Episodios

  • Fort Brady - Soldiers in the Snow

    Fort Brady - Soldiers in the Snow
    Oct 28 2025
    Explore the captivating story of Fort Brady, Michigan, from 1900 to 1941. This video looks at the historic U.S. Army fort in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where soldiers guarded the Soo Locks and endured brutal winters. You’ll see vintage photographs of troops clearing deep snow, playing baseball on the parade field, and marching to a military band.

    Fort Brady was built to protect American territory, but life at the post included everyday friendships and pastimes. Learn how the fort grew in the early 1900s with new barracks and officers’ houses that hosted summer training camps, and even had its own Women’s Army Corps barracks in the 1930s.

    Cold-weather training was a big part of Fort Brady’s mission. In World War II, 15,000 troops were stationed here to practice arctic warfare. Weaves together archival stories about military life, recreation, and the challenges of Michigan winters.

    A production of Thumbwind Publications
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    7 m
  • Pontiac’s War – The Fire That Swept the Great Lakes

    Pontiac’s War – The Fire That Swept the Great Lakes
    Oct 12 2025
    In 1763, the Great Lakes erupted in rebellion. The war between Britain and France had ended, but peace never reached the frontier. When British officers replaced French traders at forts like Detroit and Michilimackinac, Indigenous nations faced an empire that dismissed their alliances and restricted their trade.

    The result was a sweeping uprising led by an Odawa war chief named Pontiac — a conflict that reshaped both Michigan and North America. This ten-minute episode of End of the Road in Michigan takes listeners to the forests and rivers where Pontiac’s alliance struck back against British control. From the five-month siege of Detroit to the daring lacrosse ruse that captured Fort Michilimackinac, the story reveals how the Indigenous nations of the Great Lakes forced the world’s most powerful army to change course.

    This episode explores the war’s origins in Neolin’s spiritual movement, the shocking use of smallpox as a weapon at Fort Pitt, and the human cost that rippled across the frontier. It ends with the Royal Proclamation of 1763 — Britain’s attempt to contain the unrest by recognizing Native land rights west of the Appalachians. Pontiac’s War – The Fire That Swept the Great Lakes is more than a story of rebellion; it’s a story of resilience, diplomacy, and the enduring will of the Great Lakes nations to protect their homelands. Key segments include:
    • The Delaware Prophet Neolin and the vision that inspired unity.
    • Pontiac’s council near Detroit and the start of the 1763 siege.
    • The capture of Fort Michilimackinac through a staged lacrosse game.
    • The British counterattack at the Battle of Bushy Run.
    • The Royal Proclamation of 1763 and its impact on Michigan.
    • The legacy of Pontiac’s leadership and the enduring lessons of the uprising.
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    13 m
  • The Curse of the Schooner Augusta, The Pariah of the Great Lakes

    The Curse of the Schooner Augusta, The Pariah of the Great Lakes
    Aug 18 2025
    On September 8, 1860, the sidewheel steamer Lady Elgin collided with the schooner Augusta off Winnetka, Illinois, sending more than 300 passengers into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan. While the disaster became one of the deadliest shipwrecks in Great Lakes history, much of the blame focused on the Augusta.

    Branded reckless, cursed, and unlucky, the schooner soon earned a reputation as a pariah of the inland seas.

    This episode of End of the Road in Michigan traces the tangled story of the Augusta—its role in the tragedy, the bitter legal battles that followed, and the dark superstitions that dogged the vessel until its end. Was the Augusta truly cursed, or simply a scapegoat in the wake of unimaginable loss?
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    7 m
  • Inside Spikehorn Meyers’ Wild Bear Camp in Harrison, Michigan

    Inside Spikehorn Meyers’ Wild Bear Camp in Harrison, Michigan
    Aug 16 2025
    The Bear Man of Harrison, Michigan

    In the 1930s and 1940s, motorists driving through Harrison, Michigan, often stopped at a roadside attraction unlike any other: Spikehorn Meyers’ Bear Den. Here, an eccentric old woodsman dressed in buckskin invited families to feed, pet, and even shake hands with live black bears. For nearly three decades, John “Spikehorn” Meyer turned his rustic camp into a legendary stop along US-27.

    Visitors gasped as bears sipped soda from glass bottles and nibbled popcorn from their hands. Spikehorn became both a beloved folk hero and a thorn in the side of state conservation officers, proudly displaying a sign that read, “Feed Conservation Officers to the Bears.”

    In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we revisit the life of Spikehorn Meyers, his colorful partnership with “Chief Red Eagle,” and the unforgettable stories of the Bear Den. It’s a tale of showmanship, danger, humor, and the unique roadside history that shaped small towns across Michigan.
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    9 m
  • Beaver Island, Michigan – Kingdom, Fishermen, and the Fight to Survive

    Beaver Island, Michigan – Kingdom, Fishermen, and the Fight to Survive
    Aug 15 2025
    In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we journey to Beaver Island — the largest island in Lake Michigan and the only place in America that once had a king. From 1848 to 1856, James Jesse Strang ruled here as a self-proclaimed monarch, building roads, homes, and a newspaper before his dramatic assassination at the St. James docks.

    We explore the Irish fishing community that reclaimed the island, the rise and fall of its Great Lakes fishing dominance, and the daring rescues of lighthouse keepers and the U.S. Coast Guard.

    The story continues with the roar of logging trains through the forests, the quiet service of “Dr.” Feodor Protar, and the hard years when the population dwindled to fewer than 200 residents. This is a story of isolation, industry, and community spirit, told through the photographs and voices of history.
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    12 m
  • Quincy Mine: Old Reliable’s Rise, Innovation, and Strife (1890s–1945)

    Quincy Mine: Old Reliable’s Rise, Innovation, and Strife (1890s–1945)
    Aug 12 2025
    In the early 1900s, Hancock’s Quincy Mine—nicknamed Old Reliable—was one of America’s most productive copper mines. It reached over a mile underground, ran the world’s largest steam hoist, and fueled Michigan’s Copper Country economy for decades.

    But the work was grueling, the hours long, and tensions boiled over in the 1913 strike—culminating in the Italian Hall disaster, one of the darkest days in Michigan’s labor history.

    In this End of the Road in Michigan episode, we uncover the full story: the rise, the innovation, and the strife that shaped the Quincy Mine and the community around it.

    Listen now and step back into a world where copper was king—and the cost of progress was paid in human lives.

    #QuincyMine #MichiganHistory #CopperCountry #EndOfTheRoadInMichigan
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    8 m
  • Saugatuck in the Early 1900s: Chicago’s Lakeshore Vacationland

    Saugatuck in the Early 1900s: Chicago’s Lakeshore Vacationland
    Aug 6 2025
    In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we take you back to the early 1900s, when Saugatuck transformed from a quiet lumber town into a vibrant summer retreat for Chicago’s city dwellers. You’ll hear how steamships, interurban trains, and hand-cranked ferries brought thousands to this lakeshore village.

    We revisit the days of the Big Pavilion, where electric lights lit up the harbor and music echoed across the water, and follow vacationers over Mt. Baldhead to the soft sands of Oval Beach.

    This episode also explores Saugatuck’s artistic legacy, with the founding of the Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting, and uncovers local stories — including Prohibition-era intrigue and the town’s growing reputation as a welcoming, creative community.

    It’s a story of reinvention, leisure, and the rhythms of summer that still echo today.
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    7 m
  • North Adams, Michigan: From Legendary Strength to Early 20th-Century Progress

    North Adams, Michigan: From Legendary Strength to Early 20th-Century Progress
    Aug 6 2025
    This episode traces North Adams, a Hillsdale County village that grew up along the rails and wired itself for the future. We open with the town’s most retold story—blacksmith Henry Taylor, a former slave who became a respected tradesman and was said to carry his anvil and once walk off with a potbelly stove. From there, we move down Main Street to Maccabee Hall, Barden’s Hotel, and C. J. Knapp’s store, then over to the 1912 Municipal Lighting Plant that brought electric light to homes and storefronts.

    We also cover a tough year: April 23, 1927, when sparks from a chimney ruined the village school. Classes shifted to Town Hall, the Odd Fellows hall, and the Congregational Church while a new building was planned. A 1927 newspaper snapshot rounds out daily life—about 500 residents, three churches, a 12-grade school on the University of Michigan list, a library of 900 books, and a full block of shops and services.
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    6 m
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