The Michigan-Ohio War was a largely bloodless boundary dispute between Michigan Territory and Ohio from 1835 to 1836 over the Toledo Strip, a narrow piece of land that both claimed because of conflicting early maps. Congress ultimately settled the dispute by awarding Toledo to Ohio, while Michigan received most of the Upper Peninsula as compensation, allowing it to enter the Union as the 26th state in 1837. At the time, many Michiganders believed they had accepted the worse deal because the Upper Peninsula was remote and sparsely populated. That perception changed after major deposits of iron and copper were discovered in the region, helping fuel Michigan's economy for decades. Wisconsin had no say in the settlement because it did not yet exist as a territory, and much of the Upper Peninsula would likely have become part of Wisconsin had Congress not awarded it to Michigan. Toledo grew rapidly during the 19th and early 20th centuries as a Great Lakes port and a center for glassmaking, automobile parts, and heavy manufacturing. Like many industrial cities in the Midwest, however, it was hit hard after the 1950s by factory closures, automation, suburbanization, and the loss of manufacturing jobs. Its population peaked at nearly 384,000 in 1970 and has since fallen to around 265,000. #archaeohistories#