Up North
The autumn diorama features a log cabin and
evokes memories of hunting, fishing, boating and camping fun .
Michiganians seem to have an almost mystical feeling about water and the
north woods- that dark, mysterious, wonderful land that lies north of Clare.
Martha Bigelow, Director, 1971-1990
Bureau of Michigan History
 Up north can mean a quiet woods or a noisy beach, a posh resort or a rustic
cabin, fishing a secluded stream or sailing the open waters. The landscape,
climate, activities and slower pace of life provide a refreshing change from the
daily routine.
After World War II, Michigan's tourism industry grew and diversified as golf
and ski resorts joined cabins, campgrounds, boats, cottages and hunting camps.
Designer golf courses were built to attract tourists as well as local duffers.
The first such course was Boyne Highlands, designed by Robert Trent Jones in
1965.
Michigan boasts more than 36,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than
11,000 inland lakes. Between 1978 and 1985, the number of Michigan charter
fishing boats grew by 500%.
From the 1870s to the present, people who fish on the Au Sable River used
boats like the one in the center of the gallery. With their shallow draft and
narrow, pointed ends, they can be poled both forward and backward along the
winding river. This 22-foot Au Sable River boat was built in the winter of
1933-34 for the Reniger family of Lansing. They used it at their camp on the Au
Sable.
Thousands of hunters continued to come to
Michigan woodlands during the autumn to hunt white tail deer and game birds.
Summer fairs and harvest festivals, color tours and U-pick apples and pumpkins
celebrated Michigan's bounty.
Gasoline Shortages
The 1973 oil embargo created gasoline shortages throughout the nation. Many
Michiganians "stayed home"—traveling up north for their vacations.
During the 1974 shortages, Michiganians saw long lines and "odd" and
"even" days at the pumps, $3.00 gasoline purchase limits and Sundays
with no gas sales. Participants in the backpacking rage of the 1970s also headed
for Michigan's north woods. Others went to one of Michigan's 92 State
Parks and Recreation Areas that ranged in size from 32 to 58,000 acres (1979
data).
Bicycles needed no gasoline. In 1971, State Representative Dick Allen promoted
proposed bicycling legislation and bicycles as transportation with his first DALMAC
(Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinac) ride. Michigan's
first bicycle path, a 60-mile-route in Monroe, Oakland and Wayne counties, was
approved in 1974. State workers in Lansing held Ride Your Bike to Work days.
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