RURAL MICHIGAN 



CHAPTER I 



THE PHYSICAL AND CLIMATIC SETTING OF 

 MICHIC4AN 



Michigan is the land of the "great water," as the 

 Algonquin origin of the name testifies. It is the 

 State of the Great Lakes, lying in the grasp of the 

 largest fresh-water hodies on the glohe. 



It is one of the five states formed out of the Old 

 Northwest territory in accordance with the Or- 

 dinance of 1787. It is the northeastern memher of 

 this group. Ontario, Canada, it has to the eastward 

 and northward, Ohio and Indiana to the southward 

 of the Lower Peninsula, and Wisconsin to the south- 

 ward of the Upper Peninsula. 



The most southerly point of the State is the in- 

 tersection of the boundary lines of Michigan, Ohio 

 and Indiana, and is officially determined to be north 

 latitude 41 degrees, 41 minutes, 4G.20 seconds, where 

 stands the boundary stone. The most Tiortherly reach 

 of the mainland is some 400 miles, where Keweenaw 

 Point touches latitude 47 degrees, 28 minutes, 75 



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