Monthly Archives: April 2011

Michigan trades Toledo for the Upper Peninsula

Posted on April 29, 2011 by

It’s hard to imagine it now, but two states once fought over Toledo, and a third state lost hundreds of square miles of wilderness because of that spat.  In the early 1800’s, the four territories of Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and … Continue reading →

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Men making sense of the wilderness

Posted on April 26, 2011 by

One of the most fascinating aspects of the creation of our jigsaw puzzle map has been learning about how early surveying work was done.  We live in a GPS world now, but in the 1700’s, surveyors were astronomers and they … Continue reading →

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A State Called Franklin

Posted on April 23, 2011 by

For four years,  settlers in the northeast corner of modern day Tennessee proudly proclaimed themselves residents of the brand new state of Franklin.  At that time (the 1780’s) our new post-revolution Congress had not yet solidified the procedure for statehood, … Continue reading →

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How about that boot heel?

Posted on April 19, 2011 by

Some of the interesting border anomalies came about because of strong willed personalities, and the boot heel of Missouri is a good example of that.  At the time that both Arkansas and Missouri were territories eyeing the promise of statehood, … Continue reading →

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Welcome!

Posted on April 19, 2011 by

Welcome to my blog.  My name is Lynn Garthwaite and I am the author of a series of early chapter books for kids (http://tinyurl.com/43roovy) and am currently researching and writing a history book to explain how our states got those … Continue reading →

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