LibGuides: Early Mapping of Michigan and the Great Lakes, 1744-1862: Maps in this exhibit:

Reading List

List

Carte des Lacs du Canada.
Bellin, J.N. (1757). Carte des Lacs du Canada. In Histoire générale des voyages, ou, Nouvelle collection de toutes les relations de voyages par mer et par terre... Paris: Didot.

This map was published at a time when the British were making incursions into French and Native American controlled territory. An ill-fated expedition in 1754 led by George Washington set off the French and Indian War (known by some as La guerre de la Conquête or or as The Seven Years' War).
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
Partie occidentale du Canada, contenant les cinq Grands Lacs, avec les pays circonvoisins
Bonne, R. (1780). Partie occidentale du Canada, contenant les cinq Grands Lacs, avec les pays circonvoisins. In Atlas de toutes les parties connues du globe terrestre. (p.45). Genève: Pellet.

Published 1780 in the middle of the American Revolutionary War, this French map doesn't use the term 'United States' or mention the British.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
The United States of America Laid down from the best authorities agreeable to the Peace of 1783.
Wallis, John. (1783). The United States of America Laid down from the best authorities agreeable to the Peace of 1783. Copied by George W. Whistler for inclusion in House Document 451 (25th Congress, 2nd Session).

George Whistler prepared a number of maps to support Congressional activities concerning the negotiation of the U.S.-British boundary.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow

Message from the President of the United States, transmitting the information required by a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 28th May last, in relation to the boundary between the United States and Great Britain.
United States of America, Northern Part.
Pinkerton, John. (1810). United States of America, Northern Part. London.

This is an early map to use the word "Michigan" on land. The name had long been used for Lake Michigan (formerly Lake Illinois), but was only applied to the southern Peninsula when Michigan Territory was designated by Congress in 1805.
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
United States of America, according to the Treaty of Peace of 1784
Russell, J.F. (1784). The United States of America, according to the Treaty of Peace of 1784. London.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
A map of the north western territory
Morse, J. (1796). A map of the north western territory. In The American universal geography. (pp.573). Boston: Thomas & Andrews.

This map and the one above approach some level of accuracy concerning the waterways in the western lands. The river routes and portages between them were of great strategic value. The portage between the Miami and Wabash river systems was a strategic point connecting Great Lakes transportation with the Mississippi River system.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
Il Paese De' Selvaggi Outagamiani E Kiliustinesi Intorno Al Lago Superiore
Zatta, Antonio. (1778). Il Paese De' Selvaggi Outagamiani E Kiliustinesi Intorno Al Lago Superiore [With inset of Florida]. Venice.
http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/record=b7142272~S39a
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
Carte Du Detroit Entré Le Lac Superieur et Le Lac Huron
Bellin, Jacques Nicholas. (1744). Carte Du Detroit Entré Le Lac Superieur et Le Lac Huron. Paris.

Early on, the rapids on the St. Mary’s River, Sault Ste. Marie was a strategic center of the North American fur trade.
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
A Map of Ohio and the Settled Parts of Michigan
Finley, Anthony. (1833). A Map of Ohio and the Settled Parts of Michigan. Philadelphia.

This rare map doesn't bother to show the unsettled western and northern parts of Michigan Territory.
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
Michigan by Jeremiah Greenleaf
J. Greenleaf. (1842). Michigan. In A new universal atlas. (pp.44). Battleboro, Vt.: Printed by G.R. French.

Our 1842 date here is an estimate, and seems like a late date for the information provided. Livingston and Genesee Counties have been formed. Note the curiously flat southern boundary with Indiana and Ohio.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
United States by David Burr
Burr, David. (1833). United States. New York: David Burr.
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
Michigan Territory
Finlayson, J. (1822). Michigan Territory. In A complete historical, chronological, and geographical American atlas. (No. 36) by H. C. Carey. Philadelphia: Carey and Lea.

Portages between waterways are again seen as strategic points. Note the short portage between the Grand River system and the Huron River system.
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http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/record=b4341737~S39a

This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
Michigan by David Burr
Burr, David. (1831). Michigan. New York: D. H. Burr.

http://catalog.lib.msu.edu/record=b3882039~S39a
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
A New Map Of Michigan with its Canals, Roads & Distances
Tanner, Henry. (1833). A New Map Of Michigan with its Canals, Roads & Distances. In: Tanner’s Universal Atlas. Philadelphia: H. S. Tanner.

In the early 1830s numerous maps showed the mouth of the Maumee River, and the site of the city of Toledo, as being inside Michigan Territory.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
Vereinigte Staaten von Nord-America
Heinrich K. W. Berghaus. (1834). Vereinigte Staaten von Nord-America. In. Hand-atlas über alle Theile der Erde (No. 46b) by Adolf Steiler. Gotha: Justus Perthes.

This map was made near the end of a 15-year lull in state-making. Missouri became a state in 1821, with no new states made until Arkansas in 1836.
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment
Map of the Northern parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois with Michigan and the part of Ouisconsin Territory lying east of the Mississippi River.
Burr, David. (1836). Map of the Northern parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois with Michigan and the part of Ouisconsin Territory lying east of the Mississippi River. Washington, D.C.: Blair & Rives.

This map succinctly illustrates the competing land claims of Michigan Territory and the state of Ohio.
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This map was a gift to MSU Libraries from Mike DeGrow
County Map of Michigan and Wisconsin
Gamble, W. H. (1863). County Map of Michigan and Wisconsin. Philadelphia: Augustus S. Mitchell, Jr.

At the time this map was published during the Civil War, the Upper Peninsula iron and copper districts were rapidly developing. The Lower Peninsula counties appear largely as they are today. The Upper Peninsula counties continued to undergo changes and additions until 1897.
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This item was purchased with funds provided by the Brunnschweiler Geography Library Endowment

Subject Guide

Kathleen Weessies

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Geosciences Librarian; Social Sciences Coordinator; Head, Map Library
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517-884-0849

Subjects: Geography, Geology