I was going to write some commentary about US News & World Report’s latest ranking US States that has Michigan as #46 of the 50 states. Then I read the writeup on Michigan & looked at the facts. It wasn’t easy for a lifelong cheerleader for Michigan like me, but it’s pretty clear that while we have an utterly incredible foundation that includes the manufacturing might that powered the rise of modern America, one of the strongest presence of major universities in the nation, more varied produce & farm products than any state but California, and a globally unique concentration of freshwater that gives us more shoreline than any state but Alaska, we’ve done a terrible job preserving what we have & investing in our future over the last several decades. I remain unshakeable in my feeling that there’s no place I’d rather live than right here, but I love this place enough to see that they have cause to rank our state near the bottom. What do you think?
Kevin’s photo captured my feeling about this ranking perfectly. He shares that he & his wife spent last weekend with good friends in Charlevoix for the Venetian Festival then headed to Mackinac Island for a couple nights, staying on their boat, consuming ice cream, and enjoying what the area provides. Follow Kevin on on Flickrย or atย Kevin Povenz Photosย for his latest!
Our air quality begins to dip across the majority of the state as we head into the mid-afternoon hours today, July 15th, 2026. By sunset tonight, nearly the entire state will see 150+ ฮผg/mยณ AQI concentration, which translates to very unhealthy on the air quality index. Overnight, those winds out of the northwest do not stop, bumping parts of our area into the hazardous to everyone category at 250.5-500 ฮผg/mยณ AQI concentration if recent short-term model trends are correct.
Dangerous air quality levels like these are rare, so please take your respiratory health very seriously. Smoke concerns mixed with the already excessive heat concerns both today and tomorrow will also be a factor for higher mortality rates amongst all age/health groups, per research collected by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). All data shown is for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
For sure follow Michigan Storm Chasers on Facebook and the MiStormChasers YouTube channel that often includes live reporting on Michigan weather events. You can also check out the smoke tag on Michigan in Pictures for a reminder of what last summer’s wildfire smoke was like.
The top pic from the Mackinac Bridge Authority webcam is a view looking north from Mackinaw City while the other is looking south across the Mighty Mac from St. Ignace.
Livestream from the Riviera Motel in Mackinaw City
Here’s what the webcam view looked like when I posted this…
Sheen captured the crystal blue of the ice with a bit of pastel sky thrown in on the Straits of Mackinac over the weekend. Head over to her Facebook page for the latest including a tasty shot of the mighty Mackinac Bridge with the same sky & for sure check out her websiteย for more work!
The USCG Cutter Mackinaw is on its journey to Chicago with 1,200 Christmas trees for families in need aboard & scheduled to arrive today (Friday, December 5th). If you’re in the Windy City, you can head over to the Chicago Christmas Ship for all the info on the ship, the Christmas tree distribution, and how you can support this cool project.
The 1868 peak in sail-powered ships on Lake Michigan also marked the year the 123-foot Rouse Simmons was launched from Milwaukeeโs shipyards. The ship was built by the firm of Allan, McClelland, and Company, one of Milwaukeeโs preeminent shipbuilding firms โฆIn the early 1870s, the Rouse Simmons joined the sizeable shipping fleet of wealthy lumber magnate and philanthropist Charles H. Hackley of Muskegon, hauling loads of lumber for Hackleyโs fleet from company mills to the various markets around the lake for roughly 20 years.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the popular German tradition of decorating an evergreen tree in the home was widely practiced, and it was not uncommon for a handful of lake schooners to make late-season runs from northern Michigan and Wisconsin loaded with thousands of Christmas trees for busy Chicago waterfront markets. Estimates of the number of Christmas schooners vary, but perhaps up to two dozen vessels in any season delivered evergreens to markets in Great Lakes states.
In Chicago, most vessels, including the Rouse Simmons, sold the trees directly from their berths along the Chicago Riverโs Clark Street docks. Electric lights were strung from the schoonerโs bow to stern, and customers were invited to board the ship to choose their trees. In addition to selling Christmas trees, many boat operators, including Schuenemann, made and sold wreaths, garlands, and other holiday decorations. Barbara Schuenemann and her three daughters (Elsie is pictured above) helped make and sell these items as part of the familyโs holiday trade.
You can read on for much more about Herman Schuenemannโs long career as โCaptain Santaโ which tragically came to an end on Friday, November 22, 1912 when the Rouse Simmons, heavily laden with 3,000โ5,000 Christmas trees filling its hold & deck, left the dock at Thompson, Michigan looking โlike a floating forest.โ Sadly, the Rouse Simmons sailed into a powerful winter storm on the lake that sent her and several other ships including the South Shore, Three Sisters, and Two Brothers to the bottom of Lake Michigan.
Here’s a photo of Elsie Schuenemann at the helm of the Rouse Simmons along with one of the offloading in Chicago. Also be sure to check out a great video on the wreck of the Rouse Simmons by Richie Bravo.
Be sure to read all the way to the end for a super cool song about this from Michigan’s own Mustard’s Retreat!
In 1715, the French founded the fortified community of Michilimackinac on the south side of the Straits of Mackinac in what is now Mackinaw City. Michilimackinac became an important center of the Great Lakes fur trade where thousands of Native Americans and French-Canadian voyageurs gathered at the post every summer, a pattern that was unchanged until the British took over the post. Lissa Edwards of Traverse Magazine details how the commandant of Fort Michilimackinac was invited to watch a game of baggatiway (lacrosse) between the Ojibwe and Sauk June day in 1763 writing (in part):
Under an unusually hot sun on a late spring day on the Straits of Mackinac, British Major George Etherington, commandant of Fort Michilimackinac, was suffering from an acute case of cultural blindness. And there was no excuse for it. Relaxed at the sidelines of a rousing game of baggatiway (similar to lacrosse) outside the fort, the major should have seen the danger signs in this Ojibwe versus Sauk contest of sweaty, half-naked bodies painted with white clay and charcoal.
…Though well armed, his garrison of 35 or so soldiers was vastly outnumbered by the hundreds of Indians encamped around it, there to exchange furs for waresโsteel tomahawks and knives includedโfrom French Canadian traders. That thereโd been a run on tomahawks of late didnโt seem to worry the major. And he was only irritated by warnings from the many French Canadians who lived at the fort that the Indians were planning an uprising. He threatened to have the next person who spread similar gossip locked up down at Fort Detroit. The unwitting Etherington had not yet heard that Fort Detroit was under siege, attacked several weeks before by a coalition of tribes led by Pontiac, the Odawa chief. Foreseeing that English domination spelled the end of his peopleโs lifestyle, Pontiac had just begun his famous rebellion.
…It happened in seconds. A frenzy of sweaty, painted bodies clamoring for the leather-wrapped chunk of wood that was the ball as it fell at the mouth of the open gate. The women opening their blankets and handing off knives and tomahawks to the athletes-turned-warriors. Shrieks, screams and blood. Etherington and his lieutenant, William Leslye, whisked off to the woodsโas the other fort officer and likely the only soldier armed that day, Lieutenant Jamet, was killed. The plan so carefully laid by Minweweh and Madjeckewiss, cohorts of Pontiac, was executed flawlessly. The attack and the events that followed were recorded in the painfully descriptive memoirs of Alexander Henry, whoโat the time of the attackโwas a young English fur trader staying at the fort. โGoing instantly to my window I saw a crowd of Indians within the fort furiously cutting down every Englishman they found,โ Henry wrote.
Joel noted Pontiac’s victory & that the British constructed the more serious Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island as a result of this when he posted this back in 2011. See more below & in his Colonial Michilimackinac gallery on Flickr and follow him there. You can also see his photos in the Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook and explore his archive on Smugmug.
One of Michigan’s annual traditions is the Mackinac Bridge Walk that takes place every year on Labor Day morning. The Mackinac Bridge Authority shares that there’s no fee or registration to participate, and you may start walking from either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace any time after the Governorโs party starts the walk at approximately 7am (from St Ignace). You can’t start after 11:30am, so arrive arrive early!
Margaret shared this photo back in 2016. See more in her Mackinac Bridge Walk 2016 gallery on Flickr & whatever you do, have an awesome holiday weekend!
The Chicago Yacht Club Race To Mackinac starts Friday morning (July 18). The Chicago to Mac is the longest annual freshwater sailing race in the world, spanning 333 statute miles from the start at the Chicago Yacht Club, up the western shore of Lake Michigan, passing under the Mackinac Bridge to finish at Mackinac Island. They explain that:
…the race’s unpredictable weather and shifting winds on Lake Michigan make it a supreme test of sailing skill, rivaling many offshore ocean races. What first began in 1898 with just five boats has now evolved into a world-class sporting event. The origins of the Race to Mackinac date back to 1898, when Joseph Myers designed two fin-keel sloops, Siren and Vanenna. These vessels sparked a competition between their owners, George Peate of Siren and W.R. Crawford of Vanenna, and after three races in June of 1898, Vanenna remained undefeated. This prompted the idea of a unique, challenging race โ one that would forever change the history of sailing.
“Pollutants across the state are expected to reach the very unhealthy to unhealthy range in northern locations, with ranges of unhealthy to (unhealthy for sensitive groups) further south,” according to the service. Wildfire smoke from Canada is pushing into Michigan from till Monday. Increased fine particulate levels reached the western portion of the Upper Peninsula on Saturday afternoon.
This zoomed in view of the live Mackinac Bridge webcam at the Riviera Motel shows how much the smoke from wildfires is impacting the view of the Bridge this morning in Mackinac City.
