Historic Tales Of Michigan Up North

"Centuries ago, Europeans desperate for gold and a route to the East found a lush, green paradise populated by native tribes in the New World. Despite a clash of cultures, cooperation created the fur trade that dominated early Michigan history. Subsequent violence and disease all but wiped out the native population. Later, intrepid residents crossed the frozen Straits of Mackinac on foot and then built the famous Mackinac Bridge. The land nurtured Charlton Heston and Ernest Hemingway in their youths and spawned the assassin of President William McKinley. Northern Michigan also bore witness to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, one of the worst shipwrecks in Great Lakes history, and to the bizarre kidnapping of Gayle Cook, an ill-fated attempt to save the Perry Hotel in Petoskey from bankruptcy. Author and storyteller Dave Rogers recounts these and other historical tales from Up North." --

What Were Pioneer Days Really Like in the U.P.? The combination of mining, maritime and lumbering history created a culture in the U.P. that is unique to the Midwest. Discover true stories of the rough and dangerous times of the Upper Peninsula frontier that are as enjoyable as they are educational. You'll find no conventional romantic or whitewashed history here. Instead, you will be astonished by the true hardships and facets of trying to settle a frontier sandwiched among the three Great Lakes. These pages are populated by Native Americans and the European immigrants, looking for their personal promised land-whether to raise families, avoid the law, start a new life or just get rich... no matter what it took. Mineral hunters, outlaws, men of honor creating civilization out of wilderness and the women of strength that accompanied them, the Upper Peninsula called to all. Among the eye-opening stories, you'll find True Tales includes: • Dan Seavey, the infamous pirate based out of Escanaba • Angelique Mott, who was marooned with her husband on Isle Royale for 9 months with just a handful of provisions and no weapons or tools • Vigilantes who broke up the notorious sex trafficking rings - protected by stockades, gunmen, and feral dogs - in Seney, Sac Bay, Ewen, Trout Creek, Ontonagon and Bruce Crossing • Klaus L. Hamringa, the lightkeeper hero who received a commendation of valor for saving the crews of the Monarch and Kiowa shipwrecks • The strange story of stagecoach robber Reimund (Black Bart) Holzhey • The whimsical tale of how Christmas, Michigan got its moniker • The backstories of famous pioneers, such as Peter White, George Shiras III, Governor Chase Osborn and many others This book is a gold mine of vacation possibilities, providing dozens of fascinating little-known facts about many of the innumerable attractions found in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With the aid of a near countless parade of carefully selected historical images, Mikel paints a picture the reader will not ever forget. -- Michael Carrier, author of Murder on Sugar Island (Jack Handler mysteries) Learn more at www.MikelBClassen.com From Modern History Press

Join us for epic adventures in the U.P. on land and lakes! Pirates, thieves, shipwrecks, sexy women, lost gold, and adventures on the Lake Superior frontier await you! In this book, you’ll sail on a ship full of gold, outwit deadly shapeshifters, battle frontier outlaws and even meet the mysterious agent that Andrew Jackson called "the meanest man" he ever knew. Packed with action, adventure, humor, and suspense, this book has something for every reader. Journey to the wilds of the Lake Superior shoreline through ten stories that span the 19th century through present day including "The Wreck of the Marie Jenny," "The Bigg Man," "Wolf Killer," and "Bullets Shine Silver in the Moonlight." Mikel B. Classen is a longtime resident of Sault Sainte Marie in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. His intimacy of the region, the history and its culture gives this book a feel of authenticity that is rarely seen. As a writer, journalist, columnist, photographer, and editor with more than 30 years experience, his breadth of knowledge is unparalleled. "It's clear that Mikel B. Classen knows and loves the Lake Superior area of Michigan and brings it to life in a delightful way. If you want frequent laughs, unusual characters who jump off the page, and the fruit of a highly creative mind, you’ve got to read this little book." -- Bob Rich, author, Looking Through Water From Modern History Press Learn more at www.MikelClassen.com

"Get ready to discover the rich history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From its earliest days, it has evoked words of love, beauty, mystery, and legend. Drawing on oral histories, newspapers, census data, archives, and libraries, Russell M. Magnaghi has written the seminal history of a very 'special place' as seen through the eyes of the men and women who have lived here- the famous and not so famous. For the first time in over a century, a complete history of the U. P.- from prehistoric origins to the present- is available. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan: A History is an extraordinary book celebrating this unique sense of place."--Back cover.

Enjoy a Visual Trip to See How People Lived and Worked in the U.P. in Centuries Past! Classen's pictorial history is the next best thing to a time machine, as we get a front-row seat in the worlds of shipping and shipwrecks, iron and copper mining, timber cutting, hunting and fishing and the everyday lives of ordinary folks of Michigan's Upper Peninsula across more than 100 years. Faces, Places and Days Gone By peers into our past through the lenses of those that lived and explored it. See what they saw as time passed and how the U.P. evolved into the wonderous place we know today. From the author's unique collection, witness newly restored images from long lost stereoviews, cabinet cards, postcards and lithograph engravings. Join us on a visual journey to relive some of those moments, and discover a unique heritage through those faces and places. From the Soo to Ironwood, from Copper Harbor to Mackinaw Island-you'll never see the U.P. in quite the same way! "With his book Faces, Places, and Days Gone By, historian Mikel B. Classen has achieved a work of monumental importance. Drawing from his collection of archival photographs, Classen takes readers on a journey in time that gives rare insight into a vanished world." --Sue Harrison, international bestselling author of The Midwife's Touch " "Mikel Classen's Faces, Places, and Days Gone By provides a fascinating and nostalgic look at more than a century of Upper Michigan photography. From images of iron mines and logging to Sunday drives and palatial hotels, you are bound to be in awe of this chance to visit the past." -- Tyler R. Tichelaar, award-winning author of Kawbawgam: The Chief, The Legend, The Man "Mikel Classen's new book, Faces, Places, and Days Gone By, belongs in every library in Michigan. And when I say every library, I'm talking about every public, high school and college storehouse of knowledge." -- Michael Carrier, MA, New York University, author of the award-winning Jack Handler U.P. mystery series Learn more at www.MikelBClassen.com From Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

That’s the best I’ve ever seen you look,” the barber said to the corpse. What kind of filthy decedent could inspire such derision? Learn the answer and read myriad other little-known tales from Michigan’s northernmost region in Forgotten Tales of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Find out what happened after an aggrieved husband aimed a gun at his wife’s lover and then asked the crowd, “Shall I shoot him?” Meet the sleeping man who rode the rails without a train. Discover the truth behind the rumors that one mining town was cursed with the ten plagues of Egypt, and learn why hugs terrified an entire city. And what were those hairy, bipedal beasts haunting the woods? Join Yooper Lisa A. Shiel as she brings to the fore these wonderfully offbeat and all-but-forgotten tales from the UP’s history.

A collection of stories drawn from Michigan’s rich folk heritage

A phone call can change your life forever... Abigail Williams gets that phone call. Gordon Dorcey, Abby's uncle and last living relative has drowned in the lake on his property, and Abby is his sole heir. There are a few complications, however. Abby's inheritance is a trout farm in Michigan, but she's a city girl from Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, Abby doesn't believe the official story of her uncle's death. And the biggest complication... the four-legged furry owner of the farm who seems to have her own ideas about how things should be run. Culture shock is the least of her worries. Up North Murder is the first in the Up North Michigan Cozy Mystery series.