Russell M. Magnaghi

James F. Shefchik

Over the centuries the Upper Peninsula has grown and developed due to many immigrants who arrived. Some of their stories are known but most have been lost to time. One of these stories belongs to Tsu-Ming Han, a Chinese immigrant, a geologist and senior research laboratory scientist at Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company (now Cliffs Natural Resources). He came to the Upper Peninsula in the 1950s and was instrumental in the development of lower grade iron ore refinement processes and pelletization, which had a direct impact on the region and its people. In his spare time as a geologist, he identified an ancient fossil, Grypania Spiralis. Additionally important to the story is his family: Joy his wife and his children; Dennis, Timothy, and Lisa. This is another major effort of Northern Michigan University's Center for Upper Peninsula Studies to shed new light and ideas on the history of the U.P.

Tsu-Ming Han: Man of Two Different Worlds

Biography of Bishop Fredric Baraga, a short history of his legacy, and architectural history of Baraga's house in Marquette Michigan. Chapter one covers Father Edward Jacker's eulogy and biography of Baraga. Chapter two details Baraga's lasting legacy in the mid-west. Chapter three describes the history of Baraga's house in Marquette Michigan.

Bishop Frederic Baraga: The Man, His Legacy, and the House

Compared to other nationalities, few French have immigrated to the United States, and the state of Michigan is no exception in that regard. Although the French came in small numbers, those who did settle in or pass through Michigan played important roles as either permanent residents or visitors. The colonial French served as explorers, soldiers, missionaries, fur traders, and colonists. Later, French priests and nuns were influential in promoting Catholicism in the state and in developing schools and hospitals. Father Gabriel Richard fled the violence of the French Revolution and became a prominent and influential citizen of the state as a U.S. Congressman and one of the founders of the University of Michigan. French observers of Michigan life included Alexis de Tocqueville. French entrepreneurs opened copper mines and a variety of service-oriented businesses. Louis Fasquelle became the first foreign-language instructor at the University of Michigan, and François A. Artault introduced photography to the Upper Peninsula. As pioneers of the early automobile, the French made a major contribution to the language used in auto manufacturing.

French in Michigan

Brewing came to the Upper Peninsula in the 1600s, when French fur traders substituted pine needles for hops in batches of spruce beer. Promoted as a health drink, the evergreen suds remained in favor with the British army when it occupied the region. German immigrants drawn in by the mining boom introduced more variety to the area's fermented beverage selection, and the first of many commercial breweries opened in Sault Ste. Marie in 1850. Today, Keweenaw, Blackrocks and Ore Dock Brewing Companies are a few of the local craft brewers canning, bottling and shipping the malty flavor of the Peninsula throughout Michigan, Wisconsin and beyond.

A History of Brewing Above the Bridge

Upper Peninsula Beer

David J. Smith

Apple Culture in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin Border

The Way it Happened Settling Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Temperance workers had their work cut out for them in the Upper Peninsula. It was a wild and woolly place where moonshiners, bootleggers and rumrunners thrived. Al Capone and the Purple Gang came north to keep Canadian whiskey passing through Sault Ste. Marie to Chicago and Detroit. Federal enforcement agent John Fillion double-crossed both his office and the bootleggers. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island survived due to gambling and fine Canadian whiskey brought in by rumrunners, sometimes assisted by the Coast Guard. Author Russell M. Magnaghi dives into the raucous history of Yooper Prohibition.

Russell M. Magnaghi

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