Michigan Territory Militia

Colonial and pre-Territorial militias

Main article: Colonial militia in Canada, Militia (United States)

In the French colonial period, a proposal was made in 1708 to organize the first Michigan militia at Fort Detroit which is referenced in the Cadillac Papers. Following the defeat of the French regime, Michigan militias were also organized during British colonial occupation prior to the arrival of the Americans.

The earliest evidence of a formally organized American-style militia in pre-Territorial Michigan can be traced back to a militia unit participating in a Detroit parade on May 11, 1803. Michigan Territory was organized on June 30, 1805.

File:Milice canadienne francaise 1759 - Mary Elizabeth Bonham.jpg|Pre-Territorial Michigan militias began in the 18th century with the formation of French Canadien civilians to help defend French colonialsettlements such as Fort Detroit which continued into the British colonial period File:Coureur de bois.jpg|Pre-Territorial Michigan militias also consisted of French Canadien frontiersman known as coureur de bois who lived with and in the fur trade of the Native Americans in the Great Lakes region which continued into the British colonial period

Territorial Militia

The official organization of the Michigan Territory in 1805 also included language that allowed for the creation of a militia.

War of 1812

The Michigan Territory Militia existed only on paper until the War of 1812.

Black Hawk War

Creation of Michigan State Militia

Main article: Michigan Army National Guard

Michigan Territory boundaries from 1805-1837

File:Michigan-territory-1805-1818.png|From 1805 to 1818, the western border was a line through Lake Michigan. File:Michigan-territory-1830-blue.png|Between 1818 and 1833, Illinois and Indiana became states and the unincorporated land from their territories, plus a handful of other townships, was made part of Michigan Territory. File:Michigan-territory-1834-blue.png|Between 1833 and 1836, all the remnants of the old Northwest Territory were part of the Michigan Territory along with portions of the Louisiana Purchase. File:Michigan-territory-1836.png|Michigan shrank in 1836 with the creation of the Wisconsin Territory. Wisconsin Territory was established in 1836 with the present boundary in the Upper Peninsula.

References

• Au, Dennis M. "BEST TROOPS IN THE WORLD": THE MICHIGAN TERRITORIAL MILITIA IN THE DETROIT RIVER THEATER DURING THE WAR OF 1812", GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Selected Papers From The 1991 And 1992 George Rogers Clark Trans-Appalachian Frontier History Conferences, Center for French Colonial Studies, U.S. National Park Service. U.S. National Park Service, 1992.
• Rosentreter, Roger. Michigan's Early Military Forces: A Roster and History of Troops Activated Prior to the American Civil War. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2003.

References

1. "[http://www.michigan.gov/dmva/0,1607,7-126-2360_3003_3009-8265--,00.html Michigan's Early Organized Militias]", ''[[Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs]]'', michigan.gov, accessed May 24, 2009.