Editing Upper Peninsula of Michigan (section)

==History==
{{Main|Timeline of Michigan history|History of Michigan}}
[[File:Tahquamenon falls upper.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Tahquamenon Falls|Upper Falls]] of the [[Tahquamenon River]], near the northern shore of the peninsula]]
The first known inhabitants of the Upper Peninsula were tribes speaking [[Algonquian languages]], specifically the Algonquian branches of [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] and [[Menominee language|Menominee]]. They arrived roughly around 800 C.E. and subsisted chiefly from fishing. Early tribes included the [[Menominee]], [[Odawa]], [[Ojibwe]], [[Noquet|Nocquet]], and [[Potawatomi]]. [[Étienne Brûlé]] of France was probably the first European to visit the peninsula, crossing the [[St. Marys River (Michigan–Ontario)|St. Marys River]] around 1620 in search of a route to the Far East.<ref name="hunt">{{cite book |last1=Hunt |first1=Mary |last2=Hunt |first2=Don |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |title=Hunts' Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula |publisher=Midwestern Guides |location=Albion, Michigan |url=http://hunts-upguide.com/ |access-date=March 31, 2007 |isbn=978-0-9709094-0-4 |archive-date=October 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001064438/http://hunts-upguide.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[French colonization of the Americas|French colonists]] laid claim to the land in the 17th century, establishing missions and [[North American fur trade|fur trading]] posts such as [[Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan|Sault Ste. Marie]] and [[St. Ignace, Michigan|St. Ignace]]. Following the end of the [[French and Indian War]] (part of the [[Seven Years' War]]) in 1763, the territory was ceded to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]. Sault Ste. Marie is the oldest European settlement in Michigan and the site of Native American settlements for centuries.

[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] tribes formerly allied with the French were dissatisfied with the British occupation, which brought new territorial policies. Whereas the French cultivated alliances among the Indians, the British postwar approach was to treat the tribes as conquered peoples. In 1763, tribes united in [[Pontiac's War|Pontiac's Rebellion]] to try to drive the British from the area. American Indians captured [[Fort Michilimackinac]], at present-day [[Mackinaw City, Michigan|Mackinaw City]], then the principal fort of the British in the [[Michilimackinac]] region, as well as others and killed hundreds of British. In 1764, they began negotiations with the British, resulting in temporary peace and changes in objectionable British policies.

Although the Upper Peninsula nominally became United States territory with the 1783 [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]], the British did not give up control until 1797 under terms of the [[Jay Treaty]]. As an American territory, the Upper Peninsula was still dominated by the fur trade. [[John Jacob Astor]] founded the [[American Fur Company]] on [[Mackinac Island]] in 1808; however, the industry began to decline in the 1830s as beaver and other game were overhunted.<ref name="nmu">{{cite web |author=Center for Upper Peninsula Studies |date=n.d. |url=http://faculty.nmu.edu/upced/UPinfo/UPHIST.HTM |title=History of the Upper Peninsula |publisher=Northern Michigan University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905235910/http://faculty.nmu.edu/upced/UPinfo/UPHIST.HTM |archive-date=September 5, 2006 }}</ref>

When the [[Michigan Territory]] was first established in 1805, it included only the [[Lower Peninsula of Michigan|Lower Peninsula]] and the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula. In 1819, the territory was expanded to include the remainder of the Upper Peninsula, all of what later became [[Wisconsin]], and part of [[Minnesota]] (previously included in the [[Indiana Territory|Indiana]] and [[Illinois Territory|Illinois]] Territories). When Michigan applied for statehood in the 1830s, the proposal corresponded to the original territorial boundaries. However, there was an armed conflict known as the [[Toledo War]] with the state of Ohio over the location of their mutual border. Meanwhile, the people of Michigan approved a constitution in May 1835 and elected state officials in late autumn 1835. Although the state government was not yet recognized by the [[United States Congress]], the territorial government effectively ceased to exist. President [[Andrew Jackson]]'s government offered the remainder of the Upper Peninsula to Michigan if it would cede the Toledo Strip to Ohio. A constitutional convention of the state legislature refused, but a second convention, hastily convened by Governor [[Stevens T. Mason|Stevens Thomson Mason]], consisting primarily of his supporters, agreed in December 1836 to the deal. In January 1837, the U.S. Congress admitted Michigan as a state of the Union.

[[File:Quincy-smelter-c1906.jpg|thumb|right|[[Quincy Smelter|Smelter]] at Quincy Hill, [[Hancock, Michigan]], circa 1906]]
At the time, Michigan was considered the losing party in the compromise. The land in the Upper Peninsula was described in a federal report as a "sterile region on the shores of Lake Superior destined by soil and climate to remain forever a wilderness."<ref name="hunt" /> This belief changed when rich mineral deposits (primarily copper and iron) were discovered in the 1840s. The Upper Peninsula's mines produced more mineral wealth than the [[California Gold Rush]], especially after shipping was improved by the opening of the [[Soo Locks]] in 1855 and docks in [[Marquette, Michigan|Marquette]] in 1859. The Upper Peninsula supplied 90% of America's copper by the 1860s. It was the nation's largest supplier of iron ore by the 1890s, and production continued to a peak in the 1920s but sharply declined shortly afterward. The last copper mine closed in 1995, although the majority of mines had closed decades before. Some iron mining continues near Marquette.<ref name="hunt" /> The [[Eagle Mine (Michigan)|Eagle Mine]], a nickel-copper mine, opened in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eaglemine.com/about-us/ |title=About Eagle Mine |publisher=Eagle Mine |access-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-date=September 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903122232/http://eaglemine.com/about-us/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Thousands of Americans and immigrants moved to the area during the mining boom, prompting the federal government to create [[Fort Wilkins Historic State Park|Fort Wilkins]] near [[Copper Harbor, Michigan|Copper Harbor]] to maintain order. The first wave were the [[Cornish people|Cornish]] from Great Britain, with centuries of mining experience; followed by Irish, [[Germans]], and [[French Canadian]]s. During the 1890s, [[Finnish people|Finnish]] immigrants began settling there in large numbers, forming the population plurality in the northwestern portion of the peninsula. In the early 20th century, 75% of the population was foreign-born.<ref name="nmu" />

From 1861 to 1865, 90,000 Michigan men fought in the [[American Civil War]], including 1,209 from the Upper Peninsula. [[Houghton County, Michigan|Houghton County]] contributed 460 soldiers, while [[Marquette County, Michigan|Marquette County]] sent 265.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=532/ |title=Upper Michigan in the Civil War |work=This Week in the American Civil War |publisher=Self-published |access-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-date=May 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504151627/http://thisweekinthecivilwar.com/?p=532/ |url-status=live }} {{unreliable source?|date= September 2012 }}</ref>