The fight was over the border between Michigan and Ohio -- with Michigan wanting it a bit south, and Ohio a bit north, and Ohio winning as to the ultimate location of the line, which meant that Toledo ended up in Ohio. The UP came into play only as a settlement device: the arbiters (the feds, I'm guessing) offered Michigan a chunk of the northwest territory to compensate for the loss of Toledo, etc. At the time, they thought the UP to be useless wilderness. The copper and iron deposits were only discovered later, and of course timber became a big UP industry as well. Not to mention pasties ...

There was a battle, in a farm field, with the cabbage and poultry casualties I mentioned. I can't remember any more, but I'll bet both Ohio and Michigan's state libraries have info.

I never hear the controversy mentioned anymore, but "Michiganders" lives on.

And only slightly related: Jeff Daniels' movie Escanaba in Da Moonlight opened in Michigan last weekend, and did well. If a national distributor picks it up, do try to catch it. Crude, but funny, and a nice sampling of Yooper language. (In a review last week, a transplanted Yooper explained that she'd married a troll 20 years ago, and her family hadn't quite forgiven her yet.)