Episodes

  • The Dying Sparlings: Murder, Mystery, and a Thumb Town in Turmoil

    The Dying Sparlings: Murder, Mystery, and a Thumb Town in Turmoil
    Apr 25 2025
    In 1911, the tiny farming town of Tyre, Michigan, was rocked by a string of mysterious deaths in the Sparling family. Over the course of two years, four men from the same household died of sudden, agonizing illnesses. At first, it seemed like a tragedy. Then suspicion. And finally, murder.

    In this episode, we unravel the haunting story of “The Dying Sparlings”—a tale of poison, scandal, and a courtroom drama that captured the attention of a state. Was it the family doctor? The grieving mother? Or someone else entirely? This 20-minute narrative walks you through one of Michigan’s most notorious historical murder cases—and the ripple effects it had across the Thumb.
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    24 mins
  • Frozen Rescue — The 1911 Walker Brothers Mission

    Frozen Rescue — The 1911 Walker Brothers Mission
    Apr 23 2025
    In January 1911, two young brothers vanished into the frozen waters of Lake Huron. What followed was one of the most daring rescue efforts in Great Lakes history.

    With ice closing in and time running out, a life-saving crew from Harbor Beach set out on a 40-mile journey by sleigh to bring them home. This episode of End of the Road in Michigan tells the true story of grit, community, and survival during one of Michigan’s coldest winters.

    🔹 Bite-size pieces of Michigan history you likely never heard before.
    🔹 Based on original reporting from The Harbor Beach Times, January 5, 1911.
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    8 mins
  • Pontiac’s War: Fire on the Frontier, Peace in the Shadows

    Pontiac’s War: Fire on the Frontier, Peace in the Shadows
    Apr 21 2025
    Pontiac’s War: Fire on the Frontier, Peace in the Shadows

    In 1763, as British flags replaced French ones across the Great Lakes, the First Peoples of Michigan faced a new empire—one that dismissed their diplomacy, severed their trade, and threatened their way of life. Led by Odawa war chief Pontiac and inspired by the spiritual teachings of Neolin, tribes from across the region united in a massive resistance campaign.

    This episode traces the dramatic siege of Fort Detroit, the harrowing use of smallpox at Fort Pitt, and the chilling aftermath of Pontiac’s assassination, including the haunting legend of Starved Rock.

    From war councils beneath the pines to vengeance on the banks of the Mississippi, Pontiac’s War was not just a rebellion—it was a defense of land, life, and sovereignty. And its echoes still shape the memory of the Great Lakes today. Tune in as End of the Road in Michigan brings this powerful story to life through dramatic narrative and historic insight.
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    9 mins
  • The Lost City Under Lake Huron – Michigan’s Oldest Known Hunting Site

    The Lost City Under Lake Huron – Michigan’s Oldest Known Hunting Site
    Apr 20 2025
    Beneath the waters of Lake Huron lies one of the oldest known hunting grounds in North America. In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we explore the discovery of the Alpena-Amberley Ridge—a submerged prehistoric land bridge once used by Ice Age hunters to track caribou.

    Archaeologists uncovered stone structures over 9,000 years old, reshaping our understanding of ancient life in the Great Lakes. We also examine the Indigenous stories that may align with this site’s hidden history.

    Read the story at The Lost City Beneath Lake Huron – Michigan’s Oldest Known Hunting Ground
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    7 mins
  • The Sinking of the Lady Elgin – Milwaukee’s Night of Mourning

    The Sinking of the Lady Elgin – Milwaukee’s Night of Mourning
    Apr 17 2025
    The Sinking of the Lady Elgin – Milwaukee’s Night of Mourning

    In this emotional 10-minute episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we recount the 1860 wreck of the Lady Elgin—a luxury steamer torn apart in a midnight collision that killed nearly 300 people. Through survivor accounts, newspaper reports, and haunting details, this story explores how an entire city mourned, how bravery shone in the darkness, and why the disaster still resonates today.

    Read more about this tragedy at The 1860 Lady Elgin Disaster - Lake Michigan's Deadliest Shipwreck
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    6 mins
  • The Grand Central Hotel Kinde – From Port Crescent to the Wagon Wheel

    The Grand Central Hotel Kinde – From Port Crescent to the Wagon Wheel
    Apr 16 2025
    What do you do when your town dies? If you're William Carter and William McCoy in 1880s Michigan, you move your hotel — building and all — to where the action is. In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we trace the 140-year life of a single building that started in Port Crescent, found new life in Kinde, and reinvented itself as the Grand Central Hotel, Clancy’s, and finally the Wagon Wheel Inn. It’s a story of sawdust, railroads, Friday fish fries, and the long arc of small-town history.

    Tune in for a surprising tale of resilience, reinvention, and what happens when a hotel becomes part of a community’s identity. Read the full story at The Amazing Story of the Grand Central Hotel (Kinde, Michigan) – 1880s to 1970s – The Forgotten Inn That Traveled Across Time
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    7 mins
  • Tracking Chief O-ta-was – The Story of a Teen Fur Trader Edward Petit on Saginaw Bay

    Tracking Chief O-ta-was – The Story of a Teen Fur Trader Edward Petit on Saginaw Bay
    Apr 13 2025
    In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we uncover the remarkable 1838 journey of 15-year-old Edward Petit, the first European child born in Port Huron.

    As a teenage fur trader fluent in Ojibwe, Petit set out to locate a lost winter camp led by the elusive Chief O-ta-was. Braving freezing rain, hunger, and vast wilderness along the shores of Saginaw Bay, he completed one of the most successful trades in Michigan's early frontier history.

    This story sheds light on the human side of early settler-Indigenous relations and the forgotten routes that shaped Michigan’s Thumb.
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    7 mins
  • Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company: Remarkable Tales from Michigan’s Golden Age of Steam

    Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company: Remarkable Tales from Michigan’s Golden Age of Steam
    Apr 12 2025
    Step aboard the grand steamers that once ruled the Great Lakes. In this episode, we trace the story of the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company — from its 19th-century founding to its peak as a fleet of luxurious passenger ships and, finally, to its quiet demise in the postwar era.

    You’ll hear about moonlit voyages, the majestic City of Detroit III, legendary designer Frank E. Kirby, wartime conversions, and the final season marked by tragedy. A compelling look at the transportation network that connected Michigan and the Midwest — and what it meant to the generations who sailed those inland seas.

    Read the full story at Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company: Remarkable Tales from Michigan’s Golden Age of Steam.
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    16 mins
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