Michigan History Books Free – Also Articles and Textbooks

Non-Fiction Books about Michigan Free – Collection

Free Michigan history books from the Internet Archive. Michigan history textbook. Wide variety of subjects.

Michigan: A Field Guide to State History

Alloy, Jan Leibovitz

London: PRC 2005

Comprehensive historical guide, lists the most important and frequently visited historical sites, and features many of Michigan’s most famous sons and daughters. Generously illustrated with color photos, as well as historic black and which prints and engravings.

Today in Michigan History

Antes, E. D.

1959

For almost every day of the year there is a brief description of a Michigan historical event.

Traveling through Time: A Guide to Michigan’s Historical Markers

Ashlee, Laura R., ed.

Lansing, MI: Michigan Historical Commission 1991

“Takes you to more than 1,100 of Michigan’s historic sites. Lists location and full text of each marker; arranged by county; indexed; more than 100 historic and color phots; special section on Michigan Historical Markers placed outside Michigan.” – book cover.

Do you Know — An Illustrated History of Michigan, in Questions and Answers, in Pictures, in Text

Atwell, Willis

Grand Rapids: Booth 1937

The pictures and text collected here originated in 1935 as a daily “panel-and-text feature” centennial series by several Michigan newspapers published by Booth Newspapers Inc.

Report on the Michigan Forest Fires of 1881

Bailey, William O., Sergeant

Washington: U.S. War Dept 1882

The Michigan forest fires of late August and early September of 1881 swept through the four counties of Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac and Lapeer, killing 125 people and destroying nearly $2 million of property.

Michigan in Four Centuries – Michigan History Textbooks

Bald, F. Clever

NY: Harper 1961

Bald was a Professor of History at University of Michigan. This ample survey was “directed to the adult as well as to the youthful resident of the state.”

Mich-again’s Day

Barfknecht, Gary W.

Davison, MI: Friede 1984

“A panorama of major and trivial, human-interest and historical, and informative and entertaining events that have taken place on each of Michigan’s past days.”

Michigan My Michigan

Board of Education of Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids: Board of Education 1949

A history and geography of the state.

Facts and Figures about Michigan; A Handbook of the State

Statistical, Political, Financial, Economical, Commercial

Bramhall, Frank J.

Chicago: General Passenger Department, Michigan Central 1885

See gazetteers for Michigan at: Michigan Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers

“Cadillac Papers”

Michigan Historical Collections Vol 33 (1903-4) pp. 36-715

Burton, Clarence, ed.

Lansing: The Michigan Historical Society

The Cadillac papers that make up this volume were selected from those collected by Clarence M. Burton of Detroit into 24 volumes. They include papers of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, military commandant at Michilimackinac and founder of Detroit, and also many other papers from Paris official records related to administration in Michigan during the French colonial era. The time period covered in this volume appears to range from about 1686 to 1723. The “Cadillac Papers” continue in Vol 34 of this journal. See the entry below.

For works on the Old Northwest under the French regime (until about 1760), see: Great Lakes General History

“Cadillac Papers”, “Cadillac’s Records”, “Montreal Papers”, “Detroit Rulers”

Michigan Historical Collections Vol 34 (1905) pp. 11-340

Burton, Clarence, ed.

Lansing: The Michigan Historical Society

This volume is a sequel to volume 33, with a continuation of material from the Cadillac papers, relating to French rule of Detroit from its founding by Cadillac in 1701. The section called “Detroit Rulers” contains sketches of French commandants in the region from 1701-1760.

“Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit – 1701 to 1710 – under Cadillac” – Michigan History Books Free

Historical Collections Vol 29, 1901, 240-317

Burton, Clarence Monroe

Lansing: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society

An extensive historical article that begins in the latter part of the 17th century with political, diplomatic and economic events in French Canada and then covers the early years of Detroit. Two maps are included. Burton had previously published a biography of Cadillac and would later publish a five-volume history of Detroit (also available on this website), among many other works. In 1915 Burton donated to the Detroit Public Library his historical collection of 30,000 volumes, 40,000 pamphlets and 500,000 unpublished papers.

Michigan: A History – Michigan History Textbooks

Catton, Bruce

NY: Norton 1984

A volume in The States and the Nation Series, administered by the American Association for State and Local History.
“The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Bruce Catton is known to millions of readers for his absorbing works on the Civil War. In this book, he turns to his native Michigan to tell a story of what happened when a primitive wilderness changed into a bustling industrial center so fast that it was as if the old French explorer Etienne Brule “should step up to shake hands with Henry Ford.””. Bruce Catton was born in Petoskey, MI.

Rural Michigan

Chase, Lew Allen

NY: Macmillan 1922

A volume in the “Rural State and Province Series”. The preface describes the book as a “general and free account of the past and present condition of Michigan agriculture and rural life”. Chapter headings are:

1. The Physical and Climatic Setting of Michigan – 2. The Influence of Soils on the Settlement of Michigan – 3. Other Resources of Michigan – 4. The Occupation of the Land – 5. Agricultural Industries, Plants and Crops of Michigan – 6. Animal Industries of Michigan – 7. Transportation and Marketing – 8. Rural Manufactures of Michigan – 9. Rural Living Conditions – 10. Agricultural Societies – 11. Educational Enterprises of Michigan – 12. Governmental Work for Country Life – 13. Development of Michigan Waste Lands – 14. Status and Tendencies in Michigan Rural Life – Statistical Appendices.

A Brief Survey of Theses in Michigan History

Chavis, John, comp.

Detroit Historical Museum 1962

Written studies authored by undergraduate and graduate students in Michigan history, mostly at Michigan universities.

Michigan, Its History and Government

Cook, Webster

NY: Macmillan 1905

Michigan: A Guide to Study

Dunbar, Willis F.

Lansing: Michigan Department of Education 1967

Willis F. Dunbar (1902-1970) was born in Hartford Michigan and, after earning his PhD from the University of Michigan, taught history at Kalamazoo College. From 1943 to 1951 he was in broadcasting in Kalamazoo, where he analyzed the news and presented radio shows about life in Michigan. From 1951 to 1967 he was a Professor at Western Michigan University, and was at one time President of the Michigan Historical Society. His book, Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State (below on this page), was the standard textbook on Michigan history and remained so for decades after his death, thanks to updates by George S. May.

Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State – Michigan History Textbook

Dunbar, Willis F. , May, George S.

Eerdmans 1995

This is a much more recent history textbook than most of the public domain books on this site, and various editions of it were widely used in Michigan schools for decades. The first 15 of 30 chapters cover the pre-Civil War history of Michigan. There is a very good annotated bibliography of recommended works on Michigan history.

For numerous Michigan history articles, see Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections and Michigan History Magazine at: Michigan History Periodicals: Magazines, Historical Journals & Newspapers

For historical fiction about Michigan, see: Michigan Novels and Historical Fiction

When Michigan was Young

The story of its beginnings, early legends, and folklore

Fasquelle, Ethel Rowan

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1950

Michigan folklore book.

The Archaeology of Michigan: A Guide to the Prehistory of the Great Lakes Region – Michigan Archaeology Book

Fitting, James E.

Natural History 1970

My Michigan– Michigan History Books Free

Ford, R. Clyde

Delaware: Gateway 1948

Readings in Michigan history. A periodical for kids; this volume contains 30 brief issues. Almost every issue profiles the early history of a Michigan city.

Economic and Social Beginnings of Michigan: A Study of the Settlement of the Lower Peninsula during the Territorial Period 1805-1837

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Michigan

Fuller, George N.

Lansing: Wynkoop Hallenbeck. 1916

This volume begins with background information for these topics for Michigan as a whole:

– Physical Conditions: geology, geography, rivers, lakes, soil, forests. – Effects of the War of 1812 in Michigan. – Relations with the Indians. Indian treaties, Black Hawk War. – Selling and settling public lands, water transport, road- building. – Extension of government; state, county and local.

The remainder of the book is presented in regional histories, with an emphasis on economic development:

– The Eastern Shore – The First Inland Counties – St. Joseph Valley and Chicago Road – Kalamazoo Valley and Territorial Road – The Saginaw Country – The Grand River Region. Michigan geography book.

For U.S. histories of this period, see: America in the Early 19th Century – 1809-1861

Michigan: A Centennial History of the State and its People vol 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 5

Fuller, George N., ed.

Chicago: Lewis 1939

The first two volumes are devoted to the history of Michigan, while volumes 3-5 contain biographies.

We Almost Lost Detroit

Fuller, John G.

Reader’s Digest Press 1975

Michigan historical.

The Rise and Fall of Toledo, Michigan … the Toledo War!

George, Sister Mary Karl

Lansing, MI: Michigan Historical Commission 1971

This 80-page book covers the early history of Toledo and the boundary dispute between Michigan and Ohio that nearly led to war between the two states in 1835-1836. Federal intervention resulted in the border being redrawn to give Toledo to Ohio. Illustrated.

Our Michigan Heritage – Michigan History Textbooks

Gillard, Kathleen Isabel

NY: Pageant 1955

Detroit: A Study in Urban Development

Glazer, Sidney

Bookman 1965

Profiles of Michigan

Gray House, ed.

Millerton, NY: Grey House 2006

History, Statistics, Demographics for all 2,026 populated places in Michigan. Highly detailed data collection, it also includes profiles of schools in every location. There is a section on ethnic and racial makeup of populations, with separate chapters on Hispanic and Asian populations. There’s a section for weather throughout the state, including storm data, and 16 color maps of the state to illustrate demographic data.

A Selective Bibliography of Important Books, Pamphlets, and Broadsides Relating to Michigan History– Michigan History Books Free

Greenly, Albert Harry

Lunenburg, Vt., Stinehour Press, 1958

This covers the entire period of Michigan history up to 1956. Individual entries often contain very extensive descriptions of the item, information about the author, historical background, and an evaluation of the item’s importance to historians.

“The New State Capitol” – Michigan History Free Online

Historical Collections Vol 31, 1902, 227-232

Grosvenor, Ebenezer O.

Lansing: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society

This is a short history of the construction of Michigan’s capitol building in the 1870s, including the actions of the State legislature to initiate it, construction costs, and a description of the facility. It was authored in 1878, immediately after the project was completed, by a representative of the construction contractor.

Dissertations and Theses in Michigan History

Hathaway, Richard J., comp.

Lansing: Michigan History Division, Michigan Dept. of State 1974

Written studies by graduate students in Michigan history, usually carried out at Michigan universities.

Michigan: Visions of our Past – Michigan History Textbooks

Hathaway, Richard J., ed.

East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University 1989

After Michigan’s 150th birthday celebrations a group of diverse Michigan historians gathered together for this collection of 18 illuminating essays. “They have provided a tool for the teacher, a source for the scholar and a pleasurable trip through Michigan history.” – book flap.

History of Michigan

Hemans, Lawton T.

Lansing: Hammond 1906

Lawton Thomas Hemans (1864-1916) was raised in Mason, Ingham Co. MI, and served for many years in the State legislature. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor twice as the Democratic nominee. Also see his book, Life and Times of Stevens Thomson Mason, the Boy Governor of Michigan, on the Biographies & Memoirs in Michigan History page of this website.

Chapter headings are:

– The Story of Michigan, Introductory – First Century of French Occupation – The Jesuit Pathfinders – Attempts at Colonization – The Settlement of Detroit – English Occupation – The Territory Lingers in British Control – A Part of the Northwest Territory – Territorial Tutelage – The Passing of the Territory – Statehood and its Trials – A Period of Retrenchment – Through Civil Strife to Peaceful Days – A Half Century of Statehood Completed – The Close of the Nineteenth Century – Michigan Today

See also: Cyclopedia of Michigan: Historical and Biographical on Biographies & Memoirs in Michigan History

For historic maps of the Great Lakes region and states, see:
Great Lakes Maps, Atlases & Map Collections;
Ohio Maps, Atlases & Map Collections;
Indiana Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers;
Illinois Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers;
Michigan Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers;
Wisconsin Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers

When Michigan was New

Hollands, Hulda T.

Chicago: Flanagan 1906

The early history of Michigan, told through stories of selected events, and profiles of a few individuals.

Memorials of a Half-Century

Hubbard, Bela

NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1887

The author came to Springwells, MI, (near Detroit) as a youth in 1835. He lived in that area, which was rural until about 1880, for fifty years, becoming a very prominent citizen of Detroit. This volume is a collection of essays that he wrote over the years, for the Detroit Scientific Association, State and county pioneer societies, and various newspapers. Part and chapter headings are:

Part 1 – Scenery and Description
– Scenery of the Lakes – Lake Superior in 1840 – A Michigan Geological Expedition in 1837

Part 2 – Historical and Antiquarian
– A Time of Universal Prosperity, and What came of it – French Habitants of the Detroit – The Naming of Lake Ste. Claire – Indians in Michigan – Policy of the Government towards the Indians – The Mound- Builders in Michigan

Part 3 – Fauna and Flora
– Fish and Fishing – Birds of my Neighborhood – Four- footed Inhabitants – Wild Animals of Michigan – The Beaver – Trees, Their relations to us, Economic and Scientific – Trees, in their Social Relations

Part 4 – Climatology
– Climate of Detroit and the Lake Region – Periodical Changes in the Lake Levels, Rainfall, Temperature and Sun- spots, and their relations to each other – The Winter Season – Spring- tide – Our Summers – Autumn Time – The Ripening of the Year.

Annals of Fort Mackinac

Kelton, Dwight H.

Chicago: Fergus 1882

An unusual volume containing a wide variety of information about Fort Mackinac and the surrounding area. Some chapter and section titles are: “National Park – Island of Mackinac” (a legislative bill of 1873 and introductory speech); “Legend of Lover’s Leap”; “Historical Events”, including Father Marquette at the Sault, Joliet at Michilimackinac etc.; “Names formerly applied to some of the Western Lakes and Rivers” and “The American Fur Company”.

Also see the works on Mackinac and northern Michigan at: History of Michigan Cities, Counties & Regions

“History of the Land Grants for Education in Michigan”– Michigan History Books Free

Historical Collections Vol 7, 1886, 17-35

Knight, George W.

Lansing: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society

History of Michigan, from its Earliest Colonization to the Present Time

Lanman, James H.

NY: Harper. 1859

This volume was completed in 1841, and may have been the first published history of Michigan. Nine of its ten chapters are concerned with events before 1814.

“A minute narration of the early dealings of the whites with the aborigines of the territory, the Jesuit missions, and border wars, is given in the first ten chapters of the work”.
– Literature of American History; a bibliographical guide (1902). Michigan history book, Michigan history textbook.

Links to Museums & Historic Sites in the Michigan U.P.: Museums & Historic Sites in Northern Michigan

The Story of Michigan – Michigan History Textbooks

Larzelere, Claude Sheldon

Lansing: Michigan School Service 1936

Michigan Yesterday and Today

Lewis, Ferris E.

Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale School Supply 1956

Our Own State Michigan: History and Geography

Lewis, Ferris E.

Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale Educational 1992

A Michigan history textbook intended for Junior High or Middle School students.

On the Road to Michigan’s Past

Massie, Larry B.

Allegan Forest, MI: Priscilla 1995

43 stories from Michigan’s past. Some portray famous figures in the State’s history, many retell 1st person accounts by pioneers. Areas throughout the State are represented. Also see the similar volume by the same author, The Romance of Michigan’s Past, on this webpage.

The Romance of Michigan’s Past

Massie, Larry B.

Allegan Forest, MI: Priscilla 1991

15 stories from Michigan history. Also see Massie’s later volume on this webpage, On the Road to Michigan’s Past.

A Michigan Reader: 11,000 B.C. to A.D. 1865 – Michigan History Textbooks

May, George S.

Eerdmans 1974

A Michigan Reader: 1865 to the Present

May, George S.

Eerdmans 1974

Michigan: An Illustrated History of the Great Lakes State

May, George S.

Northridge CA: Windsor 1987

Well-illustrated volume written by Professor George May of Eastern Michigan University.

Prize Essays Written by Pupils of Michigan Schools in the Local History Contest (Annual Bulletins) Vol 1915-16– Michigan History Books Free

Vol 1916-17

Vol 1918-19

Vol 1919-20

Vol 1920-21

Michigan Historical Commission, ed.

Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission 1917-1922

An annual prize essay contest for pupils in Michigan schools was arranged by the Michigan Daughters of the American Revolution and the Michigan Federation of Women’s Clubs. Four essays per year were normally selected for prizes, and were reprinted in this annual publication. Each year a single topic was assigned. First-place winners in each category received a framed portrait of Lewis Cass; 2nd place winners a portrait of Stevens Mason. Titles of essays in each volume were:

Bulletin No. 8: Prize Essays 1915-16
1. A History of the City of Three Rivers – 2. The Settlement and Growth of Manistee – 3. The History of Cadillac – 4. The Settlement and Development of Traverse City

Bulletin No. 9: Prize Essays 1916-17
1. The First Schools in Bay City – 2. The First School in Battle Creek and the Children Who Attended It – 3. Benton Harbor’s First School and the Pupils Who Attended It – 4. First School of This Vicinity and Children Who Attended It: Part 1 – The Village of Pere Marquette. Part II – The First School. Part III – End of the First School and Beginning of the Second

Bulletin No. 11: Prize Essays 1918-19
1. Our School’s War Activities – 2. What Manistee County Has Done to Win the War – 3. What our Town Has Done to Win the War (Ypsilanti) – 4. How Our County Helped to Win the War (Allegan?)

Bulletin No. 14: Prize Essays 1919-20
1. James Burrill Angell – 2. Some Men Who Have Made Cadillac – 3. The Life of Peter White – 4. Distinguished Men and Women of Berrien County

Bulletin No. 15: Prize Essays 1920-21
1-4. Lessons from Michigan Pioneers – 5. The Michigan Indian

Some Facts about Michigan

Michigan Historical Commission

Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission 1944?

A brief intro to Michigan’s history, geography, demographics, economy and government.

Michigan: An Illustrated History for Children

Mitchell, John & Woodruff, Tom

Suttons Bay, MI: Suttons Bay 1991

50+ pages, with illustrations on every page. Reading level at the upper elementary level.

History of Michigan vol 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Moore, Charles

Chicago: Lewis 1915

Vol 1 Chapter headings, with some sub-headings, include:
-The Mound Builders, the Garden Beds, and the Ancient Miners
Indian origins, migrations and battles, A century of conflict along the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers, builders of the Ohio Mounds, Michigan Indian mounds, The Garden Beds of Western Michigan, Copper used by the Indians, Ancient Miners of Lake Superior, The Ontonagon Copper Boulder, Removal of the Copper Boulder to Washington.
-Indian Folk-Lore attaching to Michigan Localities
Indian Folk-Lore Attaching to Michigan Localities, The fairy Island of Mackinac, Indian fables relating to Mackinac, The Story of Mashquashakwong, A Chippewa Legend of Sault Saint Marie, The Pictured Rocks, The veneration of animals.
-Champlain and early French Explorations
Explorations of Cartier, conflict between the Hurons and the Iroquois, Attempts to find the Northwest Passage, Stephen Brule, John Nicolet, Nicolet’s voyage through the Straits of Mackinac.
-The Explorers of Lake Superior
Raymbault and Jogues at St. Mary’s Falls, Radisson and Groseilliers, founders of the Hudson Bay Company, The real discoverers of the Mississippi River.
-Missionaries and Missions
Father Rene Menard, The Ottawa Mission, Father Claude Jean Allouez, Father James Marquette, Marquette and Joliet discover the Mississippi River, Marquette founds the Illinois Mission.
-Louis XIV and New France
Louis XIV and New France; Proclamation at Sault Saint Marie and La Salle’s Voyage, St. Simon’s memoirs, Talon, the Intendant, St. Lusson takes possession of the Northwest, La Salle, The building of the Griffon, Father Louis Hennepin, Tonty of the Iron-Hand, The first and last voyage of the Griffon, The conflict between France and England
-Founding of Detroit
Du Lhut in the Detroit region, Cadillac, Michilimackinac, Count Pontchartrain, Alphonse de Tonty, The Fox War, Governors of Detroit.
-English gain possession of the Northwest
English advances from Virginia, Braddock expedition, George Washington and Henry Gladwin, Rogers receives the surrender at Detroit, career of Robert Rogers, Sir William Johnson and Major Gladwin at Detroit, Pontiac Conspiracy, Fort Sandusky, Fort Miami, Fort St. Joseph, massacre at Michilimackinac, Battle of Bloody Run, Pontiac raises the siege of Detroit.
-Carver’s Travels
Rogers and Sinclair at Michilimackinac, Jonathan Carver, Carver at the Falls of St. Anthony, Lord Shelbourne’s colonial policy, The Quebec Act, Patrick Sinclair.
-Beginnings of the Revolution in the West
Henry Hamilton, Lieutenant Governor at Detroit, Daniel Boone, The Girtys, The Northwest tribes during the Revolution, George Rogers Clark, The capture of Vincennes, Major Arent Schuyler de Peyster, Charles de Langlade, Fort Lernault.
-Border Warfare during the Revolution
Death of Sir William Johnson, Frederick Haldimand, Fort Lernault at Detroit, The Moravians , murder of Colonel Crawford.
-Marking National Boundaries
The Treaty of 1783 with England, The influence of the fur-trade on boundaries, Haldimand declines to surrender the Northwest Posts, Vessels on the Great Lakes, Lord Dorchester defines the British attitude.
-American government in the Northwest
Colonial claims to the Northwestern territory, Revolutionary veterans propose to settle the Ohio country, Gen. Rufus Putnam, The Ohio Company, The Ordinance of 1787, Governor Arthur St. Clair, Winthrop Sargent.
-Michigan Posts surrendered by the British
Indian treaties, Report of Capt. Gother Mann on Northwest Posts, The Harmar defeat, The St. Clair defeat , Gen. Anthony Wayne, The Battle of Fallen Timbers, The Jay Treaty, Detroit surrendered, Col. John Francis Hamtramck.
-Michigan Becomes a Political Unit
Congressional conspiracy to obtain Michigan lands, The County of Wayne, Governor William Hull, Judge Augustus Brevoort Woodward, Peter Audrain, Woodward’s plans of Detroit and Ypsilanti, Fugitive slaves from Canada, The Bank of Michigan, Conditions in Michigan Territory.
-Michigan in the War of 1812
Sharing the fur-trade, Fort Malden, Tecumseh, General Hull, The invasion of Canada, The capture of Mackinac, General Brock, The surrender of Detroit, Gen. William Henry Harrison, The massacre of the River Rasin, Perry’s Victory and the Battle of the Thames.
-Lewis Cass founds a Commonwealth
Father Gabriel Richard, Rev. John Monteith, The University of Michigania, The Detroit Gazette, Cass expedition to Upper Michigan, founding of Ypsilanti, Saginaw region, Solomon Sibley.
-Toledo War
Greatest Michigan, Lucius Lyon, Stevens Thompson Mason, Admission into the Union, Isaac E. Crary, Slavery, Land speculation, Wild cat banking
-Struggles of a Lusty Young State
Michigan as a member of the Union, The Upper Peninsula, War vessels on the Great Lakes, The U. S. S. Michigan, The Mormon Colony, King Strang.
-Rise and Decline of Fur Trade
Indian trails, Indian commerce, The beaver, John Jacob Astor, Ramsey Crooks, Robert Stuart, Rix Robinson, Grand Rapids as an Indian trading-post.
-Events leading to formation of Republican Party
Lewis Cass as Minister to France, Lewis Cass as Presidential candidate, The Kentucky Raid, Zachariah Chandler.
-Political Maneuvers
Joseph Warren, Alpheus S. Williams, Formation of the Republican party, William A. Howard.
-Michigan in the War of Succession
-The Development of the Upper Peninsula
Dr. Douglass Houghton, The Cliff Mine, Edwin J. Hulbert discovers the Calumet and Hecla vein, Alexander Agassiz, William Alvin Burt, The St. Mary’s Falls Ship Canal.
-The University of Michigan
President Henry Phillips Tappan, President Erastus Otis Haven, President James Burrell Angell.
-Clearing the Forests
Early sawmills, Lumbering on the Grand River, David Ward, Saginaw Valley Lumbermen, Francis Palms.
-The Holland Immigration and the Beginning of Grand Rapids
The new Pilgrims, Rev. Albertus C Van Raalte, Jannes Van de Luyster, The first settlers of Grand Rapids, Louis Campau, Bishop Frederick Baraga, Furniture industry.

Find related works at: History of Michigan Cities, Counties & Regions
Explorers and Travelers in Michigan History
Michigan Indians – Native Americans in Michigan History
Michigan Economic History
Michigan History: Politics & Government
Michigan Social History
Conflict, War and Military History in Michigan.

“The Ontonagon Boulder in the National Museum at Washington”

Historical Collections Vol 27, 1897, 260-266

Moore, Charles

Lansing: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society

The Ontonagon boulder is a rock of copper embedded in rock weighing, in the estimation of the author, about three tons, and was found in the Keweenaw Peninsula. The author tells the story of its early discovery and of various attempts to remove it. These were unsuccessful until Julius Eldred, a hardware merchant in Detroit, took on the challenge. The details of his eventual success in 1843, and the subsequent confiscation of the boulder by the Federal Government, are all related here. The boulder eventually was put on display in the National Museum, and continued to be displayed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington D.C. until approximately 2010.

The Historical Geography of Detroit

Parkins, Almon E.

Kennikat 1970

“How Lansing became the Capital”

Historical Collections Vol 11, 1888, 237-243

Robson, Frank E.

Lansing: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society

The capital and main city of Michigan Territory was Detroit, but when the convention that met in 1835 to draft a bill for statehood considered where the capital would meet, there was strong resistance by representatives from other parts of the state to making Detroit its permanent location. They resolved the issue temporarily with a clause providing that Detroit remain the capital until 1847, when the state legislation would determine a permanent location. The author amusingly describes the maneuvers and negotiations that occurred from 1835 to 1847, before the ‘howling wilderness’ that became Lansing was selected, almost by accident.

Michigan Place Names

Romig, Walter

Grosse Pointe, MI: Romig 1973

“The History of the founding and the naming of more than 5,000 past and present Michigan communities.” – Book Subtitle.

Michigan: A History of the Great Lakes State – Michigan History Textbooks

Rubenstein, Bruce A. & Ziewacz, Lawrence E.

St. Louis, MO: Forum 2008

Rubenstein was a History professor in Michigan, and Ziewacz was a professor of American thought and language.

The British Regime in Michigan and the Old Northwest, 1760-1796 – Michigan History Books Free

Russell, Nelson Vance

Carleton College 1939

Michigan and the Old Northwest: From the Ice Age to the End of French Rule –

Scheer, Luke

Great Lakes Greyhound Lines 1945

Early Michigan history in color comic strips.

The Early History of Michigan, from the First Settlement to 1815

Sheldon, E. M.

NY: Barnes 1874

This appears to have been originally published in 1856 (the date of the author’s preface). The author wrote in the preface that a very large part of the book consists of translations of French manuscripts collected or copied by Lewis Cass while he was Minister to France from 1836 to 1842.

See also: Bulkley, John M., “The Early French Settlements on the Great Lakes” on Explorers and Travelers in Great Lakes History

Encyclopedia of Michigan 1999 – Vol 1 – Michigan History Books Free

Vol 2

Somerset, ed.

St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset 1999

This 2-volume work is organized as follows: Vol 1
Intro, Geographical Configuration, Pre-history and Archaeology, History, Chronology, Governors, Dictionary of Places , Index.
Vol 2
Political Section, Directory of State Services, Historic Places, Pictorial Scenes, Constitution, Bibliography.

Michigan as a Province, Territory and State vol 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Utley, Henry M. and Cutcheon, Byron M.

The Publishing Society of Michigan. 1906

Chapter headings of Vol 1 are:

– Discovery – Early Exploration – Later Exploration – Jesuit Missionaries – The Savages and their Inter- Tribal Wars – The Fur Trade and its Importance – First French Attempts at Colonization – The Settlements at Sault Ste Marie and Michilimackinac – Cadillac and his Colony – Cadillac as Feudal Lord – French Successors of Cadillac – Dangers which Surrounded the New Settlement – Commercial Rivalry between the French and English – Border Wars of the Colonists – Final Success of the English – Effect upon the Indians of the Lake Regions – Pontiac plans to wipe out the English Invaders – Complete Defeat of the Savages – Progress of the Colony under improved Conditions – The Old French Habitants and their Ways – Michigan under British Rule – Influx of Settlers – Close of the Revolution and Surrender of Michigan to the United States.

For works on the Old Northwest under the French regime (until about 1760), see: Great Lakes General History

Chronology and Documentary Handbook of the State of Michigan

Vexler, Robert I.

Oceana 1978

Michigan: The World Around Us

Vinyard, JoEllen McNergney

NY: Macmillan/McGraw

Dr. Vinyard was Professor of History at Eastern Michigan University. This Michigan history textbook seems to be aimed at students in the upper elementary grades.

Let’s Look at Our Michigan – Michigan History Books Free

Williams, G. Mennen (Governor)

Lansing: 1953

A booklet with collected facts about Michigan’s history, geography, economy, demographics, tourism, etc.

You can find more works like these at our other ‘General History’ pages.

Great Lakes General History

Illinois General History

Indiana General History

Ohio General History

Wisconsin General History