Michigan. The 26th state is mostly known for her lakes and automobile industry. Despite her kind demeanor, she's known to be arrogant and feisty at times, especially notable when Ohio is around. The two neighbors have a rivalry that is on par to New York and New Jersey's. To why these states have a bone to pick with one another can be traced to a strip of land that was north of Ohio and south of Michigan.

Known as the Toledo Strip, the small, narrow piece of land had fertile soil for agriculture success and great potential as a canal for commerce. A territory at the time, Michigan fought with Ohio over the area, claiming the Northwest Ordinance allowed her to own that land while Ohio claims the strip to be originally his according to his state constitution. The two drew their own conclusions on where the border was between them, the Harris Line by Ohio and the "correct border" by Michigan, thus creating the disputed Toledo Strip.

Their rivalry over the strip led to an actual war, appropriately named the Toledo War. Wanting the war to end, the national government asked Michigan to give up their claims on the area in exchange for their statehood. Despite offering the Upper Peninsula as compensation, Michigan stubbornly refused to concede the valuable strip to her archenemy for a long time. Although there were no major casualties in the bloodless war, the tension between Michigan and Ohio would remain for months and even years after the war was over.

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June 1836.

The early summer breeze wasn't cool in the slightest. Warm and humid like the tension along the border, America tried to remain calm in the situation. He was entering a war zone.

In this quiet forest of oak and birch, there were no signs of fighting. Not a single bullet was found on the damp ground. Nor a drop of human blood along the trunks of ash wood. There were no signs of soldiers. Nor were the sounds of rifles firing. The only sound made was the water current trickling down the creek and the wind whistling through dark green maples, tickling the leaves and getting them to laugh along with the red cardinals' chirps and blue jays' tweets. Not a sign of destruction anywhere.

All was peaceful. At least, all appeared to be peaceful.

After walking for hours through the deciduous forest, America came across a grove of confier firs. Amidst the grove, there was a large, wooden fort, fully equipped with massive spruce gates like those of a medieval castle. A single watch tower stood twenty feet high in the air at the center of the fort. At the foot of the gates, a young boy sporting orange hair was pacing back and forth, looking rather irritated for some reason.

When America approached the young boy, he noticed his country and stomped over to him.

"There you are! What took you so long?" Ohio complained.

America held his hands up in defense. "Sorry, man! My boss wanted me to do a bunch of work before coming over here. Anyway, what's with the fort?" He looked up at the menacing fortress that was built not so long ago.

Ohio grumbled, raising his arms in a frustrated manner. "Don't ask me! Ask her!" He pointed straight up at the tall tower.

Looking for answers, America approached the base of the fort. "Michigan! Are you up there?" he called.

Immediately, the head of a pre-teen girl popped up from the tower. The smiling brunette then waved down at her country. "Hey, America! What brings you here?" she chirped.

"Um, what's with the fort?" he asked, still taking in the fort's massive size.

She giggled. "Oh! This is my home now!"

Ohio stomped on over to the fort. "What the hell, Mitch?! First off, this fort shouldn't be here!" He kicked the fortified, wooden gate.

Michigan furrowed her brow. "Don't call me Mitch! And stop kicking my fort!" Michigan threw a a couple of fist-sized pine cones at Ohio, injuring Ohio's with six of them.

Ohio quickly hid behind America, using the country as a patriotic shield. "Stop it! You shouldn't be here! This territory is disputed!"

Seeing Ohio cowardly hide behind America, Michigan ceased her pine cone assault. "What are you talking about? The Toledo Strip belongs to me, so off with you!"

"Not until I see this fort destroyed and you off my land!"

"Your land? You mean mine!"

"Are you stupid? I have the right to this land!"

"Tell that to Congress! The Northwest Ordinance states this land belongs to me!"

"That was a mistake!"

"You're a mistake!"

"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" America shouted, startling the two into silence. "Michigan, I'm afraid you need to give up your claims to Toledo."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, Michigan," America interrupt, "Until you do, I'm afraid you'll have to remain a territory for now."

"But... That's not fair!" She slammed her fist on the edge of the wooden railing.

"Face it, Mitch!" Ohio butted in with a smug look on his face. "You either let go of Toledo and become a State, or you remain a poor-ass territory for good."

She scowled. "I rather be a poor-ass territory than give in to your demands, you weasel!"

America made a frustrated sigh. "Come on, Michigan. I'll give you the Upper Peninsula as compensation for the loss, so please stop this war," he pleaded.

Michigan crossed her arms. "No way! The Toledo Strips means everything to me, and seeing Butteye rub his dirty hands on it makes me want to hurl him into the sun. Plus, that peninsula is worth as much as Ohio's personality."

"Worth more than yours at least," Ohio muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Michigan glared, prepping her hand with another pine cone grenade.

"Please, Michigan. I don't want this war to go too far, and see you get hurt, so please let go of Toledo. That's all I'm asking," America pleaded once more.

Seeing America's puppy-dog face made Michigan rethink her decision. But seeing Ohio's devil-faced smirk, she gritted her teeth. "Sorry, America! Toledo is rightfully mine, and Ohio can go shove a pine needle up his ass!"

Ohio removed himself from America, approaching the gates. "Enough is enough! This war is going to end in my favor, so remove yourself from this fort and accept defeat!"

"Defeat is for pussies! Appropriate for a pussy like you!"

Ohio flipped her off. "Damn you!" He kicked the gate, creating a foot-sized dent on the right door.

She gasped before turning red. "This means war!"

"We're already at war!"

"Fuck you!"

Michigan hurled a barrage of a hundred pine cones down on the two below, causing the two to make a run from the devastating rain of pine cone terror.

"Waaahhh! Let's get out of here!" America ran off as Ohio followed after him.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! This isn't over! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Ohio screamed as he fled back into the heart of his home, leaving Michigan and her fort alone for now.

"Wahahaha! This will never be over! Toledo is mine and nobody can stop me! Wahahaha!" Michigan celebrated with glee.

Since that day, Michigan and Ohio have spent much of their resources in the war. Other than a brief spill of blood, no one died in the months since the war started. While Michigan continued spending much of her limited budget protecting her claims, Ohio continued to wait the war out, knowing he was at an advantage over the narrow-minded territory. With Congress and the President to back him, it was only a matter of time.

~

January 1837.

Wrapped in a thick, white blanket, the entire forest of Toledo became a winter wonderland. The pines grew icicles off their branches while the birches were naked, barren with white frost and no leaves. Most of the animals were gone; most usually migrating or hibernating prior to the arrival of the cold season. Those who stayed have adapted to their frigid surroundings or have died off, unable to survive the freezing temperatures and harsh conditions.

For one State, they were barely able to survive this unusually frigid winter.

Curling up in thick, wool blankets and her heavy, fur coat, Michigan laid half-asleep at the top of her fort's watch tower. After enduring December's snow storms, most of the fort was covered in snow. The milita Michigan had hired had left one by one until she was the only one left to hold the fort. No one wanted to stay. Every soldier submitted to defeat and have gave up on retaining the Toledo Strip.

But not Michigan. She stubbornly stayed despite becoming weaker with each passing day. With little money left, Michigan relied on her wilderness skills for her survival. Even then, she was barely able to keep it together. All of her firewood was gone. Her tools were broken. She had a few rations left, however, all her clean drinking water is gone. With the skies becoming grayer by the hour, Michigan knew another snow storm was coming. Yet, she reluctantly stayed in her spot as always.

Even if her lips were icy blue, she would stay. Even if her toes were frozen, she would stay. Even if her fingers were bitten with frost, she would stay. Even if she was told in a matter of hours she would be buried and trapped in the upcoming snow storm, she would still stay while flipping off Mother Nature. No matter what, she'll never let Toledo go. At the very least, never let Ohio get his manipulative hands on it.

"Hey! Is anyone up there?" A voice echoed into Michigan's frozen ear.

At first, Michigan ignored the voice, thinking she was hallucinating.

"Michigan! Michigan! It's me! America!"

Her eyes grew wide and she lifted up her blankets. She peer down from the tower. Indeed, America, wearing a thick, brown, fur coat, stood at the entrance of the fort. Michigan smiled seeing the country, however, her smile disappeared seeing Ohio come out of the forest, approaching the fort.

"Come to tell me you gave up your claims on Toledo?" Michigan snickered despite the hardships she faced this winter.

Ohio scoffed. "Yes. I also came to tell you penguins can fly and fish can walk on land."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He squinted his eyes up at Michigan. "No offense, but you look like shit."

"You look like shit," she retorted.

He rolled his eyes. "How mature. Either way, you're sick as a dog, so admit you need help."

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine and healthy! Hahaha!" Michigan laughed at his claims off before coughing deeply into the sleeve of her coat.

America frowned. "Michigan! You're sick, aren't you?" he worried.

She waved him off. "You're just seeing things." She ducked under the wall of the tower to cough into her sleeve before looking back down on the two with a nonchalant smile. "Anyway, if that's all you have to say, leave and be on your way."

Ohio shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe this. Your stupid pride is going to get you killed if you stay in this shambling shack any longer."

"Shambling?" she scoffed, "The fort is perfectly fine and stable."

As soon as she said this, the left side of the fort's wall crashed onto the ground and became buried under a large pile of snow the wall originally attempted to hold back. America and Ohio stared at the broken part of the wall for a moment before looking back up at Michigan.

"Michigan," America spoke in a serious manner, "Your boss wants you to come with me to the capital. They decided to give up the Toledo Strip, so there's no need to stay in this fort any longer."

Michigan shook her head, unable to grasp what he said. "No way," she muttered under her breath. She turned her eyes to Ohio, glaring at the Buckeye State. "Don't tell me you have something to do with it."

"Believe it or not, I haven't said anything to your boss. But if I had to guess why he decided to give up Toledo, it's because...well...you're poor as fuck."

"No, I'm not! I'm doing just fi-" As she was about to finish, the right corner of the fort suddenly collapsed and became buried in snow. "... Get out of my sight." She pointed to the forest where they came from.

"Michigan. Don't be like that," said America.

Michigan gave a stubborn huff. "I won't leave! Never in a million years will I ever give up Toledo. Now leave me alone before I pelt you with snow balls," she warned.

Truthfully, Michigan was too cold to waste anymore of her energy to make snow balls and toss them at her intruders. Instead, she ducked under the walls of her tower, crawling back to her pile of blankets and hope the two leave until they come back with news confirming her ownership of Toledo. Until then, she ignored their calls to come speak with them.

"Michigan! Michigan! Come back! I still want to talk to you!" America hollered only to receive silence.

"Come on, America." Ohio suggested, "Let's not waste another breath on her. We need to get out of here before the storm arrives." He looked up to see the sky sprinkling down small, white snowflakes.

Despite Ohio's suggestion, America stood in place, refusing to leave Michigan alone. "Come on, man. She's sick and she needs to get help. Plus, the convention is going to happen soon, and she needs to be there."

"So? She's not going to be a State with her staying at this stupid fort."

He shrugged. "Well, I guess we need to get her out of the fort then."

"And how are you going to do that?"

America placed a finger on his chin before snapping his fingers at a bright idea. "Okay, Ohio! Stand back!" He rubbed his gloved hands in anticipation.

Still unsure of his country's plans, Ohio took twenty steps back away from the fort, watching America make his move from the edge of the grove. America then approached the gates of the fort, staring up at the tower.

"Michigan! I'm giving you one last chance! Please leave this fort and come with us to the capital, so you can get become a State."

There was a moment of frostbitten silence.

"Will I be able to keep Toledo then?" a small voice beckoned from the tower.

America looked to Ohio, seeing the young state give a frown and a thumbs down. "What about the Upper Peninsula?" he suggested.

"No deal!"

The young man let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, but you left me with no choice."

America proceeded to grab the inner wedge of the right door with his hands. While doing so, Michigan got up from her blankets, wondering what America meant by "no choice".

"What do you-"

Just as she was about to ask, America with all his mighty, super strength pried one of the twenty-foot tall, wooden gates off its hinge. Ohio and Michigan had their jaws buried in the snow as America carried the huge wall with little effort in his hands. He then casually placed the massive door down on the ground, shaking the earth the moment the large plank of wood landed on top of the snow. With half the gate gone, America proceeded into the snow-buried fort, making his way to the ladder where it led to the top of the watch tower.

Michigan's face became ablaze in fury. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Michigan started grabbing what's left of her pine cone grenades, hurling them down at America.

However, every single pine cone either missed or America became unaffected by the spiky seeds. America gave a carefree laugh, marching his way through snow four feet deep.

"Sorry, Millie! I love you very much, but I'm doing this for your own good." America started climbing the ladder.

She shook her head, panicking on what to do. "No, no, no! You can't make me leave! This war will go on and I-" Michigan gave a series of coughs by the time America reached the top of tower as planned.

After a ten minute skirmish, America came back down the tower with a swollen, black eye and a tied up Michigan over his shoulders. Wrapped up like a human burrito within the thick, wool blankets, Michigan screamed into the white cloth that covered her mouth, cursing the most profane, English words in the Oxford dictionary. Ohio couldn't help, but let out a giggle seeing his neighbor in such a sorry state.

"I guess that's one way to get the job done." Ohio clapped his hands as Michigan glared daggers at the Buckeye State.

"Yer gueng to fekin puy fer tes! Fuk booth uf yu end gu tu ell!" Michigan's curses became muffled by the cloth and America's chuckles.

"First, we need to get you warmed up. Second, we'll get a doctor to get a look at that cold you have there, and hopefully provide you some medicine. After that, we'll take you to the capital and hopefully with ease you'll become the next State in no time."

America carried Michigan over his shoulder as Ohio followed him back to the nearest city. Michigan shook her head, struggling to be free but with America's strong grip she was unable to free herself. After an hour of struggling, Michigan wore herself out and passed out by the time they reached the city. By then, she reluctantly gave in and cooperated with their efforts, mostly to appease America's requests.

~

January 26, 1837.

"From this point onward, you're now the 26th State of America," Delaware banged the gavel, ending this convention, "Congratulations, Michigan. Welcome to the Union," Delaware declared as everyone in the room cheered to the latest State to  join their group.

Everyone was happy.

Well...almost everybody...

"What's wrong? You should be happy on becoming a State?" Missouri inquired Michigan's disappointment.

"Happy? I lost the war damn it!"

"Is that all?" Arkansas asked unimpressed.

Before Michigan could go on a rant, a peculiar laugh behind her made her forehead flinch. She turned her head to see the enemy taking money out of Kentucky's hand.

"I knew I would win." Ohio smirked with joy and confidence over the results of the war.

"Man! I thought she would've won," Kentucky grumbled upset.

Noticing his neighbor glaring a dozen daggers at him, Ohio made a cocky smirk. "You see. I told you the war is going to end in my favor."

She gritted her teeth, ready to scream and cause a massive earthquake in the capital. Before she could go on her tantrum, a light tap on her shoulder made the young girl turn around.

"What?!" She didn't mean to yell too harshly.

The hand that tapped her was Illinois who took a step back seeing the crimson in her face. "Chill, girl! I'm just here to give you a present from Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin?"

"You know. Your neighbor to the west. She's a new territory who became a part of the United States last year."

She shook her head. "Never heard of her."

He shrugged. "I mean, you were busy with your war, so I'm not surprised you haven't met her yet. Anyway, I met her and she's pretty nice. She couldn't attend your congratulation party, but she told me to give this to you as a gift for becoming a State." Illinois gave her a wrapped box along with an envelope.

Michigan reluctantly took the gift, allowing Illinois to leave and chat with other States. Starting with the message, she ripped the envelope open and found a letter inside.

Dear Michigan,

My name's Wisconsin! I'm your neighbor, and I've heard you've become a State. Congratulations! I hope to become a State like you, so I'll be sure to work very hard and possibly meet you one day. Until then, I hope we become great neighbors in the meanwhile.

I don't have much money, but I hope the Upper Peninsula serves as a nice present for becoming a State. I rarely been up there considering the few settlers consider that place to be of no good, but I'm sure there's some value to that piece of land. Anyway, I hope you like the present I gave you. When you do visit my home, I'll be sure to give you a warm welcome.

Love, Wisconsin

Unwrapping the box, Michigan opened the lid of an ornate, wooden box to discover a pair of rectangular bars. One was colored silver while the other was colored in bronze. Michigan held the two foot-long bars, one in each hand. She looked up to see Ohio taking money from Indiana.

"Tough luck, Indiana. As the saying goes, to the victor goes the spoi- Ow!" Ohio yelped to a hard wallop to the back of his head.

Looking behind him, he found what hit on the ground: an iron bar. His attention turned to Michigan with a copper bar in one of her hands, swinging the dangerous weapon like a baton.

He began to back away from the mischievous girl. "E-Easy now! You don't want your statehood getting revoked because of this!"

Michigan looked to the rest of the States. Most of them shrugged their shoulders, whistling to themselves before turning their eyes away from Ohio and Michigan. A smirk formed on Michigan's face while a scowl slowly appeared on Ohio's.

"What was that? Oh, yes! To the victor goes the spoils," Michigan made a maniacal chuckle, gripping the bronze bar tightly in her right hand. "Since this is my celebratory party, I'll be generous and give you a ten-second head start." She started tapping the end of her bar onto her empty, left hand. "10!" Tap! "9!" Tap!

Ohio scanned the room, looking to the others in a panicked manner. "Come on, you guys! Stop her!" Ohio turned to Indiana. "Please, Indiana! Tell her to quit playing with me!"

Indiana turned her eyes away. "Golly darn! If only I hadn't lost my money in that bet, I would probably be helping you."

He shook Indiana's arm. "S-Stop toying with me! T-Tell you what, I'll give you your money back! Please! I don't want to get beat up by a girl!" he begged.

Indiana smirked. "Really?" She turned her head to see Ohio's hazel eyes full of fear. "As the saying goes, tough luck." She waved him off before walking away from his stiff body. "Better start running if I were you," she suggested.

"W-Wait!" Ohio reached out for her before retracting his arm. He looked to everyone in the room. "Stop fucking with me, you guys! I'm sorry! I'll do anything you want! Just don't let her beat me up!"

"4!" Tap! "3!" Tap! "2!" Tap!

"Gwaaahhh!" Ohio started running out the room.

"1!" Tap! "0!" Michigan hooted loudly. "Ready or not! Here I come! Wahahahaha!" She darted out the room, chasing after Ohio's skin.

"Get away! Nooooo! Ack!" Ohio's horrified screams bounced along the walls of the building.

On that day, the Toledo War drew to an end. Although devastated by the loss, Michigan was now a State after much delay. Even though the Upper Peninsula proved to be of much value to her, she would continue to hold a sore spot against Ohio for years to come.

Unluckily for Ohio, even though he won Toledo and the war, it was the day he earned himself an enemy, one who was more than eager to see him get pummeled by their trusty, metal weapon in hand.

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+ The Toledo War was a bloodless dispute over land boundaries between the State of Ohio and the Territory of Michigan from 1835-1836. While the war itself ended in a stalemate, Ohio was the one who got to keep the Toledo Strip. Obviously, Michigan was pissed about the loss considering they were forced to give up the territory in exchange for their statehood. The federal government attempted to reconcile with Michigan by giving them Upper Peninsula which helped offset the loss. Nevertheless, it didn't stop Michigan and Ohio from hating each other's guts from that point onward.

- The rivalry between Ohio and Michigan can still be seen in college football, notably between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University. I originally wanted to include a segment on their football rivalry, however, I decided to scrap it for another story in the future.

~

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