Episode Details

On this day in 1845, Douglass Houghton, Michigan's state geologist, drowned in Lake Superior. He mapped much of the state and is honored with the namesake of Michigan's tallest waterfall, as well as the city, county, and lake of Houghton. A former mayor of Detroit, he lobbied for federal funding to study the territory's mineral wealth. Tragically, his boat capsized during an exploration, leading to his untimely death near Eagle River.