6. States of Confusion

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Although it’s well known that the states took up arms against each other during the U.S. Civil War, it is less known that the states of Michigan and Ohio came close to a war of their own. A border dispute in 1835 ignited tempers and prompted talk of war. Both Michigan and Ohio sent troops to the border in the disputed area and prepared to do battle. Their plans were complicated by the fact that both militias became lost in the swamplands of the area and were not able to find each other for a week. The war never managed to get started and all was settled a year later in 1836 when Michigan lost the disputed land now known as Toledo but gained both the Upper Peninsula area and official statehood status from Congress.