How Razing Michigan Funded the Auto Industry
How Razing Michigan Funded the Auto Industry
Behind every world-changing auto industry are… billions and billions of trees. Or at least, that’s a large part of how Ford and General Motors came into existence.
✨ Want to support my work? Well, hey, thank you so much. You can learn more about how to keep this thing going at www.patreon.com/alexisdahl.
☕ Find this series valuable, but Patreon isn’t for you? You can also help keep this thing going at www.buymeacoffee.com/alexisdahl.
Find Me Elsewhere:
• On Instagram, I upload a lot of nature photos, plus science and adventure stories: https://www.instagram.com/alexis.writes
• Want to get semi-monthly e-mails about my latest videos, art sales, and other happenings? You can sign up here: https://www.alexisdahl.com/newsletter
• Want to work together or learn more about my work? Contact me at https://www.AlexisDahl.com.
• On Etsy, I sell original artwork and stickers: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlexisJDahl
• On Twitter, I occasionally share science news and the occasional thought: https://www.twitter.com/alexiswrites
Key Sources on Michigan’s pine forests, the historic logging industry, sustainable logging and forestry, the link between the lumber barons and the Detroit auto industry, and more:
Estivant Pines:
https://www.michigannature.org/fileLibrary/Estivant%20Pines%20Nature%20Sanctuary%20Fact%20Sheet%2Epdf
https://michigannature.iescentral.com/news/article/Estivant-Pines-A-Living-Museum.htmlMichigan
Logging History:
“When Pine was King” by Lewis C. Reimann
https://www.michiganradio.org/environment-science/2018-10-17/from-wilderness-to-wasteland-how-the-destruction-of-michigans-forests-shaped-our-state
https://project.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/whitepine-loggingII.html
https://project.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/loggingbackgrd.html
Michigan Forest History:
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/manual/2001-2002/2001-mm-0003-0026-History.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20210704204115/https://www.michigan.gov/documents/2-ForestHistory_165779_7.pdf
Sustainable Forestry:
https://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2015/2015/logging.html
https://www.ncforestry.org/education/education-materials/forest-management-basics
https://www.seattle.gov/util/EnvironmentConservation/OurWatersheds/Habitat_Conservation_Plan/ManagingtheWatershed/UplandForestHabitatRestoration/Slideshow-Og2g/index.htm
Detroit Auto Industry + Logging History:
http://hfha.org/the-ford-story/the-birth-of-ford-motor-company/
https://www.gmfactoryone.com/dld/content/product/public/us/en/factory-one/history/_jcr_content/par/row2/par2/sectioncontainer/par/download_1683002846/file.res/17F1_OnePager_Bio_Durant.pdf
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/manual/1999-2000/1999-mm-0017-0021-History.pdf
Image Credits:
Thumbnail image: ModelTMitch, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1925_Ford_Model_T_touring.jpg
This was interesting!
Farmers who would not sell trees were shot and killed
The Michigan History Center in Lansing has some of the equipment that was used to conduct logging, as well as a wealth of information on the past of michigan. Pretty interesting to spend a day there.
Trolls live under the bridge
I live in western PA and almost every single state park/forest has a sign that talks about how none of the trees are older than ~100 years because the lumber industry also razed most of our state. After they moved on, the state bought back huge pieces of land at bargain basement prices and eventually turned them into protected areas.
Thank you for all of your hard work and sound reasoning when it comes to benefit vs detriment and you are right that we can’t change the past but we can change the future if we start in the present. Thanks again.
I have several huge White Pines near my home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. One is 14 foot in circumference.
Alexis, great story! As a devout resource lover, I view the logging of Michigan as a tragedy. However, I am from Hastings, and it was part of a furniture production center that included Ionia and Grand Rapids. Much of the old furniture you see around Michigan, from the 1880’s to the 1940’s were made in the factories from these cities. The wood came from the clear-cutting of the state. I have watched many of your videos, and plan to watch them all. I also plan to visit your neck of the woods in the future.
Think I will go hug a tree, dad worked for Hydramatic and grandpa Cadillac you forgot the charcoal industry with the leftover wood from building Fords.
…lol….7:39…waving bye 👋 to the trees…did u know, you can hug- a- tree ??
"Logging can help over-crowding". Seriously? Cut down all the trees and no more forest and then the forest grows back. Why not leave it alone? Where I live in Northern Michigan one can see the fallacy of clear-cut lumber. Where did all the maples go? You cannot defend these people.
Many Native American grave mounds were destroyed as well in Michigan. USA GOVERNMENT and local governments had little regard for Native American history and culture.
This gal is a true michigander!
I’m a Yooper. Our family has had land the abuts "The Ford Farm Field" the FoMoCo once owned.
There were plots of land once held by my Great Grandmother, who turned them over to the City (though not in the city limits) under the condition they never be logged or cut down. She did this because the highway to Marquette was changed and as the original road bisected the plot, the new curve ate the northeast corner as the Right-of-way was widened and made a greater radius to allow higher speed travel and greater safety, drainage, snow clearing room, etc.
I grew up playing in those woods, particularly climbing a huge White Pine, that was 4 or possibly 5 feet in diameter at the hugging height but had branches that low. Great Gran passed before I was born (I’m 56) but I’m sure she’s spinning in her grave as10 or so years ago, somehow the City decided to forgo the agreement, clear cut the whole plot, and leveled it and there is a garage on the Northern portion for some reason. They’ve done some legal dance and got some rulings to allow it to be done, and a lawyer fighting it was unable to stop it. I get quite angry every time I drive past my old house, now exposed to the North Winds. There really is no reason to have done it. It is now a grass field with just that box of a garage on it.
I would hope that the trees had larger diameters than pictured . Because of those trees Grand Rapids became the furniture capital of the US.
I like your view point and ability to look deeper then just the logging. The world is complicated and we continually grow as a nation.
I hope we can continue to look at an experiment with a more renewable way of life.
As a person in the automotive industry, I try to keep an open mind.
This lumber mostly went to chicago to be distributed throughout the country (and world) so this lumbers benefit reached far beyond michigan
I think of stuff like this a lot. I worked in Detroit and sometimes look at the rocks laying around, which are normal rocks you would see in our woods. The eco system of down river is vary dead. Only little fragments left of a MI non of us have ever seen. I wish we where kinder to our lakes, and forests.
Hey Alexis, I Grew up in Flint , Michigan . I love you point of view on the total decimation of our old growth forest that are irreplaceable. You have a wonderful attitude, you work hard at your channel, and provide a positive insite . Michigan is great and it should be recognized. Thanks!
You do a good job on your videos.
Thanks for posting.
Kingsford charcoal is also another indirect benefit because it came from the excess scrap wood used in Model T’s. They even sold it as Ford briquettes at the time before it eventually became Kingsford. Heck, while the city no longer is used for producing wood parts for Ford vehicles, the city itself still stands to this day and didn’t succumb to becoming a ghost town when the logging moved on.
Boy, she is a ball of fire. Just love the enthusiasm of her telling a story. She is a cutie to. Keep the videos coming, love them.
I like how the video is about Detroit and the auto industry but your first B-roll shot is of downtown Grand Rapids 😂
It is funny because people contribute Capitalism to the success of the United States. When in reality it has almost nothing to do with it. In fact the closer we get to Laissez faire Capitalism the closer we get to the collapse of the Country. You have things like The Triangle Shirt Waist Factory, The Miners Wars, The Italian Hall Disaster, and The Ford Massacre. The United States success comes from its geographic locality and its vast natural resources as it was one of the last continents to be pillaged. Granted Capitalism may be the best of the pure known systems. However, people around the globe are realizing blending of the best parts of many systems provides the best system of government for all.
Also don’t forget Quinnesec MI. A ford saw mill and wood car body parts factory. The high school team name is the Flivers, as in the Ford Fliver.
Same story in Eastern Ontario. There’s very little left of old growth white pine.
Developers ruined Michigan. Around Detroit, Native American mounds were either robbed or destroyed. Developers had little regard for Native Americans, their lands stolen, and their children put into forced residential schools.
You might want to investigate California’s attitude on cutting trees. I understand that it routinely takes two years after you file a request to cut a tree in your back yard, before the permit is acted on. EPA,etc needs to get involved. I understand they lose thousands of acres of trees annually due to fires, supposedly due to mismanagement and lightning strikes. Ironically.
Can somewhat relate. I live across from the original city park. Was donated by the farmer who originally owned it. For nearly 50 years I have lived here, since getting out of the service. My kids played soccer there, swam in the pool, played baseball and went down the slides. But it started about two months ago cutting down 85-90 years old Oak & other trees. None of which were dying. People come just to sit under the trees and also to watch events. But this summer when it gets to 100* there will be about 40% fewer trees. Seems I heard trees were good for climate control, but Clear Cutting, like your lumber barren did, is still not understood by the younger generation here! Totally disappointed at the city!!!! It’s not like they grow that big overnight.
Hey Alexis – you need to do a video on Singapore, Michigan, which is now under the dunes near Saugatuck, Mich
"Jacobia" – another fascinating story in northern Berrien County.
Silver Beach Amusement Park that once existed in St Joseph – my hometown – is a fascinating history
"The House of David" in Benton Harbor is insanely interesting if you never heard of it – but seems like so much has come out on it the last decade – but still amazingly intriguing
All of this is/was in Southwest Michigan – which is one of the most under the radar beautiful & coolest areas of the US to this day. Summer esp
The beaches, Warren Dunes, inland lakes, the lighthouses the wineries, the fruits and vegetables in the rolling countryside ( Heart of the Fruit Belt) – another great history- nations largest outdoor fruit market at one point
It was the "Silicon Valley" of industry at that time – full of forward thinking Chicagoans
Al Capone has a summer home on the St Joseph River in St Joseph, and Frank Lloyd Wright built three homes there
Whirlpool Corporation was birthed in Benton Harbor, the "Benton Harbor car" – arguable the first car ever built – amazing history on that
Oh, and can’t forget "Augustus Herring"
Research him
Michigan should have "First in Flight" on its liscense plates right now – not North Carolina
SW Mich is PACKED FULL of history you will love to do vids on.
Boookas of stuff for you to "mine" and let people know about MICHIGAN
We Michiganders are still way too modest about our culture & natural enviroment –
both past & present ! 👍
The ford motor company held large tracts of land in upper Michigan to supply wood for parts for their early cars. Yes, most of early automobiles were framed with wood. Henry didn’t just get funding from lumber barons, he was a lumber baron… in a way.
My dad worked for Fisher Body (a division of GM) and I worked at the Utica Ford plant while I attended Oakland University in Rochester, so we benefited generations later from the logging, too!
Thanks for your Michigan focused YT’s.
You should do a video on the Great Michigan Fires of 1871… not a good year to be a tree.
Reminds me of Hartwick Pines, N. of Grayling, before the biggest trees were topped by lightning, and Dewitt, Michigan ghost town NW of Grayling(you won’t believe the stumps still visible).
Another great Michigan video….
Very interesting.
Even though it’s not Michigan,
Should do a video on lithium batteries and what they do to the earth just to get enough material for a cell phone. Let alone a car….
I got within a mile or so of Estivant near Copper Harbor but no go. So interesting to actually see those trees. There’s a spot in the Pictured Rocks park where they basically dumped the logs off the cliffs of a sand dune into Lake Superior. Crazy. I’ve seen a few of your videos. Pretty interesting especially since I was in that area last summer.
If you enjoy your back yard BBQ grill you can thank Ford and the lumber industry. Henry was a strong proponent of the “reduce reuse recycle” theory and he took the waste from his lumber mill and invented the charcoal briquette as a fuel source for his many camping trips. Edward Kingsford was his real estate agent and was married to Ford’s cousin, he help acquire the UP property that Ford needed for the cars. When Ford set up the charcoal plant next to the lumber mill he let Kingsford run it. When a group of investors bought the charcoal company they changed the name from Ford Charcoal to Kingsford Charcoal to pay homage to the heritage of the company.
Ain’t no Hartwick Pines, but alright.
so go hug a tree
That rampant cutting were called ROUND FORTIES !
Michigan lumber built rhe midwest.
I live in Oxford, Michigan and we had three rail lines going through our little town at one time. One of which (Pontiac, Oxford and Northern) was built to take advantage of the lumber in the thumb. It started in Pontiac and turned toward Oxford to access the gravel since Oxford was known as the gravel capital of the world at the time. Past Oxford it curved toward the center of the thumb and was supposed to end in Port Austin at the Northern tip of the thumb. However, before it was finished, giant fires decimated the lumber industry in the thumb. So, the line was turned toward Caseville instead and it never reached the potential it was intended for.
Good presentation, you did cover both sides. Yes, I feel the same way when lumber men were cutting down redwoods that were 3200 years old. Did they not see that tree for what it was? Lets concentrate on plastic pollution, turning that waste into 2x4s, Eh!
The last of Ford forest is for sale in the big bay area. I have asked the governor to consider buying them. More people should email and request. It’s on the east and west side of Huron mountain club. She was interested in the idea of making it a park.
It’s not in Michigan but are you aware of the Menominee reservation in Wisconsin? I always find it incredible how despite bordering a national forest their woodlands are so much more robust you can clearly tell the difference from space, their conservation of the northern hardwood forests which make up their lands is amazing considering it was significantly impacted by outside logging during their period of termination and continues to be harvested as their most valuable natural resource.
Great video Alexis! I loved it. I’m a Metro Detroiter myself (Taylor specifically) and predictably I’m a UAW Autoworker for Ford Motor Company. Third generation in fact, so all of this history played a huge factor in my life. I also wanted to say my Dad’s family has some acreage in Newberry and while I haven’t confirmed it, I was told the property was once owned by Henry Ford with intent to use the lumber for vehicle production.
And in one last tangent, I’m new to the channel and haven’t seen everything but a place that nay be worth covering the history of is Ford’s Iron Mountain Plant which I believe was in Kingsford, MI in the UP. It operated from 1920 to 1951 and produced wooden station wagon bodies until in 1952 where Ford wagons recieved "simulated wood"/plastic body moldings. Anyway, excellent video and keep up the great work!
My pawpaws family owned a logging company and mill
Great history lesson 👏
I’m sure you’ve heard about the redwood forests in California (or the redwood forests that used to be) these forests are (were) amazing! These trees were massive until they were clear cut leaving massive stumps. The town I live in, at least the "older" part of town, the downtown area in Santa Rosa ca,most of the homes and older buildings are built from redwood from the local forests. And still standing because termites don’t like redwood. There’s a lot of history about the redwood forests in the area I live in, and there’s only a few old growth redwoods left that are alive in Cali and the whereabouts is secret due to preservation reasons but they’re huge and beautiful and it’s really sad thinking about what it would be like if these gigantic trees were still around, life would be different somehow. Who knows. But there’s videos on YouTube about the redwood logging industry you might wanna check out if you’ve got time. I’m very interested in the history of the logging industry, not because I’m a fan of logging but the techniques used and what the loggers went through. It’s really sad that the forests we’re destroyed, but the lessons in history and info on what life was like back then is interesting.
The stumps in my area were used for property line fences.