Michigan: The Great Lakes State Quiz

Answer: Big Water

The first documented contact with the Objibwe by the French was in 1640. Part of the loose confederation of three Algonquian nations, along with the Odawa and the Pottawatomi, the Ojibwe controlled most of the northern part of what is now Michigan when the French began exploring the area in the 1600s.

Their word "Mishigami" came to be applied to the peninsula surrounded by the Great Lakes.

Answer: Lake Ontario

Michigan is bordered by Lake Superior to the north, Lake Michigan to the west, and Lakes Huron and Erie to the east. Lake Ontario is further east than Lake Erie, and borders the state of New York.

Answer: St. Marys River

The St. Marys River runs from Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior to the North Channel of Lake Huron and separates the cities of Sault Saint Marie, Michigan and Sault Saint Marie, Ontario. The Sault Saint Marie International Bridge, opened in 1962, spans the river and connects the two cities.

Answer: Lake St. Clair

Lake St. Clair lies between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, connecting the two larger bodies of water via the St. Clair River in the north and the Detroit River in the south.

Answer: Mackinac Island

The French founded a mission on the island in 1670, and Mackinac Island became a stop on the fur trade route from western Michigan. The British built Fort Mackinac on the island in 1780, and the Americans took control of the fort in 1794. There were two minor battles fought on the island during the war of 1812.

The island became a tourist attraction in the late 1800s, and all motor vehicles except emergency units were banned by 1900.

Answer: Sleeping Bear Dunes

Named after an Objibwe legend about a mother bear and her two cubs, Sleeping Bear Dunes is a stretch of sand dunes, beaches, and forest along the northwest shore of the Lower Peninsula along Lake Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties. The park was named as "the most beautiful place in America" by the television program "Good Morning America" in 2011.

Answer: Mt. Arvon

Mt. Arvon, located in the Huron Mountains in the northwest part of the Upper Peninsula, is the highest point in Michigan at an elevation of 1,979 feet.

Answer: Lake Superior

Isle Royale was the site of copper mines used by the Native Americans before the coming of Europeans. There were mining operations on the island into the late 19th century, but the mines were never very productive. The island was designated as a National Park in 1940.

Answer: Around 150

The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822, making water travel safer for the growing number of freighters and passenger ships plying the Great Lakes. White Shoal light, located near the Mackinac Bridge in Lake Michigan, is the tallest lighthouse in Michigan at 121 feet. The oldest lighthouse in Michigan is Fort Gratiot light, built near Port Huron in 1825.

Answer: Straits of Mackinac

The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan with Lake Huron, and separates Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. It is spanned by the Mackinac Bridge, which was opened in 1957.