West to Far Michigan is a study of the lower peninsula's occupation by agriculturalists, whose presence forever transformed the land and helped to create the modern state of Michigan. This is not simply a history of Michigan, but rather a work that focuses on why the state developed as it did. Although Michigan is seen today as an industrial state whose history is couched in terms of the fur trade and the international rivalry for the Great Lakes, agricultural settlement shaped its expansion. Using a model of agricultural colonization derived from comparative studies, Lewis examines the settlement process in Michigan between 1815 and 1860. This period marked the opening of Michigan to immigrants, saw the rise of commercial agriculture, and witnessed Michigan's integration into the larger national economy.
Employing numerous primary sources, West to Far Michigan traces changes and patterns of settlement crucial to documenting the large-scale development of southern Michigan as a region. Diaries, letters, memoirs, gazetteers, and legal documents serve to transform the more abstract elements of economic and social change into more human terms. Through the experiences of the early Agriculturists process, we can gain insight into how their triumphs played out in communities within the region to produce small-scale elements that comprise the fabric of the larger cultural landscape.
ContentsList of FiguresList of TablesAbbreviationsAcknowledgments1.Frontier Studies: An Approach to Michigan's PastLandscapes, Settlement Patterning, and FrontiersProcesses of Frontier ColonizationSettlement Patterning on the Michigan FrontierProduction and Spatial OrganizationTransportation and Spatial PatterningSettlement Patterning and OrganizationThe Distinctness of Colonization in Southern Michigan2.Michigan Before 1815: Prelude to American SettlementThe European PresenceThe Aboriginal ResponsePolitical Change in the Old NorthwestThe Pacification of Aboriginal PeoplesA Knowledge of the Regional LandscapeThe Entrepôt of DetroitRoutes of Access to the Michigan FrontierThe Rise of the Northeast and Western Expansion3.The Environmental Context of ColonizationThe Orientation of Frontier PerspectiveThe Physical LandscapeImages of the Land: Pioneer Evaluations of Michigan's EnvironmentHeavy Timbered LandsOak OpeningsPrairiesMarsh and SwamplandsPine LandsPerceptions of Michigan's ClimateHealth and Disease in MichiganThe Importance of the Aboriginal Landscape4.The Impact of Perception on SettlementThe Eastern ShoreThe Saginaw River DrainageThe St. Joseph River DrainageThe Kalamazoo River DrainageThe Grand River DrainageThe Western ShorePerceptions and Settlement5.The Transfer of LandObtaining Government Possession: The Treaty ProcessMichigan Indians and the Cession of LandsThe Eastern Peninsula Groups and the Saginaw-ChippewasThe Potawatomis in the SouthwestThe Ottawas on Grand RiverThe Legal Framework for Land DistributionThe Survey and Distribution of Michigan Lands6.The Settlers' Acquisition of LandThe Cost of Land and Farm-MakingStrategies for Land AcquisitionSpeculation and Frontier DevelopmentThe Influence of Speculation in Southern MichiganSquatting and Preemption7.Strategies for SettlementMotivations for ColonizationCommunities of Accretion: An Amalgam of DiversityCovenanted Communities: Cities upon a HillColonizing Strategies and Settlement Patterning8.Michigan's Frontier Economy in 1845Initial Adaptations on the Michigan FrontierEarly Pioneer Strategies of SubsistenceThe Organization of the Frontier Economy9.Population Expansion, Transportation, and Settlement Patterning on the Michigan Frontier, 1845-1860Estimating the Expansion of PopulationEvidence for Settlement Distribution in Frontier MichiganThe Development of Roads in a Frontier EconomyThe Organization of Settlement in the Colonial EconomyThe Late Frontier Landscape in Michigan10.Long-Distance Transportation and External TradeOverland Transport in Expansion and DevelopmentThe Erie Canal and the Lake Passage to MichiganRailroad Expansion and Western Commerce11.The Restructuring of Michigan AgricultureA Focus on Marketable CropsCorn, for Food, Feed, and DrinkWheat, the Market Grain of ChoiceField Crops, Fruit, and Specialty CropsDairying and Wool ProductionAgricultural Innovations and ImprovementChanges in Agricultural TechnologyThe Infrastructure of Processing and Settlement Patterning12.The Organization of Production and MarketingBanking, Credit, and the Expansion of ProductionExternal Exchange in a Frontier EconomyThe Railroad, the Elevator, and the Restructuring of TradeEconomic Change and Settlement Patterning13.The Consolidation of Settlement and Transportation In a Transitional EconomyRailroads and Market ExpansionThe System of Feeder RoadsTransportation and Settlement Structure in 1860Exploring Settlement Function14.The Landscape of Settlement in Southern Michigan in 186015.EpilogueAppendices1.Populations of Michigan Settlements from Censuses, 1854–18642.Populations of Michigan Settlements from Gazetteer Listings, 1856-18643.Hierarchical Order of Central Places in Michigan in 1860 Based on Functional Index ValuesEndnotesBibliographyIndex
