The photo shows the Michigan Constabulary in training to defend ore properties. (Photo courtesy of Negaunee Historical Society)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article initially appeared in The Mining Journal on July 24, 2021.

NEGAUNEE — The Michigan Sate Police, one of the most respected law enforcement agencies, had its beginnings in Negaunee in 1917.

They were known as “The Constabulary.” The United States declared war against Germany and its allies, and a few days later Michigan National Guardsmen were headed for the battlefields of France. Left without men to guard the home front, the state created an emergency force, The Michigan State Troops on April 10, 1917.

This was the birth of the State Police Force. Negaunee residents felt the effects of the war on the home front with the unexpected arrival of troopers who came unannounced, arriving on the Duluth Express during the early morning hours.

The state “soldiers” came to relieve a threatening situation in the mining region.Their post was established in the west end area on what was called, Cornishtown Road.

America was not at ease at the onset of the war, because of espionage,sabotage, and labor unrest. Serious labor trouble was threatening the iron mining industry. Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were causing unrest on the Gogebic Range, and it was feared that it would move to the Marquette Range where rumors of a strike were rampant.

Ore was needed for the war effort. According to the Iron Herald,an affidavit was circulated, and signed by thousands of citizens, including a huge majority of miners affirming their loyalty and criticizing the IWW.

The strike failed to materialize and the detachment of 30 troopers stayed in Negaunee and set up temporary headquarters and pitched their tents. The Iron herald noted that they are a trim, young fellows and their equipment is complete for the kind of duty they may be called upon to perform.

They had short barrel rifles, revolvers, and riot sticks. A single trooper astride his horse, swinging one of those four foot clubs could do a heap of execution in a mob without resorting to his artillery at all.

The fledgling force got established in Negaunee and a crew of men was put to work extending water pipes and electric wires to the campsite. The local mining company built a cook shed anda mess room.

A cook stove was hauled in by wagon. Carpenters from another mine built an ice chest and a telephone was installed. Such were the beginnings of the first police post in Upper Michigan, staffed by the states first troops.

In 1919, the Constabulary became the Michigan State Police. Prohibition in 1919 provided new challenges. The manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal. Locally the saloons were boarded up and miners were thirsty for their nickel beer on the way home from work.

Prohibition bred corruption and the term, bootlegger, the seller of illegal liquor became a household word. Negaunee served as the headquarters for the troops until a major riot and escape from the Marquette Branch Prison in 1921.

The troops had new headquarters on U.S. 41 near the Department of Natural Resources until 1973. Once again they were housed in Negaunee in the Jones and Laughlin Research Lab at the Tracy Mine site. They stayed there until their present headquarters on U.S. 41 in Negaunee Township was ready for occupancy.