The Upper Country
Le Pays-d'en-Haut
Ishpaki
Het Opperland
The Upper Country, or the Pays d'en Haut, is the ASB's largest state. It consists of all the land around Lakes Michigan and Superior, along with about half the land around Erie and Huron. It extends west to the Mississippi River.
Its population is one of the most diverse in the confederation. French is the largest language and the one used for state-wide government, but dozens of languages are spoken in various parts of the state. Among indigenous peoples, Algonquians predominate, especially the large Anishinaabe ethnic group, so important to the history of the region. The Anishinaabe people share a common language and culture: the division into the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe tribes is today mostly a matter of tradition. Smaller Algonquian groups include the Sauk, Kickapoo, Shawnee, and Menomini; alongside them are speakers of Wendat and other Iroquoian languages, as well as the Siouan languages Dakota and Ho-Chunk. Nowadays, most Indians of the Upper Country also descend from members of smaller tribes forced off their lands to the east. Long-established communities of English and Dutch characterize parts of the Upper Country, while minorities of Spanish, German, and Swedish speakers have added their voices to the mix. The many bays, inlets and islands of the lakes house many secluded and unexpected cultures and communities.
The state is divided into 25 constituent countries (see below). Besides being administrative divisions, the countries function as election districts for the Grand Assembly, with each country sending a delegation whose size depends on the population.
Its population is one of the most diverse in the confederation. French is the largest language and the one used for state-wide government, but dozens of languages are spoken in various parts of the state. Among indigenous peoples, Algonquians predominate, especially the large Anishinaabe ethnic group, so important to the history of the region. The Anishinaabe people share a common language and culture: the division into the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe tribes is today mostly a matter of tradition. Smaller Algonquian groups include the Sauk, Kickapoo, Shawnee, and Menomini; alongside them are speakers of Wendat and other Iroquoian languages, as well as the Siouan languages Dakota and Ho-Chunk. Nowadays, most Indians of the Upper Country also descend from members of smaller tribes forced off their lands to the east. Long-established communities of English and Dutch characterize parts of the Upper Country, while minorities of Spanish, German, and Swedish speakers have added their voices to the mix. The many bays, inlets and islands of the lakes house many secluded and unexpected cultures and communities.
The state is divided into 25 constituent countries (see below). Besides being administrative divisions, the countries function as election districts for the Grand Assembly, with each country sending a delegation whose size depends on the population.
Names
The French used the name le Pays d'en Haut for all the lands above Montreal in which they traded. The area covered by that name shrank as some regions were changed by treaties and other developments. Huronia, Ohio, and Illinois - earlier considered parts of the Pays d'en Haut - had become clearly separate regions by 1800, and the name from that point was only used for the lands around the lakes to the north and west of those places. The state's postal abbreviation, PH, comes from the French name. The French demonym is Hautois.
The names used in other languages are translations from the French. The English term Upper Country has existed since the early eighteenth century. The Dutch name, het Opperland, has influenced some English speakers to prefer the name the Upperland, which is a bit less of a mouthful. The older name has persisted officially, but "Upperland" can be found in the names of businesses and organizations throughout the state. It is also the source of the standard English demonym, Upperlander, though depending on where they live many English speakers may be as likely to call themselves Hautois.
The Anishinaabe name Ishpaki, "the high land", first appears in writing in the Imperial era, when records of the Grand Assembly first began to be kept in the Anishinaabe language. Its usage has ebbed and flowed with the years. From an indigenous perspective, the name makes little sense, as the land is only "upper" from the perspective of Canada. For many years, the name seems to have been more popular among the Whites than the Anishinaabe themselves; it was used for romantic and poetic reference to the emerging state. For example, it appears three times in the epic poem Song of Manabozho, such as in the much-quoted lines: "All the peoples of Ishpaki, of the Lands that Ring the Waters." Nevertheless, Ishpaki gained currency due to the lack of a good alternative name. One reinterpretation of its meaning can be seen in a mural in the Hall of Assembly built in the late nineteenth century: the mural depicts Boreoamerica as the Great Turtle, with the Lakes sitting at the center of its back, at the highest point of its shell. Nowadays.when speakers of European languages use the name it is generally to show solidarity with indigenous people, as in the Ishpaki Green Party.
The names used in other languages are translations from the French. The English term Upper Country has existed since the early eighteenth century. The Dutch name, het Opperland, has influenced some English speakers to prefer the name the Upperland, which is a bit less of a mouthful. The older name has persisted officially, but "Upperland" can be found in the names of businesses and organizations throughout the state. It is also the source of the standard English demonym, Upperlander, though depending on where they live many English speakers may be as likely to call themselves Hautois.
The Anishinaabe name Ishpaki, "the high land", first appears in writing in the Imperial era, when records of the Grand Assembly first began to be kept in the Anishinaabe language. Its usage has ebbed and flowed with the years. From an indigenous perspective, the name makes little sense, as the land is only "upper" from the perspective of Canada. For many years, the name seems to have been more popular among the Whites than the Anishinaabe themselves; it was used for romantic and poetic reference to the emerging state. For example, it appears three times in the epic poem Song of Manabozho, such as in the much-quoted lines: "All the peoples of Ishpaki, of the Lands that Ring the Waters." Nevertheless, Ishpaki gained currency due to the lack of a good alternative name. One reinterpretation of its meaning can be seen in a mural in the Hall of Assembly built in the late nineteenth century: the mural depicts Boreoamerica as the Great Turtle, with the Lakes sitting at the center of its back, at the highest point of its shell. Nowadays.when speakers of European languages use the name it is generally to show solidarity with indigenous people, as in the Ishpaki Green Party.
Symbols
The flag derives from the French merchant flag (blue with a white cross). The four quarters represent the state's four great lakes.
The Upper Country uses a simple blue sign to mark its highways. The signs are labeled not with the name of the state but with the Constituent Country they are passing through. Roads are one thing that the Countries have always handled; the state department of transport just coordinates their efforts and helps with funding. Rte. 55 runs north-south, passing through the countries of Miami-du-Lac and Kekionga before entering the State of Ohio.
The Upper Country uses a simple blue sign to mark its highways. The signs are labeled not with the name of the state but with the Constituent Country they are passing through. Roads are one thing that the Countries have always handled; the state department of transport just coordinates their efforts and helps with funding. Rte. 55 runs north-south, passing through the countries of Miami-du-Lac and Kekionga before entering the State of Ohio.
Place Names
The Upper Country's human diversity has left an odd-looking set of place names. The forms here are the usual ones for writing in English. Some have been anglicized, some have not. Some French names use the original accents and diacritics, while others drop them.
Agami: Alternative form of Algoma, from an Anishinaabe word for showshoe.
Ashkany: The Thames River, from an Anglicization of the Anishinaabe name Eshkanisippi, "Antlered River".
Avignon: Elgin, Illinois; named on account of its important bridge on the Fox River.
Aux-Fèvres: The Galena or Fever River, from the French word for "Bean".
Calamazo: Kalamazoo. From an Anishinaabe word meaning "boiling river," possibly referring to the river's appearance when covered with fog.
Chaille: Flint, from the French word for chert.
Chicagou: Chicago.
Conception: the city of Thunder Bay, from the name of a French mission.
Fond-des-Lacs: Duluth. Originally Fond-du-Lac, French for "End of the Lake". It shared the same name as a city on Lake Winnebago in Green Bay Country, so the city altered its name to the plural, "End of the Lakes", to show its location at the far western end of the entire Great Lakes system.
Four Lakes: Madison, Wisconsin. In French, it is called Quatre-Lacs.
Galènie: Galena, Illinois. Named for the lead mines in the region.
Grandstad: Grand Rapids, from Dutch. The name means "Grand City" but refers to the Grand River.
Great Miami: Toledo.
Lower St. Joseph: St. Joseph/Benton Harbor.
Kekionga: Fort Wayne, from a Miami name meaning "blackberry bush".
Kènojé: Kenosha. From the Anishinaabe word for a pike fish, shortened from a name meaning, "Pike come all at once."
Kettigwyn: London, Ontario.
Miami-du-Lac: The Maumee River. The name "Miami of the Lake" distinguishes it from the Great and Little Miami Rivers, which flow into the Ohio.
Miliouqué: Milwaukee. From the Anishinaabe for "gathering place by the water"; not "the Good Land", as often claimed.
Middle St. Joseph: Niles, Michigan.
Ministigweya: Manistee, Michigan, from Anishinaabe.
Mitigomizhiig: Jackson, Michigan, from an Anishinaabe name meaning "oak grove".
New Leiden: Holland, Michigan. Named for the Netherlands' premier university in the hope that the new city would also become a center of learning.
Ouattechat: Waukesha. Reflects the French spelling of the Anishinaabe chief who founded the town.
Ouisconsin: The Wisconsin River and the country at its lower end. The original name, Meskousing, is Anishinaabe for "red stone place", which refers to formations actually located within Portage Country. The change from M to Ou appears to have been caused by Father Marquette's sloppy handwriting.
Petite-Côte: Windsor, Ontario, from the French for "Little Coast".
Port St. Clair: Sarnia. Named for the St. Clair River.
Queenston: At or near our town of Virginia, Minnesota; named for Queen Victoria.
Saint Ouracha: Marquette, Michigan. Named for Father Garnier, an early missionary to Huronia who was martyred by the Iroquois. The Hurons called him Ouracha, which means Rain Giver.
Shebwecon: Sheboygan.
Springfield: Chatham, Ontario. Named for Springfield, Massachusetts.
Upper St. Joseph: South Bend, Indiana.
Wendake, Sea of: Georgian Bay. Named for the homeland of the Wendat or Huron people; therefore the name is actually a synonym of "Huronia".
Winneschieck: Freeport, Illinois. Named for a Ho-Chunk chief who is considered the founder of the town. The town reflects German spelling.
Agami: Alternative form of Algoma, from an Anishinaabe word for showshoe.
Ashkany: The Thames River, from an Anglicization of the Anishinaabe name Eshkanisippi, "Antlered River".
Avignon: Elgin, Illinois; named on account of its important bridge on the Fox River.
Aux-Fèvres: The Galena or Fever River, from the French word for "Bean".
Calamazo: Kalamazoo. From an Anishinaabe word meaning "boiling river," possibly referring to the river's appearance when covered with fog.
Chaille: Flint, from the French word for chert.
Chicagou: Chicago.
Conception: the city of Thunder Bay, from the name of a French mission.
Fond-des-Lacs: Duluth. Originally Fond-du-Lac, French for "End of the Lake". It shared the same name as a city on Lake Winnebago in Green Bay Country, so the city altered its name to the plural, "End of the Lakes", to show its location at the far western end of the entire Great Lakes system.
Four Lakes: Madison, Wisconsin. In French, it is called Quatre-Lacs.
Galènie: Galena, Illinois. Named for the lead mines in the region.
Grandstad: Grand Rapids, from Dutch. The name means "Grand City" but refers to the Grand River.
Great Miami: Toledo.
Lower St. Joseph: St. Joseph/Benton Harbor.
Kekionga: Fort Wayne, from a Miami name meaning "blackberry bush".
Kènojé: Kenosha. From the Anishinaabe word for a pike fish, shortened from a name meaning, "Pike come all at once."
Kettigwyn: London, Ontario.
Miami-du-Lac: The Maumee River. The name "Miami of the Lake" distinguishes it from the Great and Little Miami Rivers, which flow into the Ohio.
Miliouqué: Milwaukee. From the Anishinaabe for "gathering place by the water"; not "the Good Land", as often claimed.
Middle St. Joseph: Niles, Michigan.
Ministigweya: Manistee, Michigan, from Anishinaabe.
Mitigomizhiig: Jackson, Michigan, from an Anishinaabe name meaning "oak grove".
New Leiden: Holland, Michigan. Named for the Netherlands' premier university in the hope that the new city would also become a center of learning.
Ouattechat: Waukesha. Reflects the French spelling of the Anishinaabe chief who founded the town.
Ouisconsin: The Wisconsin River and the country at its lower end. The original name, Meskousing, is Anishinaabe for "red stone place", which refers to formations actually located within Portage Country. The change from M to Ou appears to have been caused by Father Marquette's sloppy handwriting.
Petite-Côte: Windsor, Ontario, from the French for "Little Coast".
Port St. Clair: Sarnia. Named for the St. Clair River.
Queenston: At or near our town of Virginia, Minnesota; named for Queen Victoria.
Saint Ouracha: Marquette, Michigan. Named for Father Garnier, an early missionary to Huronia who was martyred by the Iroquois. The Hurons called him Ouracha, which means Rain Giver.
Shebwecon: Sheboygan.
Springfield: Chatham, Ontario. Named for Springfield, Massachusetts.
Upper St. Joseph: South Bend, Indiana.
Wendake, Sea of: Georgian Bay. Named for the homeland of the Wendat or Huron people; therefore the name is actually a synonym of "Huronia".
Winneschieck: Freeport, Illinois. Named for a Ho-Chunk chief who is considered the founder of the town. The town reflects German spelling.
The Countries of the Pays d'en Haut
The Upper Country is divided into 25 traditional regions. These are usually called "countries," (in French, "pays") which is slightly confusing, so often you will see the term "Constituent Country." The name comes from colonial usage, when traders would refer to "Detroit Country", for instance. They developed piecemeal; some have existed since the mid-17th century, while the newest ones were created in 1890. This gradual development and long history is the reason the countries differ so widely in area and population.
The Countries' role has changed over time. In the earliest days of the Upper Country, there were certain local networks of towns and villages that were the natural constituents of the bigger Upper Country network. These local networks had denser and more diverse populations than the rest of the Upper Country, and they were centers of trade and arbitration. Eventually, French officials were placed in some of the most important centers - Green Bay, Chequamegon, Michilimackinac, later Chicagou and St. Joseph - which helped strengthen the Upper Country alliance.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Upper Country began its evolution from an alliance into a state government. The earlier local Countries became "states within a state" in this era. They assumed some important functions: justice, roads, public safety. Throughout this era, the Countries were special territories within the Pays d'en Haut; most of the state was not subdivided in this way.
Along the edges of the Upper Country are a few constituent countries that nearly became states in their own right, but were instead annexed to the bigger state. These included Sanduskey, Ashkany, and Kekionga Countries in the early nineteenth centuries, and Mesabi near the end of the century. Other countries were created in response to new waves of population, such as New Holland, Miliouqué, Kènojé, and Aux-Fèvres.
In 1890, an act of the assembly standardized local government in the Upper Country. The entire state was divided into regions, and their powers and responsibilities were made standard. Many of the Countries created at that time were quite obviously space-filling entities: the Massif Country, for example, or the wildly unimaginatively named Middle Country. But they met the need for a level of government in between the state and the commune, township, or municipality.
This standardization went hand in hand with trends toward more centralized state government. The state assumed much of the power of the local Countries in the next couple of decades. By the 1930s the Countries were largely ceremonial. More recently, however, the trend has reversed somewhat and some power has devolved back to the Countries. They remain important as a focus for civic involvement and identity.
The Countries are:
Detroit Country:
The capital. A densely populated region - in colonial times, the whole country was said to resemble one continuous village. The country speaks French, though most people in the towns and countryside have lots of Indian blood. The city itself has some fairly grand architecture suitable for the capital of a big state. The early 20th century saw a good deal of industrial development, though not on the scale of our world's Detroit.
Ashkany Country:
This small stretch along Lake Erie is mostly English, initially settled by Massachusetts Bay. Massachusetts had claims in the region and began to actively entice settlers west in the late 18th century. But Massachusetts was unwilling to put forth the resources to support an inland colony, and the settlers soon had to ally themselves with the French in Detroit. They kept their Yankee democratic government, but as an autonomous part of the Upper Country. The original site chosen as the capital, Kettigwyn, ended up being located right on the border with Huronia, so a new capital was built and named for Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Countries' role has changed over time. In the earliest days of the Upper Country, there were certain local networks of towns and villages that were the natural constituents of the bigger Upper Country network. These local networks had denser and more diverse populations than the rest of the Upper Country, and they were centers of trade and arbitration. Eventually, French officials were placed in some of the most important centers - Green Bay, Chequamegon, Michilimackinac, later Chicagou and St. Joseph - which helped strengthen the Upper Country alliance.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Upper Country began its evolution from an alliance into a state government. The earlier local Countries became "states within a state" in this era. They assumed some important functions: justice, roads, public safety. Throughout this era, the Countries were special territories within the Pays d'en Haut; most of the state was not subdivided in this way.
Along the edges of the Upper Country are a few constituent countries that nearly became states in their own right, but were instead annexed to the bigger state. These included Sanduskey, Ashkany, and Kekionga Countries in the early nineteenth centuries, and Mesabi near the end of the century. Other countries were created in response to new waves of population, such as New Holland, Miliouqué, Kènojé, and Aux-Fèvres.
In 1890, an act of the assembly standardized local government in the Upper Country. The entire state was divided into regions, and their powers and responsibilities were made standard. Many of the Countries created at that time were quite obviously space-filling entities: the Massif Country, for example, or the wildly unimaginatively named Middle Country. But they met the need for a level of government in between the state and the commune, township, or municipality.
This standardization went hand in hand with trends toward more centralized state government. The state assumed much of the power of the local Countries in the next couple of decades. By the 1930s the Countries were largely ceremonial. More recently, however, the trend has reversed somewhat and some power has devolved back to the Countries. They remain important as a focus for civic involvement and identity.
The Countries are:
Detroit Country:
The capital. A densely populated region - in colonial times, the whole country was said to resemble one continuous village. The country speaks French, though most people in the towns and countryside have lots of Indian blood. The city itself has some fairly grand architecture suitable for the capital of a big state. The early 20th century saw a good deal of industrial development, though not on the scale of our world's Detroit.
Ashkany Country:
This small stretch along Lake Erie is mostly English, initially settled by Massachusetts Bay. Massachusetts had claims in the region and began to actively entice settlers west in the late 18th century. But Massachusetts was unwilling to put forth the resources to support an inland colony, and the settlers soon had to ally themselves with the French in Detroit. They kept their Yankee democratic government, but as an autonomous part of the Upper Country. The original site chosen as the capital, Kettigwyn, ended up being located right on the border with Huronia, so a new capital was built and named for Springfield, Massachusetts.
Sanduskey Country:
Many English people settled along the south shore of Lake Erie. After 1782, when Loyalists took power in Connecticut, the lands loyal to Connecticut and to England formed a continuous bloc of territory. To the west were the Sanduskey Bay villages, filled with allied Indian and Mixt people under the protection of English garrisons. To the east were the towns of Upper Connecticut, peopled largely by Republicans who were ambivalent or opposed to the monarchy. In the middle were the Firelands, a flat region of decent farmland where many Loyalist families were given land in the hope of tipping the regional balance away from would-be revolutionaries. After Upper Connecticut declared its own independence, Sanduskey Bay and the Firelands merged into a single unit, which was part of both the Upper Country alliance and the English dominions. England gave up control as the Upper Country evolved from an alliance to a state. Reflecting this history, the full name is the Country of Sanduskey and the Firelands.
Miami du Lac Country:
Centered on the city of Great Miami and Miami Bay, this country, the Upper Country's smallest, was something of a no-man's-land in the state's earliest history. The French city of Detroit lay to the north, the English of Sanduskey Bay were to the east, and to the south was the rich Mixt society of Kekionga. All three saw the bay as part of their respective areas of influence. Competition for control of the region grew pretty fierce and occasionally violent in the 1820s and 30s. The Judicial Council of Canada, which still functioned as court of last resort for the Upper Country in those days, ruled that the Miami Bay area was not inherently part of any of those three constituent countries and should instead was subject directly to the state government. Great Miami itself later grew into a major city, and it was made the seat of a regional government of its own in 1862. Today the area is largely Franophone due to the influence of Detroit; The English and Miami languages are spoken as well.
Kekionga Country:
Kekionga grew up as a major French-Algonquian hub on the upper Miami River. Its importance allowed it to influence and absorb other nearby communities, including the Pennamite Fort Defiance a way downriver. Representatives of the Governor of Detroit were acting as village magistrates by 1760 alongside local chiefs. A more complete country government under Detroit was established a couple of decades later.
Many English people settled along the south shore of Lake Erie. After 1782, when Loyalists took power in Connecticut, the lands loyal to Connecticut and to England formed a continuous bloc of territory. To the west were the Sanduskey Bay villages, filled with allied Indian and Mixt people under the protection of English garrisons. To the east were the towns of Upper Connecticut, peopled largely by Republicans who were ambivalent or opposed to the monarchy. In the middle were the Firelands, a flat region of decent farmland where many Loyalist families were given land in the hope of tipping the regional balance away from would-be revolutionaries. After Upper Connecticut declared its own independence, Sanduskey Bay and the Firelands merged into a single unit, which was part of both the Upper Country alliance and the English dominions. England gave up control as the Upper Country evolved from an alliance to a state. Reflecting this history, the full name is the Country of Sanduskey and the Firelands.
Miami du Lac Country:
Centered on the city of Great Miami and Miami Bay, this country, the Upper Country's smallest, was something of a no-man's-land in the state's earliest history. The French city of Detroit lay to the north, the English of Sanduskey Bay were to the east, and to the south was the rich Mixt society of Kekionga. All three saw the bay as part of their respective areas of influence. Competition for control of the region grew pretty fierce and occasionally violent in the 1820s and 30s. The Judicial Council of Canada, which still functioned as court of last resort for the Upper Country in those days, ruled that the Miami Bay area was not inherently part of any of those three constituent countries and should instead was subject directly to the state government. Great Miami itself later grew into a major city, and it was made the seat of a regional government of its own in 1862. Today the area is largely Franophone due to the influence of Detroit; The English and Miami languages are spoken as well.
Kekionga Country:
Kekionga grew up as a major French-Algonquian hub on the upper Miami River. Its importance allowed it to influence and absorb other nearby communities, including the Pennamite Fort Defiance a way downriver. Representatives of the Governor of Detroit were acting as village magistrates by 1760 alongside local chiefs. A more complete country government under Detroit was established a couple of decades later.
Nipissing Country:
This is the only constituent of the Upper Country to come from a tribal territory, which is centered on the tribe's eponymous lake. In most of the Upper Country, clear boundaries between tribes ceased to exist after the wars of the 1640s, when most of the nations were scattered and people relocated to mixed settlements. The Nipissing, a small Anishinaabe tribe, managed to reoccupy their former territory after the war. The spot was highly strategic, controlling the main canoe route between the Upper Country and Canada. This made the tribe an important member of the French alliance. For years the territory was considered a sort of dependency of the Upper Country rather than a full constituent. It became fully integrated into the state after the death of the canoe trade and the coming of the railroad. But it has always remained distinct among the constituent countries thanks to its unique identity and tribal traditions. Follow the link to read the history in more detail.
This is the only constituent of the Upper Country to come from a tribal territory, which is centered on the tribe's eponymous lake. In most of the Upper Country, clear boundaries between tribes ceased to exist after the wars of the 1640s, when most of the nations were scattered and people relocated to mixed settlements. The Nipissing, a small Anishinaabe tribe, managed to reoccupy their former territory after the war. The spot was highly strategic, controlling the main canoe route between the Upper Country and Canada. This made the tribe an important member of the French alliance. For years the territory was considered a sort of dependency of the Upper Country rather than a full constituent. It became fully integrated into the state after the death of the canoe trade and the coming of the railroad. But it has always remained distinct among the constituent countries thanks to its unique identity and tribal traditions. Follow the link to read the history in more detail.
Manitoulin Country:
Manitoulin Island is the home of a rich and varied Algonquian culture. Strong connections to Detroit and Michilimackinac delayed the development of separate governing institutions for Manitoulin, since all the villages of the island looked to those cities for leadership. The island and the adjacent mainland were organized as a constituent country in 1840. Around 1900, the rise of the mining city of Daniwin greatly shifted the balance of population and economic activity and challenged the traditional dominance of islanders in the country. Today the old island village of Manitowaning is only the ceremonial capital. All important government and business functions take place in Daniwin.
The Mackinac Straits:
The Straits are a strategic spot, the point where the three western Great Lakes come together. Michilimackinac acted as a sort of secondary capital for the Pays-d'en-Haut for many years, serving as the seat of a French commandant and the Council of Three Fires, an alliance of three Anishinaabe tribes that was important in the development of Ohio and Illinois as well as the Upper Country. England also built a fort in the area, and the Straits were the site of major land and naval battles in the wars of the 1800s and 1810s.
Manitoulin Island is the home of a rich and varied Algonquian culture. Strong connections to Detroit and Michilimackinac delayed the development of separate governing institutions for Manitoulin, since all the villages of the island looked to those cities for leadership. The island and the adjacent mainland were organized as a constituent country in 1840. Around 1900, the rise of the mining city of Daniwin greatly shifted the balance of population and economic activity and challenged the traditional dominance of islanders in the country. Today the old island village of Manitowaning is only the ceremonial capital. All important government and business functions take place in Daniwin.
The Mackinac Straits:
The Straits are a strategic spot, the point where the three western Great Lakes come together. Michilimackinac acted as a sort of secondary capital for the Pays-d'en-Haut for many years, serving as the seat of a French commandant and the Council of Three Fires, an alliance of three Anishinaabe tribes that was important in the development of Ohio and Illinois as well as the Upper Country. England also built a fort in the area, and the Straits were the site of major land and naval battles in the wars of the 1800s and 1810s.
Saguinam Country:
A Jesuit mission anchored a cluster of villages near the bay by 1700. Priests, French traders, Métis residents, and Algonquian villagers had created informal governing structures by mid-century, making Saguinam Country one of the original constituents of the Pays-d'en-Haut. Neither the French crown nor the government of Canada ever established a fort here; the people of Saguinam take pride in the fact that they created their local institutions themselves. In the late 19th century the borders of Saguinam Country were extended northward and inland to take in many of the lumber and industrial towns in the surrounding area.
Ministigweya Country:
Mostly poor, rural, and Anishinaabe, Minstigweya Country is considered something of a backwater. Its western part, near the lake, is an important fruit growing region.
The Middle Country:
The region around the headwaters of many rivers fell through the cracks in the early years of the Upper Country. The Grand Trunk Road between Detroit and Chicago brought settlers into the region. It was being called the Middle Country years before it formally became a constituent country in 1891. The roadside town and minor industrial center, Mitigomizhiig ("the Oak Grove") was chosen as the capital.
A Jesuit mission anchored a cluster of villages near the bay by 1700. Priests, French traders, Métis residents, and Algonquian villagers had created informal governing structures by mid-century, making Saguinam Country one of the original constituents of the Pays-d'en-Haut. Neither the French crown nor the government of Canada ever established a fort here; the people of Saguinam take pride in the fact that they created their local institutions themselves. In the late 19th century the borders of Saguinam Country were extended northward and inland to take in many of the lumber and industrial towns in the surrounding area.
Ministigweya Country:
Mostly poor, rural, and Anishinaabe, Minstigweya Country is considered something of a backwater. Its western part, near the lake, is an important fruit growing region.
The Middle Country:
The region around the headwaters of many rivers fell through the cracks in the early years of the Upper Country. The Grand Trunk Road between Detroit and Chicago brought settlers into the region. It was being called the Middle Country years before it formally became a constituent country in 1891. The roadside town and minor industrial center, Mitigomizhiig ("the Oak Grove") was chosen as the capital.
New Holland:
The most successful attempt by the Republic of New Netherland to extend its influence westward through migration. The original settlers of New Holland were devout Calvinists looking to found a utopian community under New Netherland's government. They founded the town of New Leiden to anchor a cluster of towns and missions. Other New Netherlanders moved into the important Algonquian towns that became Calamazo and Grandstad. The arrival of so many settlers realigned the economy of the region and provoked controversy in the established villages. Leaders from all the towns agreed to a governing structure in 1847 that brought the region together but left a good deal of power to the individual towns. The tradition of strong civic identity and a blending of Dutch and Algonquian cultures continue to define the country today.
St. Joseph Country:
The valley of the St. Joseph River was an important trade route and meeting place for Miami and Anishinaabe people during the contact period, and undoubtedly its importance stretches back much further. France built a fort and mission in 1691 that gave the river and country its modern name. By the mid-18th century, traders and a few military detachments were active in the area, loyal to France, England, and even Spain. Activity came to focus on three settlements, simply called Upper, Middle, and Lower St. Joseph. This trio of mixt villages developed the rudiments of government in the usual Upper Country fashion. After some wavering and factional bloodshed in the wars around 1800, St. Joseph Country definitively became a constituent of the Upper Country alliance. The river's importance as a trade route declined with the rise of Chicagou, but industrial development after 1870 brought new prosperity to the region.
The most successful attempt by the Republic of New Netherland to extend its influence westward through migration. The original settlers of New Holland were devout Calvinists looking to found a utopian community under New Netherland's government. They founded the town of New Leiden to anchor a cluster of towns and missions. Other New Netherlanders moved into the important Algonquian towns that became Calamazo and Grandstad. The arrival of so many settlers realigned the economy of the region and provoked controversy in the established villages. Leaders from all the towns agreed to a governing structure in 1847 that brought the region together but left a good deal of power to the individual towns. The tradition of strong civic identity and a blending of Dutch and Algonquian cultures continue to define the country today.
St. Joseph Country:
The valley of the St. Joseph River was an important trade route and meeting place for Miami and Anishinaabe people during the contact period, and undoubtedly its importance stretches back much further. France built a fort and mission in 1691 that gave the river and country its modern name. By the mid-18th century, traders and a few military detachments were active in the area, loyal to France, England, and even Spain. Activity came to focus on three settlements, simply called Upper, Middle, and Lower St. Joseph. This trio of mixt villages developed the rudiments of government in the usual Upper Country fashion. After some wavering and factional bloodshed in the wars around 1800, St. Joseph Country definitively became a constituent of the Upper Country alliance. The river's importance as a trade route declined with the rise of Chicagou, but industrial development after 1870 brought new prosperity to the region.
Chicagou Country:
Chicagou is one of the major commercial centers of not just the Upper Country, but of the entire ASB. It is located in a strategic spot where the Mississippi watershed comes very close to Lake Michigan. Small-scale canoe trade fed a growing village, but the real growth began after 1850. A canal to the Illinois River created a new commercial highway, diverting trade away from the traditional route through the Ouisconsin and Renard Rivers to the north. Modern roads and railroads followed a bit later, and by the 1890s the city was a booming industrial center with a diverse immigrant population. Chicago Country, already taking shape before the boom, was firmly established with a separate legislature and judiciary at the time of the canal's construction. Chicagou has since then been a rival to Detroit, typically seen as the rough, burly counterpart to the more refined and cultured state capital. Despite this perception the city has a vibrant cultural scene of its own. A "city of neighborhoods," Chicagou is really a patchwork of small local communities, some of them stretching back a century or more, others of more recent creation by groups of newcomers.
Chicagou is one of the major commercial centers of not just the Upper Country, but of the entire ASB. It is located in a strategic spot where the Mississippi watershed comes very close to Lake Michigan. Small-scale canoe trade fed a growing village, but the real growth began after 1850. A canal to the Illinois River created a new commercial highway, diverting trade away from the traditional route through the Ouisconsin and Renard Rivers to the north. Modern roads and railroads followed a bit later, and by the 1890s the city was a booming industrial center with a diverse immigrant population. Chicago Country, already taking shape before the boom, was firmly established with a separate legislature and judiciary at the time of the canal's construction. Chicagou has since then been a rival to Detroit, typically seen as the rough, burly counterpart to the more refined and cultured state capital. Despite this perception the city has a vibrant cultural scene of its own. A "city of neighborhoods," Chicagou is really a patchwork of small local communities, some of them stretching back a century or more, others of more recent creation by groups of newcomers.
Kènojé Country:
Kènojé is the largest of a trio minor lakeside ports; the other two are Waukegan to the south and Racine to the north. Leaders of the three cities wanted to form a new constituent country in the 1860s in order to assert their independence from the growing cities of Chicagou and Millioqué. The residents at the time were a very mixed group of French, Potawatomi, Menomini, German, Dutch, and Irish people, with a big wave of English and German farmers in the plains and river valleys to the west. Today the French language predominates in the populous part of the country near the lake, English in the western end.
Kènojé is the largest of a trio minor lakeside ports; the other two are Waukegan to the south and Racine to the north. Leaders of the three cities wanted to form a new constituent country in the 1860s in order to assert their independence from the growing cities of Chicagou and Millioqué. The residents at the time were a very mixed group of French, Potawatomi, Menomini, German, Dutch, and Irish people, with a big wave of English and German farmers in the plains and river valleys to the west. Today the French language predominates in the populous part of the country near the lake, English in the western end.
Millioqué Country:
The city of Millioqué began as a trio of fur trading settlements along the lower stretch of the river. The settlements grew into market towns as commercial farming grew in the region. They finally merged into a single city in 1858. Agricultural bounty, the discovery of new metal deposits, and large numbers of immigrants from Germany fueled an industrial boom in the late nineteenth century. In fact, the city in 1900 had a German majority. Today the French language is more prominent than German, both in the city and in the Country as a whole, but the Teutonic element is strong and vibrant in the culture of Millioqué, evident in the brewing industry, in the series of annual Feste held on the wide green spaces that ring the city, and in cultural institutions such as the Civic Orchestra and the competitive choral scene.
Green Bay Country:
The bay has been a trade hub since time immemorial, and the town at the head of the bay was one of the Upper Country's largest at the time of the earliest French accounts. While the colonial powers concentrated their attention on the strategic points between the Lakes, Green Bay remained one of the main centers of the Indian population. No one tribe ever predominated in the diverse bay settlements, so the main language has been French since the mid-1700s. The rural parts of Green Bay Country are still largely Francophones of Indian or Mixt descent.
Agami:
The voyageurs called this coast la Marge Sauvage, the Wild Edge; and it is still much as they left it. It was one of the last to be formally incorporated as a constituent country. It occupies the rugged, lake-spattered terrain north of Lake Superior, a land that has been valued for its furs but has little to attract a large population. Today Agami is known, when it is known at all, largely as a destination for outdoor sports. In particular Lake Nipigon, "the sixth Great Lake," is a draw for tourists. A large majority of the people of Agami speak Anishinaabe, with French as a widespread second language.
Grand Portage Country:
The Grand Portage proper is a stretch of rugged terrain that links the Great Lakes with the vast river network of the Northwest. Trading posts at the head of the portage were a key link in the fur trade of both England and France. French and Métis traders used the portage to reach the furs of Assiniboia and Rupertsland, at first working for England's Hudson Bay Company, and later for various trading companies based in Canada. After the wars of the 1810s, the port was open to both French and English traders, but conflict between companies of different nationalities would cause tension for decades and contribute to Assiniboia's secession from Rupertsland. After 1850, Grand Portage was well placed to transition from furs to iron ore and wheat, and it became the chief port and largest metropolis on Lake Superior. Outside the capital, Grand Portage Country is mostly hills and forest, like most of the Lake Superior basin.
Mesabi:
The Mesabi Iron Range was discovered in 1883. English companies in Assiniboia and Rupertsland were quick to take advantage of the mines, and more capital flowed in from New England and New Amsterdam. Workers flocked to the boomtowns from all over, but the largest groups came from the Anglo-American states, from Scotland, and from England, especially Cornwall. Local Anishinaabe were recruited in large numbers, as well. Therefore the two main languages today are English and Anishinaabe, an Anglophone country surrounded by Francophone neighbors. Mesabi lay outside the assumed borders of the Upper Country, but those borders were poorly defined. When the French-speaking Métis majority of Assiniboia overthrew the English Dominion government and declared themselves a republican state, Mesabi, one of the few parts of Assiniboia with an Anglophone majority, wanted to break away. After flirting with the idea of becoming a separate dominion, the final decision was a request to join the Pays-d'en-Haut as an autonomous constituent country. This made sense in light of the economic links between the Great Lakes and Mesabi: by then most Mesabi iron ore was being shipped out via Lake Superior. Assiniboia put up a fight and mobilized its militia. The war was short, but it was the last time in the ASB's history that blood was shed in a conflict between states. Parliament finally arbitrated the issue and Mesabi became part of the Upper Country. It is still mining country today, and Scottish and Cornish cultural influence is still quite noticeable.
Chequamegon Country:
Chequamegon Bay and the Apostle Islands are the spiritual homeland of the Ojibwe tribe. In the middle of the 17th century, the bay drew refugees from many nations fleeing Iroquois expansion. French traders and missionaries followed. Somewhat removed from the wars and political movements of the lower Great Lakes, Chequamegon was known as a peaceful refuge for Upper Country culture by the late 18th century. It remains so today; many of the villages of Chequamegon have kept alive old Catholic and tribal traditions that have been lost elsewhere. The largest city, Fond-des-Lacs, breaks this pattern. It is an iron ore port at the far western end, a bilingual French and English city in a country that otherwise speaks Anishinaabe. Despite the growth of the port, the capital remains at the smaller city of Chequamegon.
The Massif:
A space filling entity created by the Grand Assembly in 1890, the Massif is the largest constituent country in the Pays-d'en-Haut. It comprises the rugged Superior Massif as well as two larger cities: the capital Eau Claire lies on the plain south of the Massif, and the commercial center St. Paul is on the Mississippi. The Mississippi valley is the most populated part of the country. The towns along the river have close ties to the settlements on the other side in Dakota. They are largely French, with prominent minorities of Swedes, English, Anishinaabe, and Dakota.
Ouisconsin Country:
The post at Prairie-du-Chien gave the French control of the upper Mississippi in the 18th century, and the trade network based there is one of the main reasons that the Upper Country extends all the way to the river. Métis people settled in the Mississippi and Ouisconsin valleys, and their community formed the basis of the modern country. Cattle and dairy farming are the mainstay of the local economy.
Prairies Country:
The full name is the Country of the Prairies at the Portage - named for a key canoeing portage between the Ouisconsin and Fox Rivers. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the region's scattered prairies and rich land had become much more important than its position along the water route. The country contains some of the highest yielding farmland in the state. It attracted a large number of settlers in the nineteenth century, including immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavia. The state government pressured the dominant Winnebago tribe to allow the newcomers in. The old town of Portage remains the center of Winnebago culture, but the seat of country government has moved to the city of Four Lakes.
Aux-Fèves Country:
The little River Aux-Fèvres flows through a region rich in lead deposits. Local people first mined the region to sell lead ore to the French. The governments of both Canada and Louisiana claimed the land for many years. At the time of the French Revolution. Louisiana declared its independence while Canada remained loyal to the new French regime. The unrest allowed Great Lakes merchants, loyal to Canada, to gain control of the mines. A number of English and German settlers entered the region in this era under the auspices of the Canadian government. They were key to defending the region against a Louisianan-Illinoisan attack in the 1822 Kishwauki War, which defined the southern border and confirmed the region as a part of the Upper Country. Today, English and German culture remain a feature of the country. Industry and agriculture have overshadowed the lead mines since the turn of the twentieth century.
The city of Millioqué began as a trio of fur trading settlements along the lower stretch of the river. The settlements grew into market towns as commercial farming grew in the region. They finally merged into a single city in 1858. Agricultural bounty, the discovery of new metal deposits, and large numbers of immigrants from Germany fueled an industrial boom in the late nineteenth century. In fact, the city in 1900 had a German majority. Today the French language is more prominent than German, both in the city and in the Country as a whole, but the Teutonic element is strong and vibrant in the culture of Millioqué, evident in the brewing industry, in the series of annual Feste held on the wide green spaces that ring the city, and in cultural institutions such as the Civic Orchestra and the competitive choral scene.
Green Bay Country:
The bay has been a trade hub since time immemorial, and the town at the head of the bay was one of the Upper Country's largest at the time of the earliest French accounts. While the colonial powers concentrated their attention on the strategic points between the Lakes, Green Bay remained one of the main centers of the Indian population. No one tribe ever predominated in the diverse bay settlements, so the main language has been French since the mid-1700s. The rural parts of Green Bay Country are still largely Francophones of Indian or Mixt descent.
Agami:
The voyageurs called this coast la Marge Sauvage, the Wild Edge; and it is still much as they left it. It was one of the last to be formally incorporated as a constituent country. It occupies the rugged, lake-spattered terrain north of Lake Superior, a land that has been valued for its furs but has little to attract a large population. Today Agami is known, when it is known at all, largely as a destination for outdoor sports. In particular Lake Nipigon, "the sixth Great Lake," is a draw for tourists. A large majority of the people of Agami speak Anishinaabe, with French as a widespread second language.
Grand Portage Country:
The Grand Portage proper is a stretch of rugged terrain that links the Great Lakes with the vast river network of the Northwest. Trading posts at the head of the portage were a key link in the fur trade of both England and France. French and Métis traders used the portage to reach the furs of Assiniboia and Rupertsland, at first working for England's Hudson Bay Company, and later for various trading companies based in Canada. After the wars of the 1810s, the port was open to both French and English traders, but conflict between companies of different nationalities would cause tension for decades and contribute to Assiniboia's secession from Rupertsland. After 1850, Grand Portage was well placed to transition from furs to iron ore and wheat, and it became the chief port and largest metropolis on Lake Superior. Outside the capital, Grand Portage Country is mostly hills and forest, like most of the Lake Superior basin.
Mesabi:
The Mesabi Iron Range was discovered in 1883. English companies in Assiniboia and Rupertsland were quick to take advantage of the mines, and more capital flowed in from New England and New Amsterdam. Workers flocked to the boomtowns from all over, but the largest groups came from the Anglo-American states, from Scotland, and from England, especially Cornwall. Local Anishinaabe were recruited in large numbers, as well. Therefore the two main languages today are English and Anishinaabe, an Anglophone country surrounded by Francophone neighbors. Mesabi lay outside the assumed borders of the Upper Country, but those borders were poorly defined. When the French-speaking Métis majority of Assiniboia overthrew the English Dominion government and declared themselves a republican state, Mesabi, one of the few parts of Assiniboia with an Anglophone majority, wanted to break away. After flirting with the idea of becoming a separate dominion, the final decision was a request to join the Pays-d'en-Haut as an autonomous constituent country. This made sense in light of the economic links between the Great Lakes and Mesabi: by then most Mesabi iron ore was being shipped out via Lake Superior. Assiniboia put up a fight and mobilized its militia. The war was short, but it was the last time in the ASB's history that blood was shed in a conflict between states. Parliament finally arbitrated the issue and Mesabi became part of the Upper Country. It is still mining country today, and Scottish and Cornish cultural influence is still quite noticeable.
Chequamegon Country:
Chequamegon Bay and the Apostle Islands are the spiritual homeland of the Ojibwe tribe. In the middle of the 17th century, the bay drew refugees from many nations fleeing Iroquois expansion. French traders and missionaries followed. Somewhat removed from the wars and political movements of the lower Great Lakes, Chequamegon was known as a peaceful refuge for Upper Country culture by the late 18th century. It remains so today; many of the villages of Chequamegon have kept alive old Catholic and tribal traditions that have been lost elsewhere. The largest city, Fond-des-Lacs, breaks this pattern. It is an iron ore port at the far western end, a bilingual French and English city in a country that otherwise speaks Anishinaabe. Despite the growth of the port, the capital remains at the smaller city of Chequamegon.
The Massif:
A space filling entity created by the Grand Assembly in 1890, the Massif is the largest constituent country in the Pays-d'en-Haut. It comprises the rugged Superior Massif as well as two larger cities: the capital Eau Claire lies on the plain south of the Massif, and the commercial center St. Paul is on the Mississippi. The Mississippi valley is the most populated part of the country. The towns along the river have close ties to the settlements on the other side in Dakota. They are largely French, with prominent minorities of Swedes, English, Anishinaabe, and Dakota.
Ouisconsin Country:
The post at Prairie-du-Chien gave the French control of the upper Mississippi in the 18th century, and the trade network based there is one of the main reasons that the Upper Country extends all the way to the river. Métis people settled in the Mississippi and Ouisconsin valleys, and their community formed the basis of the modern country. Cattle and dairy farming are the mainstay of the local economy.
Prairies Country:
The full name is the Country of the Prairies at the Portage - named for a key canoeing portage between the Ouisconsin and Fox Rivers. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the region's scattered prairies and rich land had become much more important than its position along the water route. The country contains some of the highest yielding farmland in the state. It attracted a large number of settlers in the nineteenth century, including immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, and Scandinavia. The state government pressured the dominant Winnebago tribe to allow the newcomers in. The old town of Portage remains the center of Winnebago culture, but the seat of country government has moved to the city of Four Lakes.
Aux-Fèves Country:
The little River Aux-Fèvres flows through a region rich in lead deposits. Local people first mined the region to sell lead ore to the French. The governments of both Canada and Louisiana claimed the land for many years. At the time of the French Revolution. Louisiana declared its independence while Canada remained loyal to the new French regime. The unrest allowed Great Lakes merchants, loyal to Canada, to gain control of the mines. A number of English and German settlers entered the region in this era under the auspices of the Canadian government. They were key to defending the region against a Louisianan-Illinoisan attack in the 1822 Kishwauki War, which defined the southern border and confirmed the region as a part of the Upper Country. Today, English and German culture remain a feature of the country. Industry and agriculture have overshadowed the lead mines since the turn of the twentieth century.
History
1. Refugees (1640-1665)
The Upper Country began as an alliance between people from France and the local villages of the Lakes. But before the start of that process of coming together, the Great Lakes underwent a terrible period of tearing apart. Beginning in the 1640s, competition over the fur trade fueled a cycle of wars that left much of the region nearly depopulated. The Iroquois are usually regarded as the aggressors in the Beaver Wars. Their raids destroyed villages and scattered the people. Several eastern nations, such as the Erie and the Neutrals, ceased to exist. Others saw their power drastically reduced. Europeans at this time came only rarely to the Upper Country, so most of what is known about this era of turmoil must be pieced together from oral traditions and accounts by Frenchmen who did not well understand what was happening.
Survivors scattered in all directions. Large numbers moved to towns in Canada, and others were adopted into the Iroquois themselves. In the Upper Country, refugees inhabited new villages to the west, out of reach of the Iroquois attacks. Green Bay and Chequamegon became the most important of the new population centers. These new centers drew people from many different tribal backgrounds. To keep the peace, they had to innovate. Simply relying on the old clans and lineages would not do when people from so many different tribes lived side by side in the same village. A class of informal village chiefs emerged as leaders throughout the region.
This is not to say that the old forms of tribal power and authority disappeared. They remained very important, especially for politics beyond the village. The Council of Three Fires, for example, an alliance of the three main Anishinaabe tribes, remained one of the strongest regional powers. And Europeans preferred to treat the tribes as sovereign nations rather than as scattered ethnic groups that blurred together. But increasingly, real life in the Upper Country came to be organized on the basis of villages and regions rather than the traditional tribes. And above it all remained the frightening sense that the old world had shattered, with no new structure to replace it. In the later decades of the 17th century, the Upper Country would look to France to provide that structure.
Survivors scattered in all directions. Large numbers moved to towns in Canada, and others were adopted into the Iroquois themselves. In the Upper Country, refugees inhabited new villages to the west, out of reach of the Iroquois attacks. Green Bay and Chequamegon became the most important of the new population centers. These new centers drew people from many different tribal backgrounds. To keep the peace, they had to innovate. Simply relying on the old clans and lineages would not do when people from so many different tribes lived side by side in the same village. A class of informal village chiefs emerged as leaders throughout the region.
This is not to say that the old forms of tribal power and authority disappeared. They remained very important, especially for politics beyond the village. The Council of Three Fires, for example, an alliance of the three main Anishinaabe tribes, remained one of the strongest regional powers. And Europeans preferred to treat the tribes as sovereign nations rather than as scattered ethnic groups that blurred together. But increasingly, real life in the Upper Country came to be organized on the basis of villages and regions rather than the traditional tribes. And above it all remained the frightening sense that the old world had shattered, with no new structure to replace it. In the later decades of the 17th century, the Upper Country would look to France to provide that structure.
2. Forming the alliance (1665-1701)
The alliance took shape from the bottom up. Many French traders and missionaries, and many Indian men and women, played a role in laying its early foundations. It was formed through countless individual interactions and relationships, economic, diplomatic, marital, religious.
Among the many alliance chiefs of the early years, the figure of Nicolas Perrot stands out, and today he is honored as the Upper Country's founder. Perrot was an explorer, trader and interpreter from Bourgogne. He traveled so extensively that the Indians called him Metamiens, "Iron Legs". In fact, his journeys helped to delineate the boundaries of the Upper Country. He lived at times among the Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sioux, and other nations, learning their languages and their ways. He built French posts at Green Bay and Prairie-du-Chien. In 1671, he used his influence to draw over a thousand Indian leaders to Sault-Sainte-Marie, where, in what is known as the "Pageant of the Sault", French officials symbolically claimed sovereignty over the Lakes. The gathering marks the start of the wider French alliance and is considered the founding moment of the Upper Country.
The alliance took shape over the next several years. The Indians and Métis of the Great Lakes looked to the governor of Canada as a regional leader, calling themselves "Children of Onontio". The 1701 Great Peace of Montreal cemented the alliance, committing all the chiefs of the Upper Country, Huronia, and much of Ohio to the cause of France and to one another.
Among the many alliance chiefs of the early years, the figure of Nicolas Perrot stands out, and today he is honored as the Upper Country's founder. Perrot was an explorer, trader and interpreter from Bourgogne. He traveled so extensively that the Indians called him Metamiens, "Iron Legs". In fact, his journeys helped to delineate the boundaries of the Upper Country. He lived at times among the Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sioux, and other nations, learning their languages and their ways. He built French posts at Green Bay and Prairie-du-Chien. In 1671, he used his influence to draw over a thousand Indian leaders to Sault-Sainte-Marie, where, in what is known as the "Pageant of the Sault", French officials symbolically claimed sovereignty over the Lakes. The gathering marks the start of the wider French alliance and is considered the founding moment of the Upper Country.
The alliance took shape over the next several years. The Indians and Métis of the Great Lakes looked to the governor of Canada as a regional leader, calling themselves "Children of Onontio". The 1701 Great Peace of Montreal cemented the alliance, committing all the chiefs of the Upper Country, Huronia, and much of Ohio to the cause of France and to one another.
3. Era of the alliance (1701-1769)
In the eighteenth century we see the French alliance system in its mature form. It became the dominant political structure in the Upper Country, overshadowing older tribal affiliations like the Council of Three Fires. Detroit, founded the same year as the Great Peace, became the center of regional trade and diplomacy. All of the established chiefs of the region worked to maintain the alliance, while new men sought opportunities outside it.
These opportunities were numerous. The English and Dutch continually sought to expand their influence westward. The Dutch built forts at Oswego on Lake Ontario and on Grand Island in the Niagara River. English traders built posts at Black Rock on the Niagara, at the Forks of the Ohio, along the St. Joseph River, and above all on Sanduskey Bay. Each new trading post was built to entice groups of Indians away from the French. Other chiefs sought more complete independence outside the reach of any of the empires. They had the most success in the Ohio Country. Throughout the century the new republics of Ohio steadily grew, causing French influence there to gradually unravel.
But the core of the alliance held together. The key parts of the Upper Country - Detroit, Manitoulin, the Mackinac Straits, Green Bay, Chequamegon, and Ouisconsin - remained under the firm control of the Children of Onontio.
These opportunities were numerous. The English and Dutch continually sought to expand their influence westward. The Dutch built forts at Oswego on Lake Ontario and on Grand Island in the Niagara River. English traders built posts at Black Rock on the Niagara, at the Forks of the Ohio, along the St. Joseph River, and above all on Sanduskey Bay. Each new trading post was built to entice groups of Indians away from the French. Other chiefs sought more complete independence outside the reach of any of the empires. They had the most success in the Ohio Country. Throughout the century the new republics of Ohio steadily grew, causing French influence there to gradually unravel.
But the core of the alliance held together. The key parts of the Upper Country - Detroit, Manitoulin, the Mackinac Straits, Green Bay, Chequamegon, and Ouisconsin - remained under the firm control of the Children of Onontio.
4. The revolutionary era (1769-1810)
The Wars of Independence brought new challenges to the Upper Country alliance. On the one hand, disunity among the English meant a shift in the balance of power toward the French. On the other hand, independence unleashed expansionist impulses in the new states. Unprecedented numbers of traders and settlers from the English states began to come west. Three major Yankee communities took shape around Lake Erie: Connecticuters on the Cuyahoga, Massachusetts republicans on the Ashkany, and New England loyalists around Sanduskey Bay. Increasing numbers of Virginians and Pennamites were coming to the trading towns near southern Lake Michigan. The stream of newcomers put great stress on the alliance.
Leaders of the Upper Country had to build the alliance's institutional strength. The Grand Assembly began to meet in 1777, giving the allied leaders a permanent forum for the first time. Within the individual countries, French officials and Métis village leaders spurred the creation of local governments. The first elected councils and magistrates appeared in Green Bay, Kekionga and Michilimackinac. Canadian officers began to form militia units as well, channeling the warrior traditions of the Upper Country into an organized defense.
The French Revolution brought still more changes, realignments, and conflicts to the region. Canada stayed loyal to France and accepted the new regime, but Louisnana wavered. In 1793 the French Republic and England went to war, and some of the fighting spread to America. In a serious blow to the alliance, English and loyalist forces captured Fort Michilimackinac. The French were able to begin a new fort on nearby Mackinac Island, but it was an obvious sign of weakness. Canada had to scramble to keep leaders on its side. The war ended four years later with France in a weaker position in the Upper Country than at any time since the start of the colonial era.
Although England and France continued fighting, peace held for a few years in America. It was events in the Upper Country that provoked the next round of warfare. The independent English commonwealth of Virginia had grown increasingly close to France, England being an enemy common to both. In 1802 officers from both powers met in Upper St. Joseph to negotiate the future of the Ohio Country. They formed a plan to divide the whole region between them, shutting out all other powers. The pact sparked the War of the League of St. Joseph, the last and fiercest major imperial war in Boreomerica's history. The Great Lakes became a major theater of fighting. During the war it became clear that England was unable to sustain a military presence on the Lakes. English and allied forces made some gains but could not hold them.
Negotiations following the fighting were different from what had come before. After past wars, each empire had looked for advantages that would prepare it for the next one. This time, all sides sought a solution that would prevent future wars. There were so many sides involved now, most of them pursuing local agendas rather than European ones. Continental peace became the goal. The rise of the neutral Ohio Alliance was one clear sign of this. In the Upper Country, the combatants agreed that it would remain a French protectorate, but other communities were to govern themselves within it.
Leaders of the Upper Country had to build the alliance's institutional strength. The Grand Assembly began to meet in 1777, giving the allied leaders a permanent forum for the first time. Within the individual countries, French officials and Métis village leaders spurred the creation of local governments. The first elected councils and magistrates appeared in Green Bay, Kekionga and Michilimackinac. Canadian officers began to form militia units as well, channeling the warrior traditions of the Upper Country into an organized defense.
The French Revolution brought still more changes, realignments, and conflicts to the region. Canada stayed loyal to France and accepted the new regime, but Louisnana wavered. In 1793 the French Republic and England went to war, and some of the fighting spread to America. In a serious blow to the alliance, English and loyalist forces captured Fort Michilimackinac. The French were able to begin a new fort on nearby Mackinac Island, but it was an obvious sign of weakness. Canada had to scramble to keep leaders on its side. The war ended four years later with France in a weaker position in the Upper Country than at any time since the start of the colonial era.
Although England and France continued fighting, peace held for a few years in America. It was events in the Upper Country that provoked the next round of warfare. The independent English commonwealth of Virginia had grown increasingly close to France, England being an enemy common to both. In 1802 officers from both powers met in Upper St. Joseph to negotiate the future of the Ohio Country. They formed a plan to divide the whole region between them, shutting out all other powers. The pact sparked the War of the League of St. Joseph, the last and fiercest major imperial war in Boreomerica's history. The Great Lakes became a major theater of fighting. During the war it became clear that England was unable to sustain a military presence on the Lakes. English and allied forces made some gains but could not hold them.
Negotiations following the fighting were different from what had come before. After past wars, each empire had looked for advantages that would prepare it for the next one. This time, all sides sought a solution that would prevent future wars. There were so many sides involved now, most of them pursuing local agendas rather than European ones. Continental peace became the goal. The rise of the neutral Ohio Alliance was one clear sign of this. In the Upper Country, the combatants agreed that it would remain a French protectorate, but other communities were to govern themselves within it.
5. The imperial era (1810-1836)
The end of the war brought a new order to all the French colonies. The emperor Napoleon sent his brother Jerome to America to rule most of the large colonies as King of New France. Jerome's rule was mostly a peaceful one in which the Upper Country continued to grow and develop. The new groups of settlers who arrived, such as the Dutch founders of New Holland, by and large were content to live under French protection. But the Upper Country was still an alliance, not yet a state. The different constituent countries were basically free to act independently. New Holland and Sanduskey were alliance members, but at this point their people were still citizens of New Netherland and the Dominion of New England, respectively.
Growth accompanied peace. New farming villages were cropping up around the main towns as the Lakes' economy began to look beyond the fur trade. Most of the cultivation was done in the Indian fashion with hoe rather than plow; the plow would not predominate in the Upper Country until canals and railroads made commercial farming possible, and even then, traditional methods persisted in many villages, even to the present day. The spread of livestock, however, was altering life in many places. Pigs and cattle led to changes in land use, soil treatment, hunting practices, and many other aspects of village life.
The lead mines on the Aux-Fèves produced another newly important commodity. Located on the upper Mississippi River along the border between the Upper Country and Illinois, the Aux-Fèves mines became the subject of intense rivalry between the parts of New France. A royal decree declared the mining region to be part of the Upper Country and therefore subject to Canada, but their position on the river made it easy for Louisiana merchants to dominate the trade. Canada sponsored two major road projects linking the river to ports on Lake Michigan. But the more southern route, from Galènie to Chicagou, passed through disputed territory. Illinois, still subservient to Louisiana, attempted to take control of that disputed zone, posting militia to collect tolls and rebuff the Canadians. The result was the Kishwauki War of 1822-5. The war was notable for the inability of the royal government to contain it. Ultimately it was resolved thanks to mediators from Ohio who convinced the two sides to stand down. The war also led Illinoisans to resent Louisianan control, and they declared themselves to be a separate colony within New France soon after.
King Jerome allowed the parts of New France to develop their own institutions, signing off on Illinois's separation from Louisiana and Huronia's new provincial government. In the Upper Country, much development happened at the local level. Most of the main towns were beginning to function as bureaucratic states, and new governments formed in Chicagou, Miliouqué, and Grand Portage.
The 1833 fall of the Bonapartist regime did not cause much disruption. Canada declared independence and continued to oversee its dependencies as before. The governor at Detroit was not even replaced.
Growth accompanied peace. New farming villages were cropping up around the main towns as the Lakes' economy began to look beyond the fur trade. Most of the cultivation was done in the Indian fashion with hoe rather than plow; the plow would not predominate in the Upper Country until canals and railroads made commercial farming possible, and even then, traditional methods persisted in many villages, even to the present day. The spread of livestock, however, was altering life in many places. Pigs and cattle led to changes in land use, soil treatment, hunting practices, and many other aspects of village life.
The lead mines on the Aux-Fèves produced another newly important commodity. Located on the upper Mississippi River along the border between the Upper Country and Illinois, the Aux-Fèves mines became the subject of intense rivalry between the parts of New France. A royal decree declared the mining region to be part of the Upper Country and therefore subject to Canada, but their position on the river made it easy for Louisiana merchants to dominate the trade. Canada sponsored two major road projects linking the river to ports on Lake Michigan. But the more southern route, from Galènie to Chicagou, passed through disputed territory. Illinois, still subservient to Louisiana, attempted to take control of that disputed zone, posting militia to collect tolls and rebuff the Canadians. The result was the Kishwauki War of 1822-5. The war was notable for the inability of the royal government to contain it. Ultimately it was resolved thanks to mediators from Ohio who convinced the two sides to stand down. The war also led Illinoisans to resent Louisianan control, and they declared themselves to be a separate colony within New France soon after.
King Jerome allowed the parts of New France to develop their own institutions, signing off on Illinois's separation from Louisiana and Huronia's new provincial government. In the Upper Country, much development happened at the local level. Most of the main towns were beginning to function as bureaucratic states, and new governments formed in Chicagou, Miliouqué, and Grand Portage.
The 1833 fall of the Bonapartist regime did not cause much disruption. Canada declared independence and continued to oversee its dependencies as before. The governor at Detroit was not even replaced.
6. The Miami War (1836-1838)
The Miami War shook the Upper Country in a time when it was still sorting out just what it was. The fallout from the English Wars of Independence had brought peace among the continent’s major powers and recognition of the Upper Country as a single unit. The much smaller Kishwauki War (1822-1825) against Illinois defined its borders and clarified the relationship among the Francophone states. But much was left unsettled when it came to the Upper Country’s internal workings. It was not yet completely clear if the Grand Assembly in Detroit was a true government or a mere meeting of allied, self-governing countries. The governor, though chosen by the Assembly, still had to go to Quebec to confirm his position. Much of his power was military as the commander of Fort Detroit. He ruled his local domain of Detroit Country with nearly unchecked power; the old French paternalistic government was still basically in force there. The Miami War revealed the inherent conflict between the governor’s statewide and local roles. It also revealed that the structure of the Upper Country was fragile and inadequate to meet the needs of a growing population.
The conflict grew from the undefined boundaries between the constituent countries of the Pays-d’en-Haut. Sanduskey Country was simply defined as the largely English settlements around the bay and the islands. Did it extend up the shore a little? Who knew? It was not urgent when the population was small, but as the population of English and Mixt people grew and spread, the question became an important one. Likewise, Detroit country certainly included the land around Lake St. Clair and the newer settlements down on Lake Erie, but whether it extended farther was an open question. The lively Mixt town of Kekionga (*Ft. Wayne) was located at the forks of the river Miami-du-Lac and no one was sure how far downriver it extended.
The lower Miami-du-Lac and Miami Bay were thus located between three major clusters of settlements who all had reason to think of the area as their own natural backyard. By the 1820s it was becoming clear that it would be an important crossroads for trade and a big source of income for whoever controlled it. The three adjacent parts of the Upper Country began to compete to be the one that would have it.
So all three constituent countries made moves to get the land. They commissioned traders to build fortified posts at or near the mouth of the river. Militia came in to man the forts. There was no artillery - the separate towns could hardly afford that - but there were plenty of muskets and ammunition, and some of them were used to intimidate or attack the other side. There is no clear date when the “war” began, but parts of the Miami-du-Lac and western Lake Erie were decidedly unsafe by the the 1836 trading season.
The war’s only real offensive came at its climax in the spring of 1838. The key figure was Rémi Taschereau, member of a prominent Canadien family who had had an impressive military career in the Great Lakes. He had become Governor of the Upper Country five years earlier and therefore was also commander at Detroit. He agreed with the Detroit merchants that Miami-du-Lac was important to the town's interests. He also saw the actions of the Kekiongans and Sanduskeymen as an affront to his authority as governor. Taschereau resolved to drive them out of the area by force, occupy the Miami-du-Lac area, and use his authority to goad the state assembly into approving the new status quo.
Tashereau’s campaign was preceded by a delegation to the Kekiongans and Sanduskeymen with official orders to abandon their trading posts. The traders and militia did not quite know what to make of this, since the Upper Country’s governor had never ruled by decree outside of Detroit Country. Soon after came the Detroit Militia in two sloops and several dozen canoes, led by Tashereau. They quickly stormed the blockhouses of their rivals, who mostly fled at the approach of such a large armed force. But the attack had the effect of uniting the other two sides in the three-way rivalry. The Sanduskey militia joined the Kekiongans in paddling upstream to a defensible position at the fork of the Miami-du-Lac and the Glaise Rivers, where there sat an abandoned fort. They quickly dug in, reinforced by new militia companies called up from Kekionga. John Gibbs took command, a soldier of mixed Scottish, French, and Indian origin typical of the Mixt leadership in Kekionga. He enthusiastically re-declared the fort’s old name, Fort Defiance. By the time Taschereau and his men arrived, Gibbs was ready for them. The defenders of the fort threw back the first attack. Taschereau had no choice but to withdraw to the mouth of the river, having occupied the land that was his objective but failed to defeat the rival forces outright.
By then, delegates to the Grand Assembly were gathering in Detroit. Taschereau knew that the assembly could not begin proceedings without him, and he hoped to delay it until he could establish more firmly Detroit’s military control of the Miami-du-Lac. He sent word to his lieutenant, Pierre Jalbert, to send additional men. Most of the delegates in Detroit, however, were outraged at the heavy-handed way that Taschereau was acting. They met outdoors, in front of the fort and the newly built hall of assembly, and began to hold an extralegal session, speaking forcefully against the governor’s actions. Jalbert was unwilling to arrest en masse the leaders of the entire Upper Country, so the delegates continued meeting. The situation in Detroit was so tense, furthermore, that Jalbert feared that if he sent additional men to the Miami-du-Lac, he might lose control of the town entirely. Taschereau raged against his lieutenant’s inaction, but it probably kept the Upper Country from erupting into full-blown rebellion.
The delegates sent an appeal to Canada, whose judicial council still served as the court of last resort for the Upper Country. Canada ordered both Taschereau and Gibbs to stand down and the militia to disband. In a related ruling, they declared that the lower Miami-du-Lac valley was to be neutral territory subject directly to the state government of the Upper Country; the Grand Assembly was left to draw the borders with more specificity. The governor, afraid to return to Detroit, went to Montreal to account for his actions.
The crisis in Miami-du-Lac showed the serious need to reform the Upper Country’s institutions. First and foremost, the city and country of Detroit needed local governments separate from the governorship. Next, the powers of the Grand Assembly to make state laws had to be made clearer. Finally, the powers of militia had to be taken away from the individual towns and regions and made subject to the Upper Country’s civil government. The reforms passed over the next two years helped the Upper Country transform from a frontier alliance into a modern state.
The Miami War actually helped to create a more united Upper Country identity. Earlier it had been feared that largely Anglophone Sanduskey would eventually leave the state and join with Upper Connecticut, and the fact that it had sent no men to the Kishwauki War had fed those fears; but the Miami War confirmed its loyalty to the Pays-d’en-Haut, despite differences in language. Likewise Kekionga, in many ways tied more to the Ohio than to the Great Lakes, earned the sympathy of the lakeshore settlements and solidified its political and social ties to the rest of the state.
The rival trading posts at the mouth of the Miami-du-Lac were consolidated into one, termed Great Miami, which was under the direct authority of the state and the Grand Assembly. The town that took shape around it grew into an important commercial and industrial city, taking its name from the post. In 1862 it became the seat of its own country government, which it remains today.
The conflict grew from the undefined boundaries between the constituent countries of the Pays-d’en-Haut. Sanduskey Country was simply defined as the largely English settlements around the bay and the islands. Did it extend up the shore a little? Who knew? It was not urgent when the population was small, but as the population of English and Mixt people grew and spread, the question became an important one. Likewise, Detroit country certainly included the land around Lake St. Clair and the newer settlements down on Lake Erie, but whether it extended farther was an open question. The lively Mixt town of Kekionga (*Ft. Wayne) was located at the forks of the river Miami-du-Lac and no one was sure how far downriver it extended.
The lower Miami-du-Lac and Miami Bay were thus located between three major clusters of settlements who all had reason to think of the area as their own natural backyard. By the 1820s it was becoming clear that it would be an important crossroads for trade and a big source of income for whoever controlled it. The three adjacent parts of the Upper Country began to compete to be the one that would have it.
So all three constituent countries made moves to get the land. They commissioned traders to build fortified posts at or near the mouth of the river. Militia came in to man the forts. There was no artillery - the separate towns could hardly afford that - but there were plenty of muskets and ammunition, and some of them were used to intimidate or attack the other side. There is no clear date when the “war” began, but parts of the Miami-du-Lac and western Lake Erie were decidedly unsafe by the the 1836 trading season.
The war’s only real offensive came at its climax in the spring of 1838. The key figure was Rémi Taschereau, member of a prominent Canadien family who had had an impressive military career in the Great Lakes. He had become Governor of the Upper Country five years earlier and therefore was also commander at Detroit. He agreed with the Detroit merchants that Miami-du-Lac was important to the town's interests. He also saw the actions of the Kekiongans and Sanduskeymen as an affront to his authority as governor. Taschereau resolved to drive them out of the area by force, occupy the Miami-du-Lac area, and use his authority to goad the state assembly into approving the new status quo.
Tashereau’s campaign was preceded by a delegation to the Kekiongans and Sanduskeymen with official orders to abandon their trading posts. The traders and militia did not quite know what to make of this, since the Upper Country’s governor had never ruled by decree outside of Detroit Country. Soon after came the Detroit Militia in two sloops and several dozen canoes, led by Tashereau. They quickly stormed the blockhouses of their rivals, who mostly fled at the approach of such a large armed force. But the attack had the effect of uniting the other two sides in the three-way rivalry. The Sanduskey militia joined the Kekiongans in paddling upstream to a defensible position at the fork of the Miami-du-Lac and the Glaise Rivers, where there sat an abandoned fort. They quickly dug in, reinforced by new militia companies called up from Kekionga. John Gibbs took command, a soldier of mixed Scottish, French, and Indian origin typical of the Mixt leadership in Kekionga. He enthusiastically re-declared the fort’s old name, Fort Defiance. By the time Taschereau and his men arrived, Gibbs was ready for them. The defenders of the fort threw back the first attack. Taschereau had no choice but to withdraw to the mouth of the river, having occupied the land that was his objective but failed to defeat the rival forces outright.
By then, delegates to the Grand Assembly were gathering in Detroit. Taschereau knew that the assembly could not begin proceedings without him, and he hoped to delay it until he could establish more firmly Detroit’s military control of the Miami-du-Lac. He sent word to his lieutenant, Pierre Jalbert, to send additional men. Most of the delegates in Detroit, however, were outraged at the heavy-handed way that Taschereau was acting. They met outdoors, in front of the fort and the newly built hall of assembly, and began to hold an extralegal session, speaking forcefully against the governor’s actions. Jalbert was unwilling to arrest en masse the leaders of the entire Upper Country, so the delegates continued meeting. The situation in Detroit was so tense, furthermore, that Jalbert feared that if he sent additional men to the Miami-du-Lac, he might lose control of the town entirely. Taschereau raged against his lieutenant’s inaction, but it probably kept the Upper Country from erupting into full-blown rebellion.
The delegates sent an appeal to Canada, whose judicial council still served as the court of last resort for the Upper Country. Canada ordered both Taschereau and Gibbs to stand down and the militia to disband. In a related ruling, they declared that the lower Miami-du-Lac valley was to be neutral territory subject directly to the state government of the Upper Country; the Grand Assembly was left to draw the borders with more specificity. The governor, afraid to return to Detroit, went to Montreal to account for his actions.
The crisis in Miami-du-Lac showed the serious need to reform the Upper Country’s institutions. First and foremost, the city and country of Detroit needed local governments separate from the governorship. Next, the powers of the Grand Assembly to make state laws had to be made clearer. Finally, the powers of militia had to be taken away from the individual towns and regions and made subject to the Upper Country’s civil government. The reforms passed over the next two years helped the Upper Country transform from a frontier alliance into a modern state.
The Miami War actually helped to create a more united Upper Country identity. Earlier it had been feared that largely Anglophone Sanduskey would eventually leave the state and join with Upper Connecticut, and the fact that it had sent no men to the Kishwauki War had fed those fears; but the Miami War confirmed its loyalty to the Pays-d’en-Haut, despite differences in language. Likewise Kekionga, in many ways tied more to the Ohio than to the Great Lakes, earned the sympathy of the lakeshore settlements and solidified its political and social ties to the rest of the state.
The rival trading posts at the mouth of the Miami-du-Lac were consolidated into one, termed Great Miami, which was under the direct authority of the state and the Grand Assembly. The town that took shape around it grew into an important commercial and industrial city, taking its name from the post. In 1862 it became the seat of its own country government, which it remains today.
7. Statehood (1838-1865)
In the years following the Miami War, the Upper Country transformed into a state. Three intertwined processes brought this about: separating from Canada, building a state government, and growing a modern economy. These processes fed one another during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. They greatly changed life in the Upper Country, building on the core cultural essence that was already in place.
Confederal politics did much to help the Upper Country to think of itself as a state. People from the PH had served on the Grand Council for years, and with the fall of the French Empire, Canada and its dependencies also joined the growing Congress of the Nations. The constituent countries each sent members to Congress, but they were seated together as representatives of a single neutral region, similar to members from other underdeveloped regions like Ohio and West Florida. From the 1840s the members of the confederation were generally known as states, including the Upper Country. Then in 1847 Huronia achieved independence from Canada. It was generally assumed that the Upper Country would follow, once it was ready.
The reforms of the late 1830s and 40s produced a Grand Assembly that had real legislative power. Among the first things it did to exercise its power was sponsor a series of road building projects, something Canada had done in past decades. In the early 1850s it launched an even more ambitious project with Illinois to build the Chicagou Canal, which allowed navigation across the old portage between the Illinois River and Lake Michigan. The canal did more than draw people to Chicagou: it was an economic declaration of independence from Canada. From that point, a growing portion of the state's trade would be with the Mississippi River basin. The Canadian trade that had once been the Upper Country's raison d'être declined in relative importance.
The Assembly also embarked on a long quest to harmonize the different legal systems in the state. It took jurists more than twenty years to produce a code that was acceptable to all of the constituent countries. The basis was the Napoleonic Code Civil, with enough flexibility to allow for varying local customary law, as well as the pockets of the Upper Country that had used English Common Law. The code was propagated in the early 1860s, and it became the foundation for a new state judiciary. At this point, it can truly be said that the Upper Country was operating as a modern state. Canada loosened its last political controls over the Upper Country, leaving only a few symbolic connections; for example, a Canadian official was still on hand in Detroit to formally open each session of the Grand Assembly.
The consolidation of the state meant an end to the independence of the constituent countries. New Netherland accordingly severed all links with New Holland, so that its people could be citizens of the Upper Country alone. But in Sanduskey Country, the change was much more controversial. Sanduskey had originally been an English possession, but the political changes made this harder to keep up. In 1855 it voted to abolish the vestiges of its royalist government, replacing the viceroy with an elected deputy-governor. But the people the easternmost towns, called the Firelands, objected strongly. Their parents and grandparents had been diehard Loyalists, and they did not want to lose their connection to England. They split from Sanduskey to form a separate country and refused to approve the new law code. England refused to step in to the controversy, and so the Firelands found itself in the odd position of being a royalist territory without any Crown representative. It would have an anomalous status within the Upper Country for several decades.
Confederal politics did much to help the Upper Country to think of itself as a state. People from the PH had served on the Grand Council for years, and with the fall of the French Empire, Canada and its dependencies also joined the growing Congress of the Nations. The constituent countries each sent members to Congress, but they were seated together as representatives of a single neutral region, similar to members from other underdeveloped regions like Ohio and West Florida. From the 1840s the members of the confederation were generally known as states, including the Upper Country. Then in 1847 Huronia achieved independence from Canada. It was generally assumed that the Upper Country would follow, once it was ready.
The reforms of the late 1830s and 40s produced a Grand Assembly that had real legislative power. Among the first things it did to exercise its power was sponsor a series of road building projects, something Canada had done in past decades. In the early 1850s it launched an even more ambitious project with Illinois to build the Chicagou Canal, which allowed navigation across the old portage between the Illinois River and Lake Michigan. The canal did more than draw people to Chicagou: it was an economic declaration of independence from Canada. From that point, a growing portion of the state's trade would be with the Mississippi River basin. The Canadian trade that had once been the Upper Country's raison d'être declined in relative importance.
The Assembly also embarked on a long quest to harmonize the different legal systems in the state. It took jurists more than twenty years to produce a code that was acceptable to all of the constituent countries. The basis was the Napoleonic Code Civil, with enough flexibility to allow for varying local customary law, as well as the pockets of the Upper Country that had used English Common Law. The code was propagated in the early 1860s, and it became the foundation for a new state judiciary. At this point, it can truly be said that the Upper Country was operating as a modern state. Canada loosened its last political controls over the Upper Country, leaving only a few symbolic connections; for example, a Canadian official was still on hand in Detroit to formally open each session of the Grand Assembly.
The consolidation of the state meant an end to the independence of the constituent countries. New Netherland accordingly severed all links with New Holland, so that its people could be citizens of the Upper Country alone. But in Sanduskey Country, the change was much more controversial. Sanduskey had originally been an English possession, but the political changes made this harder to keep up. In 1855 it voted to abolish the vestiges of its royalist government, replacing the viceroy with an elected deputy-governor. But the people the easternmost towns, called the Firelands, objected strongly. Their parents and grandparents had been diehard Loyalists, and they did not want to lose their connection to England. They split from Sanduskey to form a separate country and refused to approve the new law code. England refused to step in to the controversy, and so the Firelands found itself in the odd position of being a royalist territory without any Crown representative. It would have an anomalous status within the Upper Country for several decades.
8. Growth (1865-1899)
From this time the Upper Country began to experience economic changes to match these political changes. The late nineteenth century brought railroads, large-scale shipping, commercial farming, and industry to the Great Lakes. Indigenous people provided much of the labor, but they were not enough. Immigrants from other states and from Europe came to do the work that this revolution required.
The state's developing transport network made commercial farming possible. Many indigenous communities began to adopt European-style methods so that they could produce enough to sell. This brought men into the fields for the first time. Immigrant farmers had to contend with a bewildering system of land ownership, which combined large areas of communal village land with echoes of the seigneurial system inherited form Canada. Some reforms opened up limited tracts to private ownership, both to attract newcomers and to encourage productivity among local farmers. Agriculture, like all other aspects of Upper Country life, evolved as a mix of indigenous and European ways.
In the north, logging and mining finally replaced furs as the drivers of the economy. These industries, more than farming, relied on outside capital and local labor. Customary law held the companies in check and prevented them from exploiting the resources to the extent that they might have liked, but they still changed the face of the north. Hunters became wage laborers. Villages became half-empty for much of the year as men went away to work. Trading towns like Grand Portage and Fond-des-Lacs transformed into bustling, dirty port cities.
The mines were a root cause of the Upper Country's last war. To the northwest of Lake Superior lay the rich iron range of Mesabi. The Mesabi mines employed many local Anishinaabe men, but they had also attracted a large English immigrant population. This was because, while the border was fuzzy, Mesabi was under the control of the English colony of Assiniboia, part of the greater region of Rupertsland. In 1893, the largely French-speaking people of Assiniboia revolted and became a state of the ASB. Five years later, the young state voted to separate from England entirely and become a republic. This alarmed the English people of Mesabi. They staged their own revolt and asked to become a constituent of the Upper Country. Assiniboia and the Upper Country came to blows over this, but ultimately the confederal government sided against Assiniboia.
The state's developing transport network made commercial farming possible. Many indigenous communities began to adopt European-style methods so that they could produce enough to sell. This brought men into the fields for the first time. Immigrant farmers had to contend with a bewildering system of land ownership, which combined large areas of communal village land with echoes of the seigneurial system inherited form Canada. Some reforms opened up limited tracts to private ownership, both to attract newcomers and to encourage productivity among local farmers. Agriculture, like all other aspects of Upper Country life, evolved as a mix of indigenous and European ways.
In the north, logging and mining finally replaced furs as the drivers of the economy. These industries, more than farming, relied on outside capital and local labor. Customary law held the companies in check and prevented them from exploiting the resources to the extent that they might have liked, but they still changed the face of the north. Hunters became wage laborers. Villages became half-empty for much of the year as men went away to work. Trading towns like Grand Portage and Fond-des-Lacs transformed into bustling, dirty port cities.
The mines were a root cause of the Upper Country's last war. To the northwest of Lake Superior lay the rich iron range of Mesabi. The Mesabi mines employed many local Anishinaabe men, but they had also attracted a large English immigrant population. This was because, while the border was fuzzy, Mesabi was under the control of the English colony of Assiniboia, part of the greater region of Rupertsland. In 1893, the largely French-speaking people of Assiniboia revolted and became a state of the ASB. Five years later, the young state voted to separate from England entirely and become a republic. This alarmed the English people of Mesabi. They staged their own revolt and asked to become a constituent of the Upper Country. Assiniboia and the Upper Country came to blows over this, but ultimately the confederal government sided against Assiniboia.
9. Binding the state together (1899-1970)
The twentieth century turned in an atmosphere of growing pride in the Upper Country. News reports of the course of the Mesabi War, culminating in the "victory" handed down by the confederal Parliament, caused many citizens to look beyond their local areas for the first time and identify with the wider state. An outpouring of creative works can be seen in this era celebrating the Great Lakes - their beauty, peoples, and folklore. The poem Song of Manabozho had been written earlier by a Yankee who had spent some time on Lake Erie and learned a little about Anishinaabe folklore. Now, translated, it became more widely read and came generally to be considered the Upper Country's national epic.
By now railroads crisscrossed the state, linking the farming lands with the growing industrial centers and the lakeside ports. The Upper Country had become an economic powerhouse, no longer the colonial backwater it had been just a generation or two earlier. But urbanization caused concern. The village, and the extended family network that it represented, was seen as the bedrock of society. People feared the isolation of individuals and nuclear families that city life could foster. Most city families maintained links with the old home village and made an effort to visit from time to time, something still typical today.
The early twentieth century was also an age of centralization in the state. The constituent countries surrendered their power progressively and quickly. By the 1930s they were little more than administrative units. The Firelands finally agreed to stop pretending to be an English dominion and consented to reunification with Sanduskey.
By now railroads crisscrossed the state, linking the farming lands with the growing industrial centers and the lakeside ports. The Upper Country had become an economic powerhouse, no longer the colonial backwater it had been just a generation or two earlier. But urbanization caused concern. The village, and the extended family network that it represented, was seen as the bedrock of society. People feared the isolation of individuals and nuclear families that city life could foster. Most city families maintained links with the old home village and made an effort to visit from time to time, something still typical today.
The early twentieth century was also an age of centralization in the state. The constituent countries surrendered their power progressively and quickly. By the 1930s they were little more than administrative units. The Firelands finally agreed to stop pretending to be an English dominion and consented to reunification with Sanduskey.
10. The Upper Country in a shrinking world (1970-present)
Beginning in the 1970s, this trend began to reverse itself. A series of Devolution Acts restored some authority and fiscal independence to the separate Countries. Concurrent with this was a revived interest in the particular cultures of the different parts of the state. An indigenous literature has blossomed as people desired to tell their own stories in their own languages. Other writers explored the meaning of the blending of the European and the Indian that characterizes many Upper Country communities. Traditional festivals that had been losing energy were revived with the help of folklorists and artists.
Ongoing issues in the Upper Country center around a transitioning economy. Industry, especially in the smaller cities, is on the decline, and some of the mines are no longer productive. Farming, too, employs less people as agriculture becomes even more mechanized. This has served to sharpen the age-old disparity between the chief cities and the countryside. A strong agrarian Green movement has attempted to address some of these concerns. And of course, the Upper Country grapples with the same question faced by people everywhere: how to adjust to a changing world without losing sight of who they are.
Ongoing issues in the Upper Country center around a transitioning economy. Industry, especially in the smaller cities, is on the decline, and some of the mines are no longer productive. Farming, too, employs less people as agriculture becomes even more mechanized. This has served to sharpen the age-old disparity between the chief cities and the countryside. A strong agrarian Green movement has attempted to address some of these concerns. And of course, the Upper Country grapples with the same question faced by people everywhere: how to adjust to a changing world without losing sight of who they are.
Languages
Christmas in the Upper Country
The Upper Country was heavily influenced by Canada, so its religious culture can be compared to our timeline's Quebec. The Catholic Church is very prominent in the social fabric of the state. So the religious celebration of Christmas is a very public event. Even people who have never been very religious will often go to mass on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and/or Twelfth Night (Epiphany).
Historically, the holiday was celebrated with a large community dance on Christmas Eve just after mass, a tradition that seamlessly merged Indian and rural French folk dance customs. The Christmas Eve celebration was the highlight of the winter season and, indeed, one of the most exciting events of the year in many old villages of the Upper Country. The tradition survives in several villages today, especially those that are both old and small. St. Ignace hosts the most famous of these folk events sung in French; Chequamegon hosts the most famous one in an indigenous language. In the big cities the tradition morphed into a festival lasting a week or more with lots of food and music, mainly modern pop but with some nods to tradition. The biggest single Christmas festival is in Detroit, the capital, a pretty big-budget affair that is opened by the Governor and draws acts from around the world. In Chicagou, individual neighborhoods hold separate festivals on different days in December and January. These are a way for the diverse neighborhoods of the city to show off their uniqueness and compete with one another.
Backtracking a bit, St. Nicholas' Day is also celebrated in the Upper Country, thanks to the Dutch influence since the early 19th century. Every year Sinterklaas and his boat sail into New Leiden in a pageant that parallels the ones held in both old and New Amsterdam. Saint Nicholas is accompanied not by Zwarte Piet, but by a pair of tiny mischievous tricksters derived from native folklore. The tradition spread well beyond the area of Dutch settlement, and children throughout the Upper Country have left their shoes or stockings out for St. Nick since at least the 1870s or so.
Historically, the holiday was celebrated with a large community dance on Christmas Eve just after mass, a tradition that seamlessly merged Indian and rural French folk dance customs. The Christmas Eve celebration was the highlight of the winter season and, indeed, one of the most exciting events of the year in many old villages of the Upper Country. The tradition survives in several villages today, especially those that are both old and small. St. Ignace hosts the most famous of these folk events sung in French; Chequamegon hosts the most famous one in an indigenous language. In the big cities the tradition morphed into a festival lasting a week or more with lots of food and music, mainly modern pop but with some nods to tradition. The biggest single Christmas festival is in Detroit, the capital, a pretty big-budget affair that is opened by the Governor and draws acts from around the world. In Chicagou, individual neighborhoods hold separate festivals on different days in December and January. These are a way for the diverse neighborhoods of the city to show off their uniqueness and compete with one another.
Backtracking a bit, St. Nicholas' Day is also celebrated in the Upper Country, thanks to the Dutch influence since the early 19th century. Every year Sinterklaas and his boat sail into New Leiden in a pageant that parallels the ones held in both old and New Amsterdam. Saint Nicholas is accompanied not by Zwarte Piet, but by a pair of tiny mischievous tricksters derived from native folklore. The tradition spread well beyond the area of Dutch settlement, and children throughout the Upper Country have left their shoes or stockings out for St. Nick since at least the 1870s or so.
On the Lakes' Maritime Tradition
"For in their interflowing aggregate, those grand fresh-water seas of ours,—Erie, and Ontario, and Huron, and Superior, and Michigan,—possess an ocean-like expansiveness, with many of the ocean's noblest traits; with many of its rimmed varieties of races and of climes. They contain round archipelagoes of romantic isles, even as the Polynesian waters do; ... they furnish long maritime approaches to our numerous territorial colonies from the East, dotted all round their banks; here and there are frowned upon by batteries, and by the goat-like craggy guns of lofty Mackinaw; they have heard the fleet thunderings of naval victories; at intervals, they yield their beaches to wild barbarians, whose red painted faces flash from out their peltry wigwams; for leagues and leagues are flanked by ancient and unentered forests, where the gaunt pines stand like serried lines of kings in Gothic genealogies; those same woods harboring wild Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose exported furs give robes to Tartar Emperors; they mirror the paved capitals of Buffalo and Cleveland, as well as Winnebago villages; they float alike the full-rigged merchant ship, the armed cruiser of the State, the steamer, and the beech canoe; they are swept by Borean and dismasting blasts as direful as any that lash the salted wave; they know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, they have drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew. "
- Herman Melville