Lake Huron

“ This part of Lake Huron is studded with little islands, which, as well as the neighbouring mainland, are all uninhabited, yet clothed with the richest, loveliest, most fantastic vegetation, and no doubt swarming with animal life.
I cannot, I dare not, attempt to describe to you the strange sensation one has, thus thrown for a time beyond the bounds of civilised humanity, or, indeed, any humanity; nor the wild yet solemn reveries which come over one in the midst of this wilderness of woods and waters. All was so solitary, so grand in its solitude, as if nature unviolated sufficed to herself. ”

“ Out of the lake flows the Riviere de François, over rocks of considerable height. This river is very irregular, both as to its breadth and form; and it is so interspersed with islands, that, in its whole course, its banks are seldom visible. Of its various channels, that which is generally followed by the canoes is obstructed by five portages. The distance hence to Lake Huron is about twenty-five leagues. There is scarcely a foot of soil to be seen from one end of the river to the other; for its banks consist entirely of rock. ”

“ As he drew near that chrystal floor, all brilliancy faded from the face of the lake, save one bright pathway from the sun to us—like the bridge of Giamschid leading from earth to heaven. The sun which I had always been accustomed to see above, was now below me, near the water, on the water, under the water! A veil of purple is thrown over it, and now the sun sleeps on lake Huron. The gold and rose which painted the western sky have gone. Darkness has stolen over the world below, and we turn our eyes above. ”

“ Huron Coast from Fort Gratiot to Michilimackinac.—About two hundred and thirty miles lie stretched out between these two points. Lake Huron charms the eye, with the view of its freshness and oceanic expanse. But the entrance is without rock scenery, and the student of its geology must be a patient gleaner along its shores. Long coasts of sand and gravel extend before the eye, and they are surmounted, at a moderate elevation, with a dense foliage, which limits the view of its structure to a narrow line. Portions of this coast are heavily loaded with the primitive debris [212] from the North. ”

“ There is a large fishing industry in Lake Huron, the Canadian catch being valued at over a quarter million dollars per annum. Salmon trout (Salvelinus namaycush, Walb.) and whitefish (Coregonus clupeiformis, Mitchill) are the most numerous and valuable. Amongst the islands on the east shore of Georgian bay, which are greatly frequented as a summer resort, black bass (micropterus) and maskinonge (Esox nobilior, Le Sueur) are a great attraction to anglers.
See Georgian Bay and North Channel Pilot, Department of Marine and Fisheries (Ottawa, 1903) ”

“ Lake Huron, having its outlet at the southern margin of its basin, should not have its waters encroaching upon the southern shore, for the simple reason that any continued uptilt of the basin can only have the effect of pouring more water through the outlet. Lake Michigan and Saginaw Bay, which are arms of the Huron basin, ought, however, to become flooded upon their southern shores, were it not that the hinge line of uptilt to-day lies to the northward of the outlet at Port Huron, and, further, that the two connecting channels still have their beds lower than the sill of the outlet channel. ”

“ The next morning it blew hard, and as we opened upon Lake Huron, we had to encounter a heavy sea; fortunately, the wind was fair for the island of Mackinaw, or we might have been delayed for some days. As soon as we were in the Lake we made sail, having fifty-six miles to run before it was dark. The gale increased, but the canoe flew over the water, skimming it like a sea bird. ”

“ The Huron, after his escape from the Shawnees, quickened his pace, as we have stated, and went many a mile before he changed his long, sidling trot into the less rapid walk. When he did this, it was upon the shore of a large creek, which ran through one of the wildest and most desolate regions of Ohio. In some portions the banks were nothing more than a continuous swamp, the creek spreading out like a lake among the reeds and undergrowth, through which glided the enormous water-snake, frightened at the apparition of a man in this lonely spot. ”

“ The climate is mainly influenced by the relations of the land to the enormous inland seas and great rivers which occupy such a space in the map of British North America. From Lake Superior, which is larger than all Ireland, flows the mighty stream which feeds Lake Huron by the River St. Mary. Huron [159] is nearly 250 miles long and 221 miles broad. From Lake Huron the river and lake of St. Clair lead the flood into Lake Erie, which is 280 miles long and 63 miles broad. ”

“ On their starboard quarter nothing could be seen but a vast heaving expanse of water; for Lake Huron at this point stretches more than fifty miles, before Grand Manitoulin Island is reached to the northeast.
It would be a bad place for such small craft to be caught in a storm. Still, the shore looked strangely devoid of any indentation, and Jack’s fears increased as the minutes passed without any change for the better cropping up. ”

“ A SEPTEMBER SQUALL
It was a still, hazy September afternoon, so warm that the frost that had helped to open the chestnut burrs that very morning seemed to have been an hallucination. The lake was as calm as a millpond; but Lake Huron is notoriously treacherous.
Henry, the boatkeeper at Lakeview Hall, was not as weatherwise as he should have been. He had allowed a number of boats to be taken out that afternoon without warning the girls to beware of squalls. ”

“ Diving in the Great Lakes is attended with even greater perils than those I have just been describing. In Lake Huron, opposite the entrance of Thunder Bay, a large buoy marks the spot where, nearly twenty-five fathoms deep, lies the wreck of a once famous lake vessel, which sank while sixty of its passengers were still in their berths, not one of whom evermore made sign. The steamer took down with it when it sank not only that precious human freight, but $300,000 in gold coin and five hundred tons of copper. ”

“ It has a coast-line of 1,624 miles, with 120 lighthouses and many fog-signals. The lakes have many islands; Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, among the largest, covers 1,000 square miles. Lake Huron alone has 3,000 islands. The Strait of Mackinac, the passage between Lakes Michigan and Huron, is only four miles wide. Several large bays are on the coast — Saginaw Bay on the east and Great and Little Traverse Bays on the west. The passage from Lake Erie to Lake Huron is through Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and St. Clair River, the Detroit being 20 miles and the St. Clair 40 miles in length. ”

“ We got into a narrow passage between Lakes Superior and Huron, which was pretty and curious, great numbers of islands and a very narrow path marked out for steamers, which, as we met several, made the risk of collision seem very imminent; they moved very slowly, and have established regular rules of the road, but cannot travel by night, or if a fog comes on. St. Mary le Soult is a pretty place, on one side American, where they have made a lock to avoid the rapids from Lake Huron to Lake Superior. ”

“ Clair, Erie, Huron and Superior,—navigable for boats to near its source, and for small crafts probably to the Moravian settlement—to the northward by a small portage to the waters flowing into Lake Huron—to the south-east by a carrying place into Lake Ontario and the River St. Lawrence; the soil luxuriantly fertile,—the land rich, and capable of being easily cleared, and soon put into a state of agriculture,—a pinery upon an adjacent high knoll, and other timber on the heights, well calculated for the erection of public buildings,—a climate not inferior to any part of Canada. ”

“ Between lake Superior and lake Huron there is a fall of 20 ft. of which the Sault, in a distance of 1/2 m., absorbs from 18 to 191/2 ft., the height varying as the lakes change in level. The enormous growth of inter-lake freight traffic has justified the construction of three separate locks, each overcoming the rapids by a single lift—two side by side on the United States and one on the Canadian side of the river. These locks, the largest in the world, are all open to Canadian and United States vessels alike, and are operated free from all taxes or tolls on shipping. ”

“ The commerce of Lake Superior could not await the building of a canal around the foaming rapids of the St. Mary's River, its one outlet to the lower lakes. In the decade following the discovery of 167 copper and iron more than a dozen ships, one even of as much as five hundred tons, were hauled bodily across the portage between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The last link of navigation in the Great Lake system, however, was made possible in 1852 by a grant by Congress of 750,000 acres of Michigan land. ”

“ This was very slow going indeed, the usual time for coasting the lake in a north canoe being from eight to ten days.
The Sault de Ste. Marie is a large rapid, which carries the waters of Lake Superior into Lake Huron. It separates the British from the American possessions, and is fortified on the American side by a large wooden fort, in which a body of soldiers are constantly resident. There is also a pretty large village of Americans, which is rapidly increasing. The British side is not fortified; and, indeed, there are no houses of any kind except the few belonging to the Hudson Bay Company. ”

“ After a short stay here he continued his journey, descended the stream since known as French River, into the inlet of Lake Huron, now called Georgian Bay. Paddling southward past the innumerable islands on the eastern coast of the bay, he landed near the present site of Penetanguishene, and thence followed an Indian trail leading through the ancient country of the Hurons, now forming the northern part of the county of Simcoe, and the north-eastern part of the county of Grey. ”

“ After crossing this in our canoes, we came to the second portage, about a quarter of a mile in length. We then came to a second lake, and then again to another portage of a half mile long, which brought us to the main Lake Huron. We went to an island and took some refreshment. There are several islands here, and they are called by the Indians Okaquahneeseshahning the place of the Herring Fish. ”

“ Once on Lake Huron they expected to skirt the eastern coast of Michigan, stopping whenever they pleased, and thus gradually make their way to Whitefish Bay and Lake Superior. What they would do when Lake Superior was reached would depend upon how much time was left for the outing. ”

“ In his campaign against the Iroquois in central New York, Champlain also found another route to Lake Huron, by way of Lake Ontario, the Trent, and the Lake Simcoe portage. Champlain's unfortunate campaigns against the Iroquois were of far-reaching effect; one of the significant results being to drive the French around to Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior by way of the Lake Nipissing and Lake Simcoe portages. [9] The finding of Lakes Huron and Ontario and the routes to them was the hardy "Champlain's last and greatest achievement." ”

“ Emerging into Lake Huron we began to perceive the effects of the cool water and consequent condensation of the warmer atmosphere; a heavy fog lay upon the surface, at first not higher than our upper deck, but creeping up as the night advanced. ”

“ Other devoted missionaries shared his fate; the shepherds were slaughtered, and the survivors of the flock were scattered abroad. For the Hurons made little or no attempt to defend themselves; fear came upon them and trouble; they fell down, and there was none to help them. The fort at St. Marie stood, for even the Iroquois hesitated to attack armed walls; but its purpose was gone with the slaughter and dispersion of the Huron clans. The priests who still lived abandoned it, and spent a miserable winter with a crowd of Indian fugitives on a neighbouring island in Lake Huron. ”

“ Lake Superior, Lake Misohigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie, which are rather small seas than lakes, and have besides a great many large rivers that empty their water into them, whereof the greatest part comes down this Niagara fall. Before the water comes to this island it runs but slowly, compared with its motion when it approaches the island, where it grows the most rapid water in the world, running with a surprising swiftness before it comes to the fall ”

“ In proceeding northwest of Detroit, this mineral is first observed, in situ, on an island in Lake Huron. It is afterwards found to be the prevailing rock along the south and southwest shores of Lake Huron. In many places, it incloses fossil remains. Sometimes it is earthy, as at Bay De Noquet, a part of Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, where it contains very perfect remains of the terrebratula. ”

“ Georgian Bay is 125 m. long, with a greatest width of 60 m., while North Channel is 120 m. long, with an extreme width of 16 m., the whole lake having an area of 23,200 sq. m. The surface is 581 ft. above the sea. The main lake reaches a depth of 802 ft.; Georgian bay shows depths, especially near its west shore, of over 300 ft.; North Channel has depths of 180 ft. Lake Huron is 20 ft. lower than Lake Superior, whose waters it receives at its northern extremity through St. ”