Michigan is commonly recognized as a manufacturing center and for its splendid tourist attractions. Lesser known is Michigan's role as a leader in the production of oil and gas. Since the discovery of commercial quantities of oil in Saginaw in 1925, Michigan has grown to become the 12th-largest natural gas and 17th-largest crude oil producer of the 34 states producing oil and gas. Michigan's petroleum heritage spans 64 of the state's 68 Lower Peninsula counties and has played a role in shielding communities from the financial devastation of the Great Depression, funding acquisition of...

An ancient revered gathering and hunting place for Chippewa Indians becomes the modern home to one of the nation's largest Native American tribal-owned casino/resort complexes. A rough-and-tumble timbering center sees Michigan's first lumber millionaire plat a town, dedicating five acres for a county seat. Residents organize a private normal school for teacher training, to become Michigan's fourth-largest university, Central Michigan University. Hardworking immigrants carve farms, villages, and towns from the timbered-out wilderness near the center of the Michigan Lower Peninsula "mitten."...