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Between 1830 and 1840
Michigan grew faster
than any other state or territory.

The Erie Canal and the lure of cheap land brought thousands of pioneers west to Michigan. The first homes the settlers built were log cabins such as the M. A. Coburn Cabin in Locke Township, Ingham County. This photograph, seen in the exhibit, was made from an 1868 tintype in the collections of the State Archives of Michigan.

A territory since 1805, Michigan became a state in 1837. Stevens T. Mason was the first governor of Michigan.

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"Settling a State" provides a minitour of the museum's Statehood and Settlement galleries. Continue your tour to see artifacts and pictures from the galleries: Pioneers Plank Roads The Toledo War The Boy Governor

Click on the log cabin to return to this page.

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Go to Kids' Stuff or Teachers' Stuff
activities for "Settling a State."