The End of the Road in Michigan Podcasts - Stories, News and Tales from Michigan's Upper Thumb

An alternative news service has emerged in the Upper Thumb of Michigan. The wind energy and Michigan Thumb tourist site ThumbWind has launched a new series of podcasts. The End of the Road in Michigan offers listeners a new tale each week delving into the fascinating past of Michigan and the Upper Thumb region.

We take you on a 300 year trip through time from the first Indian villages in Saginaw and Sebewaing including the famous summer village of Shebahyonkon on wild fowl bay to the days when settlers traveled up the Saginaw Trail to establish long gone lumbering towns such as Port Crescent and New River. We cover the vanished religious colonies of Ora Labora, and New Palestine. Then the great fires of 1871 and 1881 which ushered in the agricultural era that is with us today in the Thumb.

The End of the Road News is another short podcast that is updated each Wednesday. The midweek update and weekend outlook gives you the headlines and stories for the Upper Thumb and Michigan. It concludes with a great weather forecast for your weekend in the Thumb.

Finally, there is a special podcast that tells the tale of 26-year-old Alexis de Tocqueville and his friend Gustave de Beaumont, took the ultimate road trip. The pair of French aristocrat’s journey from Buffalo New York to the Straights of Detroit with the intent of going to the last overland outpost of civilization; Saginaw. Set in 1881, which predates Michigan’s statehood, the lumber industry, and homestead settlement. The story weaves a tale of what early Northwest territory life was like in the early 1800s. We travel with them along with the famous Saginaw trail meeting unique individuals hacking their way into virgin forests and meeting its native inhabitants. It's also a commentary of the environment and how supposedly civilized society will forever impact nature. This takes place 180 years before today's concept of climate change. It's a fascinating short story that is an excerpt from the book A Fortnight in the Wilderness and is now freely available for the first time anywhere as a podcast.