OT: Is Michigan the Wolverine State or the Great Lakes State?

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September 11th, 2012 at 5:48 PM
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husker4life
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OT: Is Michigan the Wolverine State or the Great Lakes State?

My 16 year old cousin and I are very close and in reality she's basically like a sister to me. She was given this fun quiz by her humanities teacher about state nicknames such a Illinois, "Land of Lincon" state, Maine "The Pine Tree state" etc. She always thought Michigan was the Wolverine state which is what I thought but it turns out the accepted nickname is the Great Lakes state?  Where did the Wolverine State orginiate from? I don't listen to wikipedia anymore so I'd rather hear it from a source who lives there.

Daughter of a Husker, daughter of Nebraska. Nuff said :)

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September 11th, 2012 at 5:51 PM | I used to listen to Wikipedia (Score:5 Normal)
jabberwock
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but then they got popular.

/hipstered

Love & Hate are horns on the same goat.

September 11th, 2012 at 9:02 PM | Yeah, I only like the old (Score:3 Normal)
Bobby Digital
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Yeah, I only like the old stuff.

September 11th, 2012 at 5:52 PM | Probably from a Michigan (Score:4 Normal)
robbyt003
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Probably from a Michigan Wolverines fan

“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” - Bo Schembechler

September 11th, 2012 at 8:34 PM | What is your 16 year old (Score:-1 Flamebait)
September 11th, 2012 at 10:04 PM | Sorry, I dont have a sister. (Score:5 Normal)
robbyt003
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Sorry, I dont have a sister.  Just a 26 year old brother and I really don't think he cares about the backstory.  

“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” - Bo Schembechler

September 11th, 2012 at 5:53 PM | Well.... (Score:5 Normal)
LSAClassOf2000
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There is an old story going back to the Toledo War that, in the 10-minute conflict, Ohioans described Michiganians to be "as bloodthirsty as wolverines", hence "The Wolverine State". In more recent times, however, it has been "The Great Lakes State". That's my understanding. 

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September 12th, 2012 at 10:31 AM | I had thought the expression (Score:2 Normal)
08mms
Joined: 07/02/2009
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I had thought the expression came from Custer in the Civil War. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Brigade).  Also, I remember an very old timer at a Michigan game telling me that it once was tradition for all of the students to wear black hats to games in honor of the Michigan brigade (which should totally be brought back).

September 13th, 2012 at 9:53 AM | Michiganians? (Score:2)
mark5750
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This is another one that is of contention.  I grew up with it being Michiganders and never heard the term Michiganian until the History Channel started their history of states type shows.  How long has this name been around?  I am from southwest Michigan so is it regional to the state?

September 11th, 2012 at 5:53 PM | We were the Wolverine State (Score:5 Interesting)
snarling wolverine
Joined: 12/14/2011
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We were the Wolverine State first.  "Great Lakes State" is what the MSU lobby has been pushing in recent years.

September 12th, 2012 at 12:09 PM | looks like a controversy (Score:2 Informative)
markinmsp
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 Looks like we have a true controversy. I had always thought officially we were the Wolverine state and Great Lake State was just a marketing tag like Water Winter Wonderland, etc.

 Actually MSU textbooks list us as Wolverine State. Had helped a niece with some course work she has at MSU. (I know, poor kid, we all feel sorry for her. But she got a full ride, and she is still “blue” on the inside.) It was an upper level geography class with the textbook online:

GEO 333 - Geography of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region (link )

Other facts
Statehood: Jan. 26, 1837, the 26th state.
State abbreviations: Mich. (traditional); MI (postal).
State capital: Lansing, Michigan's capital since 1847. Detroit served as capital from 1837 to 1847.
State motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice (If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you).
Popular name: The Wolverine State.
State song (unofficial): "Michigan, My Michigan." Words by Douglas M. Malloch.

However, State of Michigan (in the Michigan State Facts section) officially lists itself as “Great Lake State” first:

 

Michigan.gov – Official web site for the sate of Michigan – States the opposite.

Michigan's State Facts ( link )

·  The name Michigan is derived from the Indian words "Michi-gama" meaning large lake.

·  The State Nickname is the "Great Lake State." Others include "Wolverine State" or "Water Winter Wonderland."

 In summation, we have a lot of facts but no real conclusion. I guess we really don’t know what we are.  /s

(Also the GEO333 text has some interesting and humorous items though understandably most look at wolverines fairly derogatorily in “Why are we supposed to be wolverines?”. link )

                                          

September 11th, 2012 at 5:56 PM | Shamelessly copy/pasted from (Score:5 Normal)
david from wyoming
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Shamelessly copy/pasted from the DNR's website.

Michigan has long had an unofficial nickname: "The Wolverine State." However, evidence seems to show that wolverines in Michigan would have been rare. We don't know exactly how the state got the nickname, but two stories attempt to explain it.

Some people believe that Ohioans gave Michigan the nickname around 1835 during a dispute over the Toledo strip, a piece of land along the border between Ohio and Michigan. Rumors in Ohio at the time described Michiganians as being as vicious and bloodthirsty as wolverines. This dispute became known as the Toledo War.

Another reason given for the nickname is a story that has Native Americans, during the 1830s, comparing Michigan settlers to wolverines. Some native people, according to this story, disliked the way settlers were taking the land because it made them think of how the gluttonous wolverine went after its food.

Another nickname for Michigan is the "Great Lake State." Michigan's shores touch four of the five Great Lakes, and Michigan has more than 11,000 inland lakes. In Michigan, you are never more than six miles from an inland lake or more than 85 miles from a Great Lake. From 1969 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1983, Michigan's automobile license plates featured the legend, GREAT LAKE STATE.

Some references to Michigan during the early 20th century also called the state "The Peninsula State."

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-54463_54466_20829-54118--,00.ht...

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September 11th, 2012 at 6:33 PM | We have literally twice as (Score:5 Normal)
WolvinLA2
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We have literally twice as many peninsulas as Florida.

September 11th, 2012 at 7:50 PM | Actually, believe it or not, (Score:3 Normal)
Clarence Beeks
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Actually, believe it or not, it's way more than that. Something like 8 to 3, in favor of Michigan.

September 11th, 2012 at 8:18 PM | We're (Score:5 Normal)
Hardware Sushi
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We're clearly talking big peeninsulas here, Beeks. We don't count little peens.

Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast.

September 11th, 2012 at 8:36 PM | You have to count those (Score:3 Normal)
Dominick's_Lunch
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You have to count those sub-peninsulas. But Florida does look like a Wang peeing on Cuba. So they got that.

September 11th, 2012 at 11:41 PM | But they kick our ass... (Score:3 Normal)
wolpherine2000
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...on panhandles.

As a matter of fact I like beer.

September 12th, 2012 at 1:27 AM | Ha. Take that urban Meyer! (Score:2)
willywill9
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Ha. Take that urban Meyer!

Touchdown Michigan!

September 12th, 2012 at 9:23 AM | Saw a T-shirt that was blue (Score:3 Normal)
Baldbill
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Saw a T-shirt that was blue and yellow that had an outline of Florida and it said "The Southern Peninsula"

Semper Fidelis

September 12th, 2012 at 1:01 AM | Four out of Five Great Lakes (Score:5 Normal)
mikoyan
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Four out of Five Great Lakes want nothing to do with Ohio

September 11th, 2012 at 6:00 PM | I'd say both and you can (Score:5 Normal)
snoopblue
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I'd say both and you can choose given the context of the situation. It's definitely not the Spartan State. =)

September 11th, 2012 at 6:06 PM | Great Lakes State since we (Score:-1 Trolling)
September 11th, 2012 at 6:11 PM | I always thought the Great (Score:2)
Elmer
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I always thought the Great Lake State, especially since it was plastered on every license plate.  When I was a little kid the plates said "Winter Wonderland."

September 11th, 2012 at 10:58 PM | Water - Winter Wonderland (Score:1)
Section 1
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[Edit.- Oops; see license plate tour below...]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 12th, 2012 at 8:56 AM | That was the first LP I can remember (Score:1)
uminks
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I remember 66-68 plates saying "Winter Wonderland"!

It was Wolverine State at the time we were called Michiganders!

Ever since we've been called Michiganians it has been called the Great Lake State!

What's on the Michigan License Plates now a days?

The best plates were the Bicentennial Plates '75-80! In '78, my first junk car had these Bicentennial plates.

Are there any neat alum plates for U of M?

expect the best

September 12th, 2012 at 12:56 PM | For me (Score:1)
msoccer10
Joined: 08/29/2008
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we'll always be Michiganders

September 11th, 2012 at 6:11 PM | In response to the OP's subject header question: (Score:4 Normal)
Voltron Blue
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Yes.

September 11th, 2012 at 6:14 PM | All I know is that when George (Score:5 Normal)
M Fanfare
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All I know is that when George Armstrong Custer led the Michigan Cavalry against a Confederate cavalry force on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, he yelled "Come on, you Wolverines!"

Hail to the college whose colors we wear,

Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue!

September 11th, 2012 at 6:18 PM | I was taught in elementary (Score:2 Normal)
emozilla
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I was taught in elementary school that we're the Wolverine state. The only time I've heard us called anything else is by Kirk Heirbstreet in NCAA 13... so... yeah.

September 11th, 2012 at 6:18 PM | either one, as long as its (Score:2 Normal)
russale2012
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either one, as long as its not the spartan state.

It's been a lot. Its been a roller coaster that for some reason seemed like it would never get good. But you know what? We kept fighting. It's like that old saying goes, "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions." -David Molk

September 11th, 2012 at 6:25 PM | Since when do nick names have (Score:3 Normal)
bsand2053
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Since when do nick names have to make perfect sense?  Just because Michigan doesn't have Wolverines doesn't mean it can't be the Wolverine state.

September 11th, 2012 at 8:12 PM | We don't necessarily have no (Score:1)
UMxWolverines
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We don't necessarily have no wolverines, just very few.

"Ohio is like a giant turd that Michigan just can't pinch off"

September 11th, 2012 at 6:31 PM | If your name was "Buckeye for life" (Score:0 Trolling)
September 11th, 2012 at 6:46 PM | I always thought it was a (Score:2)
LSCrepair
Joined: 08/28/2009
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I always thought it was a civil war Michigan cavalry thing

I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers. -Mahatma Gandhi

September 11th, 2012 at 7:09 PM | Predates the Civil War (Score:3 Normal)
Alton
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The nickname of "Wolverine" for Michigan residents predates the Civil War by a quarter century or so, and probably even predates Michigan's statehood by a few years.  By the time the Civil War started, every existing state had a pretty well-established nickname, including the familiar Buckeyes, Hoosiers, Badgers and Tar Heels, but also including the currently unknown "Suckers" for residents of Illinois and "Pukes" for residents of Missouri.

September 11th, 2012 at 7:13 PM | Are you Alton Brown? (Score:5 Normal)
LSCrepair
Joined: 08/28/2009
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Are you Alton Brown?

I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers. -Mahatma Gandhi

September 11th, 2012 at 7:23 PM | Alton Brown? (Score:4 Normal)
Alton
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No. 

I found an article about the word Hoosier that includes a quote from a Boston newspaper dated September 1834 that refers to Michigan residents as "Wolverines":

http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/internet/extra/hoosier.html

Unfortunately it doesn't explain how the nickname attached itself to Michigan. 

September 11th, 2012 at 7:59 PM | I've been told it was (Score:2)
Corey
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I've been told it was attributed to Ohio residents referring to Michigan residents coveting Toledo.

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September 11th, 2012 at 11:40 PM | Common belief... (Score:1)
MgoRayO3313
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Although this is true to a certain extent, the nickname even predates statehood or the two years or so that we had to argue with the dummies down south about official boundaries. Unofficially the nickname was given to the seemingly stupid early residents who came to the territory. The territory was often advertised to those heading west as a dreadful place full of mosquitos and swamps. Those who were nuts enough to come to the desolate forested swamp were given the nickname do to their brash and gritty, backcountry toughness. Similar monikers are often associated with those who traveled and lived West
of the Mississippi during the first decades of the nineteenth century. Ex. Andrew Jackson and Tennessee.

“A Michigan man will coach Michigan.” - Bo Schembechler
September 12th, 2012 at 10:21 AM | Michigan residents did not (Score:2)
Baldbill
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Michigan residents did not covet Toledo. Ohio residents wanted that strip of land becuase it had the mouth of the Maumee River. The linking up of many river systems in Indiana in a canal system that ended with boat/goods coming out onto the Maumee River, then moving futhur up the Great Lakes and into New York. This was huge business, the state of Ohio wanted this land even though it was not inside of Ohio. As a state, they got the US government to redraw the lines so that it was. The residents of the time did not want to be part of Ohio, they were part of the Michigan territory. Ohio was the state that was coveting. They were the ones that wanted to have a "war" to get the territory, but Michiganders fought as hard as wolverines to keep it.

 

 

Semper Fidelis

September 11th, 2012 at 8:16 PM | This would have to be true (Score:1)
Blue in Seattle
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Since the University of Michigan predates the Civil War.

"That's all there is...there isn't anymore"

September 11th, 2012 at 9:22 PM | But the school did not field (Score:2)
snarling wolverine
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But the school did not field sports teams (and thus had no need for a nickname) until the 1870s or so.

 

September 11th, 2012 at 6:53 PM | I always liked Water Winter (Score:2)
mgovideo
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I always liked Water Winter Wonderland.

@mgovideo

September 11th, 2012 at 6:54 PM | Nope (Score:2 Normal)
TatuajeVI
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Michigan is "The Great Beer State"

September 11th, 2012 at 6:58 PM | The Superior State (Score:5 Normal)
MGoblu8
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The Superior State

September 11th, 2012 at 8:21 PM | YOOPER! (Score:5 Funny)
Hardware Sushi
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YOOPER! Just outed yourself, man.

Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast.

September 11th, 2012 at 8:41 PM | North Michigan is Best (Score:2)
mgovideo
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North Michigan is Best Michigan.

@mgovideo

September 11th, 2012 at 8:54 PM | Had he said Cloverland, (Score:2)
UMich87
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you'd have caught him for sure.

September 11th, 2012 at 7:01 PM | I prefer Michigan being (Score:3 Normal)
bacon1431
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I prefer Michigan being called "The Best State"

For a' that, an' a' that, 
Our toils obscure an' a' that, 
The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the gowd for a' that. 
September 11th, 2012 at 7:21 PM | THE BRAND (Score:1)
Asgardian
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The brand, the brand, the brand.  None of this "the...state" crap.  We are "Pure Michigan".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_pP_K6yiXM&list=PL499140826F007759&feature=plpp_play_all

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September 11th, 2012 at 8:09 PM | Before Pure Michigan (when I enrolled at U-M) (Score:1)
BlueDragon
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there was Great Lakes and Great Times up north.

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