On this day in 1863, Michigan began recruiting Native Americans to form Company K, an all-Indigenous Civil War unit that fought with distinction under a live eagle mascot. And in 1910, the Dodge brothers broke ground on their massive Hamtramck factory, transforming the town into a bustling hub of Polish-American industry—until its closure in 1980.
TRANSCRIPT
On this day in 1863, the state of Michigan began recruiting Native Americans for service in the Civil War. The result was the famous Company K, an all-Indigenous company of soldiers, in which, by the end of the war, roughly 150 had served. Choosing to fly a tethered live eagle instead of a flag, these soldiers fought bravely and distinctly on many occasions in the fight to end slavery.
And today in 1910, Horace and John Dodge broke ground on a car parts factory in Hamtramck [Ham-TRAM-ick], just outside of Detroit. Dodge Main remade Hamtramck from a small town
to a city of nearly 50,000 where most residents were Polish immigrants. In fact, during World War 2, the workday language in the Dodge Main factory was Polish. Eventually, it grew to 33 buildings, five million square feet, and with 40,000 workers. But in 1980, Dodge Main was deemed obsolete and closed down.
And that is your Michigan Minute.