Menominee Area

This was the home of the Menominee Indians. Nicolet, the French explorer, visited them in 1634 on his futile search for Cathay. Conflict over fishing rights brought on the Sturgeon War here between the Menominee and Chippewa tribes. During the 1700s this became a center of the fur trade. Until 1910 when the forests were cut Menominee was the Upper Peninsula's main lumber port. Its timber helped rebuild Chicago after the 1871 fire.

Plaque via Michigan History Center