Menominee County was named after a Native American Tribe that lived in the vicinity. The Native Americans were the Menominee, and by most accounts the word means, "rice men" or "wild rice gatherers." The county seat is the city of Menominee located at the mouth of the Menominee River and at one time this area yielded large quantities of wild rice. It's said the Menominee Indians were also called the "White Indians," due to their relatively light complexions. Fur traders were the first settlers to the area in the late 1700's but lumbering quickly shaped the area's economy and by 1890 the region ranked second largest for lumbering in the nation. In the early 1900's agriculture began replacing lumbering and today a majority of the Upper Peninsulas Dairy Farming can be found in the area.   The area also has a fish named after it the Menominee, or Menominee Whitefish which is the much smaller cousin of the Lake Whitefish . Although they can grow up to 5 pounds, anglers rarely catch any bigger than 2 pounds.   It's real name is the Round Whitefish and is found throughout the north including all the Great Lakes except Lake Erie .   Anglers describe them as an elusive deep water fish that only is found in shallow water in April and May and again in October and November.   With thousands of acres of wilderness, miles of Shoreline along Green Bay and the Menominee River marking its boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin this county never fails to impress sportsmen.

Menominee County Websites and Locations of Interest

http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/roundwhitefish.html - Round Whitefish

http://www.fishontario.com/articles/menominee/ - Ontario Round Whitefish

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364_18958-45683--,00.html - Menominee Prosopium cylindraceum