Wisconsin V. Michigan
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Two Supreme Court cases, ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', 295 U.S. 455 (1935) and ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', 297 U.S. 547 (1936), settled a
territorial dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...
between
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
and
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.


Background

The 1836 boundary description between Wisconsin and Michigan described the line through northwest Lake Michigan as "the most usual ship channel". This description needed clarification as two routes were in use into Green Bay. Multiple islands lay in between and all were claimed as part of both
Door County, Wisconsin Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,066. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The dangero ...
, and
Delta County, Michigan Delta County is a county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 36,903. The county seat is Escanaba. The county was surveyed in 1843 and organized in 1861. Its name originates from the G ...
. A similar case, ''Michigan v. Wisconsin'' 270 U.S. 295 (1926), had previously been brought to the Supreme Court but was dismissed.


Decision

In 1936, the Supreme Court decision chose the ship channel through the Rock Island Passage as the more common, so Wisconsin retained the intervening water area with its islands: Plum,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, Hog, and Rock.


See also

*
Toledo War The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or the Ohio–Michigan War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo ...
: a border dispute between Michigan and Ohio


References

* * * (Archived September 25, 2009) * (Archived August 3, 2008) *Captain Cram's reports were printed in: * *


External links

* * {{caselaw source , case = ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', {{ussc, 297, 547, 1936, el=no , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/297/547/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep297/usrep297547/usrep297547.pdf Legal history of Michigan Legal history of Wisconsin United States Supreme Court cases 1936 in United States case law 1936 in Michigan 1936 in Wisconsin United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court Internal territorial disputes of the United States United States Supreme Court original jurisdiction cases Borders of Michigan Borders of Wisconsin Lake Michigan Door County, Wisconsin Delta County, Michigan