Lesson Six: Pacing

•Connecting Back – A River Ran Wild

•Reviewing chronology

•Early Map

•Literature Connection – The Log Cabin Quilt

•Human/Environment Interaction

•Artifact Activity

•Cause and Effect

•Writing a Historical Narrative

Lesson Six

Migration and Settlement in Michigan

UNIT THREE: THE HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

The BIG Ideas

Pioneers coming to Michigan in the early 1800s had many challenges to overcome.

It was often very difficult to get to land in Michigan because roads were bad.

Once in Michigan, pioneers had to build a log cabins and clear farm land.

Many people thought Michigan was very swampy and had little good farm land. They didn’t want to move to Michigan.

The population of Michigan grew very slowly at first.

The British

The French

The British

The French

EarlyPioneers

“A River Ran Wild”page 8 & 9

“A River Ran Wild”

Early settlements began to develop along the river where the trading post had been.

Although this book refers in events in another state, it is similar events that happened in Michigan.

In this lesson we will explore how settlers began to move (migrate) to Michigan and build farms and villages.

Early Michigan History

Which American Indian groups lived in Michigan?

What are some of the things you remember about their cultures?

Why did the French come to the Great Lakes region?

What were some ways the French and the American Indians interacted?

How did the British come to control Michigan?

What were some ways the British and the American Indians interacted?

How did Michigan become part of the new country called the United States of America?

Mystery Source

Analyze the source carefully.

Write what you think it is in your journal.

The mystery source is a map of Michigan from about two hundred years ago.

Is it a primary or a secondary source?

Why do you think that?

It is a primary source because it was map created long ago.

Michigan Two Hundred Years Ago…(drawing conclusions from the map)

The maps of Michigan were not very accurate at the time. Parts of Michigan like the “Thumb” area are distorted.

Early Michigan maps showed rivers and where American Indians lived.

The only settlements shown on the map were Detroit and Fort St. Joseph.

Rivers were important to people 200 years ago.

There were still a lot of American Indians living in Michigan.

Early Michigan

When Michigan became part of the United States at the end of the American Revolution there were only two main settlements in Michigan - one at Detroit and one on Mackinac Island.

Slowly people began to move to Michigan to settle the land and become farmers. We often refer to these early settlers as pioneers.

Your Task

Work with a partner to make a list of challenges facing these early Michigan

pioneers.

Imagine what it was like to move to a brand-new place that had few roads, few maps to describe it, and was covered by

forests.

Life as an Early Michigan Settler

Without many roads people could get lost.

It would be hard to get a wagon through an area that had no roads.

If there were no roads there were probably no bridges across streams.

There were no bridges so even small creeks were a problem.

There were probably a lot of things in the way like fallen trees.

There were wild animals.

To build a house you would have to cut down trees and build it by yourself.

You had to find food.

You had to clear land in order to grow food.

This is the story of a pioneer family that moves to Michigan after the death of the family’s mother.

“The Log Cabin Quilt” by: Ellen Howard

Describe some of the Challenges that Faced the Family

.

Sequence of Events in “The Log Cabin Quilt”

The Log Cabin Quilt   Page Number Important Events  

   

   

   

   

Detailed Sequence of Events in “The Log Cabin Quilt”

The family traveled to Michigan by wagon from North Carolina after the death of the mother.

They arrived at a clearing in the woods.

The father and son cut down trees for the log cabin.

They began to build the log cabin and stayed in the wagon while it was being built.

They put the roof on the cabin.

They chinked the log walls with mud, grass and moss.

They unpacked the wagon and put their belongings in the cabin.

The father went hunting for food for the winter.

It got very cold and the mud chinks froze and some came out of the walls.

They chinked the cabin walls with the family quilt scraps.

The father came home very cold and tired, dragging a deer with him.

The cabin began to feel like home.

Settling in Michigan by Lynn Deur

These are authentic pioneer stories of early settlers.

Pioneer Life

Let’s Explore Michigan Pioneers…

Spring 2004 issue of Michigan History for Kids, which featured “Pioneers Settling a State.”

December 2001 issue of The Mitten, which featured “Pioneer Life.”

pages 153 - 154 and 164 - 166 in Meet Michigan.

Identify examples of how early pioneers used, adapted to, and changed their

environment in Michigan.

What are some ways in which American Indians and the French used, adapted to,

and changed their environment?

Human/Environment Interaction

What were some ways the early pioneers used theenvironment of ?

What were some ways the early pioneers adapted to the environment of ?

What were some ways the early pioneers changed the environment of ?

Human/Environment InteractionSample Answers

What were some ways the early pioneers used theenvironment of ?

What were some ways the early pioneers adapted to the environment of ?

What were some ways the early pioneers changed the environment of ?

They used trees to build log cabins.

They used the land for farming.

They hunted animals for food.

They built houses using the materials around them.

They found ways to survive mosquitoes and bad weather.

They found ways to get to places when there were no roads.

They cut down trees to build houses.

They cleared land for farms.

“How do you think historians learned about early pioneer life in Michigan that occurred around 200 years ago?”

Some early settlers wrote journals or diaries of their experiences.

Some of the stories in the book “Settling in Michigan” were based on these diaries.

Historians have also studied artifacts from sites where pioneers lived long ago.

One such site is called the “Ponton Site,” which is located in Chippewa Nature Center near Midland, Michigan.

The Ponton Site

The Ponton site has a 1830s settler cabin on the north side of the Chippewa River.

A man named Art Pomranky originally discovered the site in the 1950s. He collected artifacts on the surface of the site.

In 1995 he brought the site to the attention of the Oxbow Archaeologists. This group began excavations at the site in 2002, and has continued to work at the site each summer since then.

Historical documents show that Thomas Ponton bought the land in 1832. He and his brother built a cabin in the area and planned to build a mill nearby. They only stayed at the site for about 3 years.

Artifact Activity

These are examples of artifacts found at the Ponton site.

Work together to figure out what each artifact is.

Use the “Analyzing Artifacts Chart” to write your ideas.

You must also come up with supporting evidence to back up your conclusions.

Artifact Card OneArtifacts courtesy of Chippewa Nature Center and the Oxbow

Archaeologists

Artifact Card TwoArtifacts courtesy of Chippewa Nature Center and the Oxbow

Archaeologists

Artifact Card ThreeArtifacts courtesy of Chippewa Nature Center and the Oxbow

Archaeologists

Artifact Card FourArtifacts courtesy of Chippewa Nature Center and the Oxbow

Archaeologists

Analyzing Artifacts Chart

Artifact What is it? Supporting Evidence

#1

#2

#3

#4

What Do Archaeologists Think?

Artifact #1

This is a plated silver spoon fragment. It matches other types of silver spoons from the early 1800s.

What Do Archaeologists Think?

Artifact #2

Archaeologists identified this as a brass U.S. Army Artillery officer’s button made between 1827 and 1840.Using historical records, they discovered that a young army engineer who had been an artillery officer was doing surveying in the area of the Ponton site. They think the button belonged to him.

What Do Archaeologists Think?

Artifact #3

This is a plate fragment made by the Clews family in England between 1818 and 1834.

Archaeologists were able to trace the history of the artifact using the fragments of letters on the back.

What Do Archaeologists Think?

Artifact #4

This is an iron punch with the initials “TP”. Archaeologists think it stands for “Thomas Ponton” the original owner of the site. It helps prove they are really working on the old Ponton cabin site.

What Do Archaeologists Think?

 Artifact #1This is a plated silver spoon fragment. It matches other types of silver spoons from the

early 1800s.

Artifact #2Archaeologists identified this as a brass U.S. Army Artillery officer’s button made between

1827 and 1840.Using historical records, they discovered that a young army engineer who had been an

artillery officer was doing surveying in the area of the Ponton site. They think the button belonged to him.

Artifact #3This is a plate fragment made by the Clews family in England between 1818 and 1834.Archaeologists were able to trace the history of the artifact using the fragments of letters

on the back.

Artifact #4This is an iron punch with the initials “TP”. Archaeologists think it stands for “Thomas

Ponton” the original owner of the site. It helps prove they are really working on the old Ponton cabin site.

 

Despite some early pioneers who came to settle in Michigan, like those in this lesson, the population grew very slowly. Some

reasons for this slow population growth are below.

It was hard to travel to Michigan.

Coming by water took a long time and was described as “dangerous, unreliable, and uncomfortable.”

Coming by land meant traveling on rocky, muddy roads and often having to cross an area known as the “Black Swamp” in northwestern Ohio.

To Survey means to mapping, measuring, and describing an area of land. Not much of Michigan had been surveyed. The early surveys that had been done were often inaccurate. They reported that Michigan was a land of “unhealthful swamps and a sandy waste not suitable for farming.” People in the eastern part of the United States felt that Michigan did not have much to offer, especially to farmers.

Think of things that could be done to solve some of the problems that were keeping settlers from coming to

Michigan.

build better roads

find a better way to travel by boat

build towns to encourage settlers to come

survey Michigan so accurate maps could be made

Cause and Effect Chart

Cause and Effect ChartSample Answers

Writing Plan for a Historical Narrative

Main Characters

Setting

What is the story going to be about?

How will your story start?

How will your story end?

primary sources

 records made by people who saw or

took place in an event  Example: Photographs, diaries, newspaper articles and letters are primary sources.

secondary sources

 records written by someone who was

not there at the time of the event  Example: Textbooks are secondary sources.

cause

 an action that makes something else

happen  Example: One cause of population growth in Michigan was the opening of the Erie Canal. Cause

Event

Effect

effect 

something that results from something else happening

  Example: One effect of the fur trade in Michigan was that American Indians and the French began to interact.

Cause

Event

Effect

artifacts

 things from the past that are left for us to study

Example: Old tools, dishes, and buttons are examples of artifacts.

archaeologist

 special historians who study the artifacts of the past  Example: Archaeologists study artifacts such as bones, tools, and old building sites.

adapting to the natural environment

 when people change to fit the environment  Example: People in Michigan wear warm coats, hats, and mittens to fit the environment in winter.

modifying the environment

 when people change the environment to fit them Example: People in Michigan modified the environment by cutting down trees to clear land for farming.

pioneer

 a person who goes to a new area to settle  Example: Pioneers came to Michigan and cleared the land for farming.

log cabin

 a small house made of logs   Example: Early settlers in Michigan often built log cabins.

population

  the number of people living in an area  Example: The population of Michigan grew slowly at first.

survey

mapping, measuring, and describing an area of land  Example: In the early 1800s not much of Michigan had been surveyed.

Descriptive