counties first created under Michigan's territorial government are Arenac, Chippewa, Clinton, Genesee, Gladwin, Gratiot, Ionia, Isabella, Kent, Lapeer, Midland, Montcalm, Oceana, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Sanilac, and Shiawasee.
In 1840 the now Michigan state legislature enacted legislation setting off the counties found today in the northern lower peninsula. Twenty-nine contemporary counties were created in that year, although not necessarily with their present name nor with the exact borders shown on today's map. Counties set-off in 1840 include Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Huron, Iosco, Kalkaska, Lake, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oceana, Ogemaw, Oseola, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, Roscomon, Tuscola, and Wexford. Eleven years later, in 1851, the legislature organized the first three of these counties, Grand Traverse, Newaygo, and Oceana. It would take more than forty years, however, until all of the counties set-off in 1840 were finally organized. The process was completed in 1881 when Montmorency and Oscoda were organized.
In 1843, when the counties of the northern lower peninsula were still little more than lines on a map, the legislature began to modifying its earlier handiwork. In that year the legislature changed the names of sixteen of the counties set-off in 1840 and gave to Ionia County two townships formerly under the jurisdiction of Montcalm County. More importantly the legislature began to rationalize the county structure of the upper peninsula as it had in the lower peninsula three years earlier. Delta, Houghton, Marquette, Ontonagon, and Schoolcraft counties were set-off, and Mackinac County was limited to the upper peninsula, although several set-off counties in the lower peninsula were still attached to Mackinac County.
Over the next half-century the legislature continued to adjust Michigan's counties in a variety of ways. After 1870, significant changes in the lower peninsula became less common, with the legislature primarily acting to organize counties that had been set-off in 1840. The map of the lower peninsula was not, however, fixed. Some townships were reassigning among counties. Major changes did occur regarding Arenac County, which was abolished in 1858 and made a part of Bay County only to be reorganized in 1883, and Manitou County, which was organized in 1855 out of land formerly a part of Emmet County but was subsequently abolished in 1895. Although the impact of the legislature could still be felt in lower peninsula county boundaries, with the passage of time the legislature tended to act in ever smaller and less consequential ways.
In contrast to the relative stability of the lower peninsula, between 1870 and 1897 there were many fundamental changes in the county organization of the upper peninsula. Alger, Baraga, Gogebic, Iron, Isle Royal, and Luce counties were all organized in this time period, joining Menominee, Keweenaw, and Alger counties which had been created during the Civil War. The last significant modification of county boundaries in Michigan occurred in 1897 when Isle Royal County was abolished. The island was returned to the jurisdiction of Keweenaw County, from which it had been taken in 1875.
Sources
The legislative history of Michigan's counties is most clearly laid out in a small publication written by Richard W. Welch. County Evolution in Michigan 1790-1897 was published by the Michigan Dept. Of Education, State Library Services in 1972 as Occasional Paper no. 2. This mimeographed publication includes brief legislative histories for every county that ever existed within the state, several useful maps, and a brief bibliography of additional sources
Regional Material: Statewide Histories
This list of material represents the library's holdings as of July 1997.
[Edmunds, Dwight], comp. Origins: The Name-Origin and History of Over 300 Past and Present Southwestern Michigan Communities, Townships, Counties, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks, Roads, Woods, and Parks. [Benton Harbor, MI:] Farmers and Merchants State Bank, [1976].
Fuller, George N. Historic Michigan, Land of the Great Lakes: Its Life, Resources, Industries, People, Politics, Government, Ward, Institutions, Achievements, the Press, Schools and Churches, Legendary and Prehistoric Lore. Dayton, OH: National Historical Association, Inc., [1924- 1928].
Historical Michigan Courthouses. Historical Activities Committee of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in the State of Michigan, 1966.
Michigan Dept. of State. History of Michigan Counties. Lansing, MI: Department of State, 1968.
Michigan Gazetteer. Wilmington, DE: American Historical Publications, Inc., 1991.
Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections. Lansing, MI: 1874-1906. 30 Volumes.
Quaife, Milo Milton. Condensed Historical Sketches for Each of Michigan's Counties. Detroit, MI: J.L. Hudson Co., [1940].
Romig, Walter. Michigan Place Names: the History of the Founding and the Naming of More than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Grosse Pointe, MI: Walter Romig, [197-].
Welch, Richard W. County Evolution in Michigan, 1790-1897. Lansing, MI: Michigan Department of Education, State Library Services, 1972.
Lake Michigan Region
This list of material represents the library's holdings as of July 1997. Check for additional items by contacting the library or searching CMU's online catalog.
Bogue, Margaret. Around the Shores of Lake Michigan: A Guide to Historic Sites. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985.
Reed, Earl H. The Dune Country. Berrien Springs, MI: Hardscrabble Books, 1979. [Reprint of 1916 Edition].
Ruchhoft, Robert H. Exploring North Manitou, South Manitou, High and Garden Islands of the Lake Michigan Archipelago. Cincinnati, OH: Pucelle Press, 1991.
Wood, Mable C. Scooterville, U.S.A. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962.
Northern Lower Peninsula
This list of material represents the library's holdings as of July 1997. Check for additional items by contacting the library or searching CMU's online catalog.Portrait and Biographical Record of Northern Michigan, Containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens. Chicago, IL: Record Publishing Co., 1895, includes information on Antrim, Benzie, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Oceana, Ogemaw, Otsego, Roscommon, and Wexford counties.
Powers, Perry. A History of Northern Michigan and its People. Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912. 3 Volumes, contains information on Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Kalkaska, Lake, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason, Missaukee, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, and Wexford counties.
Thumb Region
This list of material represents the library's holdings as of July 1997. Check for additional items by contacting the library or searching CMU's online catalog.
Ackerman, Emma J. Thumb Fires of 1871 and 1881. CMU Term Paper, 1968.
The Great Fire of 1881: A Collection of Stories. Caro, MI: Tuscola County Advertiser, 1981.
House Party: Reminiscences by Traditional Musicians and Square Dance Callers in Michigan's Thumb Area. Port Huron, MI: Museum of Arts and History, 1982.
Schultz, Gerard. A History of Michigan's Thumb. [n.p., 1964].
Schultz, Gerard. A New History of Michigan's Thumb. [n.p., 1969].
Schultz, Gerard. A Pictorial History of Michigan's Thumb. [n.p., 1972].
Smith, Dee. Treks into the Past: Historical Sketches of Michigan's Thumb. Decatur, MI: Heritage Valley Publishing, 1989.
Southgate, Jerry D. Thumb's Forest Fire of 1881. CMU Term Paper, 1967.
Upper Peninsula
This list of material represents the library's holdings as of July 1997. Check for additional items by contacting the library or searching CMU's online catalog.
Anderson, Lauri. Heikki: Heikkinen and Other Stories of Upper Peninsula Finns. St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press of St. Cloud, 1995.
Avery, Thomas. Rural Free Deliveries: Explorations, Observations and Some Frustrations. Au Train, MI: Avery Color Studio, 1986.
Beach, Harrison. Selections from the "If I Remember Correctly" Columns by Harrison Beach. [n.p., 196-].
Bernhardt, Debra E. We Knew Different: The Michigan Timber Worker's Strike of 1937. Iron Mountain, MI: Mid-Peninsula Library Cooperative, 1979.
Big Louie Moilanen: Giant of the Copper Country, 1885-1913. Lake Linden, MI: Houghton County Historical Society, 1989.
Biographical History of Northern Michigan Containing Biographies of Prominent Citizens. Indianapolis, IN: B.F. Bowen, 1905.
A Bond of Interest. Marquette, MI: Marquette Historical Society, 1978.
Boyum, Burton H. The Saga of Iron Mining in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Marquette, MI: John M. Longyear, Research Library, 1977.
Brockway, Porter B. "Why a Brockway Mountain?". Toledo, OH: Concession Supply Co., 1952.
Burnham, Guy M. The Lake Superior Country in History and in Story. Ashland, WI: Ashland Daily Press, 1930.
Cannon, George H. A Narrative of One Year in the Wilderness. [Ann Arbor, MI: Leah Cannon Atwater, 1982].
Carter, James L. Superior, a State for the North Country. Marquette, MI: Pilot Press, 1980.
Christensen, George E. Back Trail, or, an Upper Peninsula Boyhood. Iron Mountain, MI: R.W. Secord Press, 1985.
Claus, Donald. Diary of a Game Warden. [n.p., 1988].
Cloverland in Clovertime: Touring Through Picturesque Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Marquette, MI: Upper Peninsula Development Bureau of MI, [1917].
Clover-Land Magazine. 1916- . Menominee, MI: The Andrews Publications, August 1916.
The Copper Country. Calumet, MI: Keweenaw Printing Co., n.d.
Damrell, Joseph, editor. Isaac Polvi: the Autobiography of a Finnish Immigrant. St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press of St. Cloud, 1991.
Early Days in the Upper Peninsula from Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections. Iron Mountain, MI: Mid-Peninsula Library Federation, 1974.
Edwards, David E. Yesterday's Dreams, Upper Michigan Memories. Edwards Enterprises, 1988.
Eshbach, Charles. Sawmill to Sanctuary: The Estevant Pines Story. Houghton, MI: North Forty Publishing, 1976.
Farrell, Ira. Haywire; Growing Up in the Upper Peninsula, 1905-1925. NY: William-Frederick Press, 1961.
Finlan, Bill. Two Hundred Years of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and its People 1776 to 1976. Utica, MI: 1975.
Finnish American Lives [video recording]. Marquette, MI: Northern Michigan University, 1984.
Fountain, Daniel. Michigan Gold Mining in the Upper Peninsula. Duluth, MN: Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., 1992.
Friggens, Thomas G. No Tears in Heaven: The 1926 Barnes-Hecker Mine Disaster. Lansing, MI: Michigan Department of State, 1988.
Gage, Cully. A Love Affair with the U.P. Au Train, MI: Avery Color Studios, 1988.
Gagnon, John. Hard Maple, Hard Work. Marquette, MI: Northern Michigan University Press, 1996.
Germain, P. Copper Country Trivia. [Calumet, MI: P. Germain], 1986.
Gilson, Bertha. Happenings of the Past for Future Generations. [n.p., 1978].
Great Lakes Gazette. Grand Marais, MI. Have: May/June 1979; July/August 1979; November/December 1980; Summer 1980.
Hamilton, Charles F. Our Hiawatha Land. Chicago, IL: Lyons & Carnahan, 1940.
Harju, Jerry. Northern D'Lights: Another Hilarious Account of "Growing Up North.". Marquette, MI: Avery Color Studios, 1994.
Harju, Jerry. Northern Passages: Feisty Tales of "Growing Up North.". Marquette, MI: Avery Color Studios, 1995.
Harju, Jerry. Northern Reflections: Light Hearted Accounts of "Growing Up North.". Marquette, MI: Avery Color Studios, 1992.
Hiawatha Club. [Marshall, MI: Smyth Printing Co., 19--].
History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Containing a Full Account of its Early Settlement. Chicago, IL: Western Historical Company, 1883.
Holmis, Armas K. Michigan: N. Suomalaisten Historia. Hancock, MI: Suomalaisten Historia-Seura, 1967.
Horton, Irvin W. A Complete Guidebook to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Sault Ste. Marie, MI: Horton, 1958.
Hulbert, William D. White Pine Days on the Tahquamenon. Lansing, MI: Historical Society of Michigan, 1949.
Iron Mining and Agriculture: Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Marquette, MI: Mining Journal, 1913.
Johnson, Coralie C. The Wishing Years. Ypsilanti, MI: Wildwood Press, 1995.
The Land of Hiawatha: Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Marquette, MI: Upper Peninsula Development Bureau, n.d.
Lankton, Larry D. Cradle to Grave: Life, Work, and Death at the Lake Superior Copper Mine. NY: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Larson, Herbert F. Be-Wa-Bic Country: The Story of the Menominee Iron Range in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. NY: Carlton Press, 1963.
Leskinen, Lauri. 4000 Years of Copper Country History. Calumet, MI: Greenlee Printing, Co., 1974.
Loukinen, Michael. Good Man in the Woods [video recording]. Marquette, MI: Northern Michigan University Production, 1987.
The Lure Book of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Have: 1939, 1942, 1945, 1947-52, 1956, 1957.
Magnaghi, Russell M. A Guide to the Indians of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, 1621-1900. Marquette, MI: Belle Fontaine Press, 1984.
Magnaghi, Russell M. Miners, Merchants, and Midwives: Michigan's Upper Peninsula Italians. Marquette, MI: Belle Fontaine Press, 1987.
Magnaghi, Russell M. An Outline History of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Marquette, MI: Belle Fountain Press, 1979.
Magnaghi, Russell M. The Way it Happened: Settling Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Iron Mountain, MI: Mid-Michigan Library Cooperative, 1982.
Maki, Wilbert B. Big Louie: Copper Country Giant. W.B. Maki, 1989.
Maki, Wilbert B. Tragedy and Sorrow of a Copper Mining Era. n.p., 1991.
Martin, John B. Call it North Country: The Story of Upper Michigan. NY: Knopf, 1944.
Memorial Record of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1895.
Michigan Ghost Towns of the Upper Peninsula. Las Vegas, NV: Glendon Pub., 1990.
Michigan Natural Resources Magazine. A Most Superior Land: Life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Lansing, MI: TwoPeninsula Press, 1983.
Michigan's Land and Song of Hiawatha. Berrien Center, MI: Penrod/Hiawatha Co., 1986.
Michigan's Upper Peninsula: A Pictorial Guide. Berrien Springs, MI: Penrod/ Hiawatha Co., 1991.
Minor, Carl B. Memories of the Minor Lumber Camps. Newberry, MI: The Newberry News, 1982.
Murdoch, Angus. Boom Cooper; The Story of the First U.S. Mining Boom. NY: Macmillan, 1943.
Nevill, John T. Wanderings: Sketches of Northern Michigan, Yesterday and Today. NY: Exposition Press, 1955.
Oikarinen, Peter. Remembering: A Copper Country Portfolio. n.p., 1975.
Operation Action, U.P. The Good Life is Even Better in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. [Marquette, MI: 1968].
Osborn, Stellanova. Two Beautiful Peninsulas. [n.p., 1936].
Polvi, Isaac. Isaac Polvi: The Autobiography of a Finnish Immigrant. St. Cloud, MN: North Star Press of St. Cloud, 1991.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Northern Michigan. . . Chicago, IL: Record Publishing Co., 1895.
Powers, Perry F. A History of Northern Michigan and its People. Chicago, IL: Lewis Publishing Co., 1912.
Prater, Cecil. The Land of Indian Elik: Upper Peninsula Life in the Late 1800s and Early 1900s. The Story of Jim Baker. [Grand Marais, MI: Voyager Press, 1976].
Profiles: Michigan's Mining History in the Upper Peninsula. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, [1976].
Reimann, Lewis Charles. When Pine was King. Ann Arbor, MI: 1952.
Rezek, Antoine I. History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette. The Development of the Catholic Church in Upper Michigan. Houghton, MI: 1906-07. 2 Volumes.
Riordan, John J. The Dark Peninsula. Au Train, MI: Avery Color Studios, 1976.
Robinson, Orrin W. Early Days of the Lake Superior Copper Country. Houghton, MI: D.L. Robinson, 1938.
St. John, John R. A True Description of the Lake Superior Country. NY: W.H. Graham, 1846.
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