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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
These Michigan places have French names. How they got them
While traveling through Michigan this summer, you may notice locations with names that sound more like they belong in France, rather than an American state. The area that became present-day Michigan once was settled by French immigrants beginning in the 17th century, including Catholic missionaries and fur traders, according to Northern Michigan University. They established settlements like Fort Michilimackinac in present-day Mackinaw City and Fort Pontchartrain du détroit in present-day Detroit, and engaged with Indigenous peoples. "More than three centuries ago, Europeans from France came to the Great Lakes region. They made the long trip across the Atlantic for many reasons," Central Michigan University's Clarke Historical Library stated. "Merchants came for fur. Missionaries came to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Soldiers came to forward the French government's agenda. All three groups of Frenchmen interacted with the Native Americans already living in the region, often hoping to achieve very different ends." While that era is long gone, Michigan's French influence remains, most notably in place names: Cities, roads, rivers, lakes and counties maintain French-language names, including Detroit, Au Sable and Charlevoix among others. Here's what to know about a few of Michigan's French names. The city's name comes from the French words "détroit," meaning strait. French settler Antoine de la mothe Cadillac, a prominent military leader and trader who lent his name to a car brand, established Fort Pontchartrain du détroit in present-day Detroit in 1701, according to the Detroit Historical Society. The area's Indigenous names include the Anishinaabe name "Waawiiyaataanong," meaning where the river bends. This lighthouse near Gulliver in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has a French influence. The name is French for "only choice," chosen because the small cape that juts into Lake Michigan and curls to the east offers some of the only protection from storms blowing from the west. Potential origins could also trace to the Ojibwe word Shashoweg, meaning straight line, Seul Choix Lighthouse Friends notes. The name for a northern Michigan town and county is after French settler Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a Jesuit priest, according to the Charlevoix Historical Society. He traveled near present-day Charlevoix city while searching for the Pacific Ocean in the early 18th century. The county was previously called "Keshkauko," after an Ojibwe chief from the Saginaw Bay. The village of L'Anse borders the L'Anse Bay, leading into the Keweenaw Bay and Lake Superior. The French name translates to the bay or the cove, in reference to its position on Keweenaw Bay. In Detroit, a prominent road holds another French name. Livernois Avenue is named for French settler François Benoit dit Livernois, an 18th century farmer, Livernois family history says. This area lies along the northeastern coast of the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The French name translates to gray beast, according to Visit Keweenaw. The name comes from the the bay's white sand, known to sing when pressed down with the palm of your hand or to bark when struck, local tradition says. The area was previously known as "Baie de Gres," French for Sandstone Bay. The Indigenous name is Baghidawiiing, meaning the bay where nets are set. This northern Michigan river, running 138 miles from Grayling to Oscoda, is the nation's best for fly fishing, according to USA TODAY readers. The French name means river of sand or sand river, chosen for its sandy environment, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says. This area west of St. Ignace features historic sites and nature preserves along the coast of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula. The French name translates to big cape, named by Canadian travelers as the high area appears to jut out from the shore when viewed from the lake, per the North Country Trail Association. Indigenous names for the area include Gichi-Neyaaganiing, meaning place of the big headland or cape, and Nednong, or high place. Just west of the famed Cut River Bridge along U.S. 2 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is Epoufette. The crossroad's name mean's place of rest, according to various sources, including the unincorporated community's welcome sign. At the east end of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Grand Marais offers restaurants, lodging, a marina and more. The name is French for big marsh, which, the Grand Marais Chamber of Commerce notes, is puzzling because there is no marsh nearby. "Historians believe that French mapmakers confused 'marais' with another, similar-sounding word found on old maps, 'maré,' which means 'sheltered body of water.' The early voyageurs definitely sheltered here on their way to the western end of Lake Superior," the chamber says. The village is nestled on the western shore of the St. Mary's River, where freighters and private vessels alike pass by. "Since ships and canoes made a turn to go west to Mackinac or southeast to Detroit, the name DeTour was given, which means, in French, 'the turn,'" the village says on its website. The Chippewa name for this area is Giwideonaning, meaning point which we go around in a canoe. The Lansing State Journal contributed. Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: A look at the history behind Michigan's French names
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Owl Wings Glow Pink And It Could Be Sending a Secret Message
The long-eared owl, Asio otus, is a majestic raptor known for its perky horn-like ear tufts, and cryptic herringbone markings that help it meld into its arboreal habitat. But in certain light, scientists discovered, its dappled forest camouflage is betrayed by fluorescent, day-glo pink wing feathers. Ornithologist Emily Griffith and her colleagues, from Northern Michigan University and the state's Whitefish Bird Point Observatory, examined feathers collected from the inner wings of 99 long-eared owls as the birds migrated through Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the Spring of 2020. They wanted to catalog the various rosy shades of fluorescent pigments this population sported, to see if they could decode what it might mean to those who can see it. Owl eyes can detect this magenta fluorescence – emitted by photosensitive pigments called porphyrins, from the Greek word for purple – even without the aid of a UV light, as can other birds with the ability to see in the ultraviolet spectrum. The fact that it's not in the spectrum visible to our own mammal eyes suggests it may be a perfect way of signaling to its peers without being detected by its main prey – rodents and other small mammals. The photosensitivity of porphyrins not only causes them to glow in the first place, it also makes them degrade with continual exposure to sunlight, which often means that avian fluorescence fades with feather age between molts. We know that other kinds of pigments in bird feathers play a role in signaling age, sex, size, and overall health to potential competitors and mates. For instance, even without a blacklight the researchers could guess the sex of long-eared owls by their dark (female) or light (male) plumage, although even this system is not foolproof, with roughly one third of the owls left without an assigned sex due to their intermediate coloring. But it's yet unknown if similar messages are written in these owls' ultraviolet undergarments. Griffith and team found feathers from older birds had much higher concentrations of the fluorescent pigments than younger birds, and were stronger in the darker-plumed females than in the light-colored males. Younger birds, and those with paler plumage overall, had stronger pigments if they were heavier. This, the authors note, suggests the pigments could function as an 'honest signal' of an owl's health. "It is possible that fluorescent pigments exhibited in long-eared owls are used in sexual selection," the authors write. "The only time in which these pigments may be directly on display (besides during flight) would be during courtship behavior, during which the male performs a courtship flight to attract females." But even if the owls were keenly attuned to the subtle differences in wing glow flaunted during male flight, it doesn't explain why females' wings should be so much brighter. "Moreover, this trait doesn't follow a strict binary – the amount of fluorescent pigments in these owls exists on a spectrum where the amount of pigment is related to size, age, and sex all together," Griffith says. The team suspects something else might be driving the major pigment differences: heat regulation. Fluorescent pigments in eggshells are known to help regulate heat by reflecting infrared wavelengths, and they could serve a similar function in the females' inner wing feathers, limiting heat loss while nesting. "This alternate hypothesis would explain why females have significantly more fluorescent pigments, as males do not incubate and are more physically active as they hunt for prey items while females take the primary role in incubation," the authors write. This research is published in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. Strange Bacteria That Can't Live Alone Hint at Early Steps to Complex Life Mysterious 3-Toed Footprints in Canada Reveal New Ankylosaur Species Origins of Earth's Water May Not Be as Complicated as We Thought
