Issue No. 52

Welcome Home, {{first_name|default:Michigander}}!

🌊 Great Lakes History & Fun Facts

Bonus: The biggest threat to this ecosystem right now? Invasive carp moving up the Illinois River toward Lake Michigan.

To block them, the $1.2B Brandon Road project was designed to build electric barriers, sound deterrents, and bubble walls. But despite a landmark July 2024 deal securing $274M in federal funds and $114M from Michigan and Illinois, red tape and stop-work orders in 2025 and 2026 have repeatedly frozen construction.

Protecting 84% of North America’s surface fresh water turns out to be as much about politics as it is engineering!

🐴 The Last Stagecoach Robber in Michigan

Digest Exclusive: Following his sentencing of life imprisonment without parole, Reimund Holzhey was classified as an incorrigible inmate at Marquette Branch Prison after taking a guard hostage with a factory knife.

However, after undergoing cranial surgery at Ionia State Hospital in 1893 to treat a childhood skull injury, he returned to Marquette as a model prisoner.

Impressed by his long-term rehabilitation, Warden James Russell formally recommended clemency to Michigan Governor Fred W. Warner, who officially commuted Holzhey's life sentence in 1910.

🚢 Ford, Edison, and Firestone in Escanaba, MI

Digest Exclusive: Between 1915 and 1924, a high-profile group of American industrial leaders calling themselves "The Vagabonds"—comprising automotive pioneer Henry Ford, inventor Thomas Edison, tire manufacturer Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs (until his death in 1921)—embarked on annual summer camping trips.

While earlier trips traversed the Appalachian Mountains and the American South, the August 1923 excursion turned its focus northward to Michigan's rugged Upper Peninsula (U.P.), where Henry Ford held massive industrial interests and timberland holdings.

Tip: Click the underlined title for any moment to watch on YouTube for free!

“You can travel the dirt road through the woods where this took place in the UP just off Highway US 2, on Stagecoach Road.”
— Chris from Facebook on our video about Reimund Holzhey.

On August 31, 1809, Father Gabriel Richard and printer James M. Miller published the first issue of The Michigan Essay; or Impartial Observer in Detroit.

Recognized as the first newspaper printed in Michigan territory, the four-page publication was printed overwhelmingly in English, containing only a column and a half of French text.

Because Detroit's residents were predominantly French-speaking, this language mismatch alienated its primary audience and caused the paper to fold after a single issue.

Founded in 1983, the Muskegon Heritage Museum of Business & Industry chronicles Muskegon's transition from a 19th-century lumber hub into a West Michigan manufacturing powerhouse.

Today, visitors explore three floors of interactive exhibits showcasing historic products from over 80 local companies.

Its centerpiece is an operating 1893 Corliss steam engine with a six-ton flywheel that drives an overhead line shaft to power 11 antique machine tools in real time.

Plan your visit or explore the archives at the Muskegon Heritage Museum of Business & Industry.

It’s hard to believe this is already issue #52. That means I’ve been sending out the Michigan History Digest every Sunday for an entire year. And what a year it has been!

While we covered a lot of Michigan history in the past year, this next year is going to be even more historic! Here’s a taste of what’s coming up:

I’ll be sharing more details as our launch date approaches, so stay tuned. I hope you’re as excited about the future of Michigan history as I am, and I can’t thank you enough for your continued support.

Until next week, thank you for reading Michigan History Digest.
— Zac and the Welcome Home History Team.

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