Editing Kalkaska County, Michigan (section)

==History==
[[Image:1842 Leelenaw Omeena Negissee Wabbassee Okkuddo Shawwano counties Michigan.jpg|thumb|A detail from ''[[:File:1842 A new map of Michigan with its canals roads distances by H.S. Tanner.jpg|A New Map of Michigan with its Canals, Roads & Distances]]'' (1842) by [[Henry Schenck Tanner]], showing Kalkaska County as "Wabbassee" (a misspelling of Wabassee, the county's name from 1840 to 1843.<ref name=Newberry/>) Several nearby counties are also shown with names that would later be changed.]]
{{See also|History of Northern Michigan}}
Kalkaska County, originally named '''Wabassee County''', was separated from [[Mackinac County, Michigan|Michilimackinac County]] in 1840,<ref>{{cite book |author=George Dawson |date=1840 |title=Acts of the Legislature of the State of Michigan Passed at the Annual Session of 1840 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDg4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA196 |location=Detroit |pages=196–200}}</ref> renamed in 1843.<ref name=Newberry>{{cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/MI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=Michigan: Individual County Chronologies|author=Newberry Library|website=Atlas of County Historical Boundaries|access-date=November 4, 2016|archive-date=January 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107012849/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/MI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=clarke/> In 1851, Kalkaska County was attached to [[Grand Traverse County, Michigan|Grand Traverse County]] for legal purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History in Grand Traverse County, Michigan |url=http://genealogytrails.com/mich/grandtraverse/history_county8.html |access-date=January 21, 2023 |website=genealogytrails.com}}</ref> The first settler in Kalkaska County was William Copeland, from England, who purchased land in the northwest corner of the county in 1855. Kalkaska County was organized in its own right on January 27, 1871. [[Crawford County, Michigan|Crawford County]] was then temporarily attached to Kalkaska County for legal purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Genealogy Trails Kalkaska County Michigan |url=http://genealogytrails.com/mich/kalkaska/historycutler.html |access-date=January 21, 2023 |website=genealogytrails.com}}</ref>

=== Etymology ===
The county's name is a pseudo-Native American word coined by [[Henry Schoolcraft]], a Michigan geographer and ethnologist.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michigan Counties |url=https://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_20826_20829-54126--,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313052757/https://www.michigan.gov/hal/0%2C1607%2C7-160-15481_20826_20829-54126--%2C00.html |archive-date=March 13, 2009 |access-date=February 14, 2016 |website=Michigan.gov }}</ref> The name is thought to be a [[Chippewa]] word meaning flat or burned-over country. An alternative theory is that this is a [[neologism]] or neonym created by [[Henry Schoolcraft]], originally spelled Calcasca. Some theorists suggest this is word play. Schoolcraft's family name had been Calcraft, and the Ks may have been added to make the name appear more like a Native American word.<ref>[http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_20826_20829-54126--,00.html Michigan History, County Names.]</ref>