Lake Superior

“ On the usual small map of a school-book, Lake Superior looks quite commonplace and harmless, but no man can stand on its shore without feeling the overwhelming power and mystery of this sea in the heart of a continent. It is different from every other lake on earth. ”

“ Above the bare rocks, which are often fifty feet perpendicular, stretch the sparse underbrush, the stunted evergreens, and the moss-covered granite of the mountains, till they reach an elevation of a thousand feet. Frowning down upon the water stands the Point of Mamainse, a rallying-spot for the summer fogs and winter storms, a landmark to the voyageur, a barrier to the fiercest commotion of the lake, and the upper boundary of Tequamenon Bay, as the confined portion of Lake Superior near its outlet is called. ”

“ LAKE SUPERIOR WATER GODS There were many water gods about Lake Superior to whom the Indians paid homage, casting implements, ornaments, and tobacco into the water whenever they passed a spot where one of these manitous sat enthroned. At Thunder Cape, on the north shore, lies Manibozho, and in the pillared recess of La Chapelle, among the Pictured Rocks, dwelt powerful rulers of the storm to whose mercy the red men commended themselves with quaint rites whenever they were to set forth on a voyage over the great unsalted sea. ”

“ Fancy a low, level, drowsy point of land, stretching out into the unbroken emerald green of Lake Superior, at the point where a narrow, yellowish river offers its tribute. The King of Lakes is exclusive; he disdains to blend his brilliant waters with those of the muddy river ”

“ The low temperature of the water is the reason that bodies of persons drowned in Lake Superior very rarely rise to the surface or drift ashore. The tradition that Lake Superior never gives up its dead is as old as the navigation of the lake by white men, and it existed among the Indians before the arrival of white men. ”

“ Little or nothing is known of the dreary solitudes beyond Lake Superior; enormous muddy ponds and marshes are succeeded by open, dry, sandy plains; then forests of hemlock and spruce arise, again swamp, bog, windfalls, and stagnant water succeed; in the course of many miles there may not be one dry spot found for a resting-place. The cold is intense in this desolate region; in winter spirits freeze into a consistency like honey ”

“ The development of the land behind Lake Superior was particularly spectacular and important, not only because of its general effect on the industrial world but also because out of it came the St. Mary's River Ship Canal. Nowhere in the zone of the Great Lakes has any region produced such unexpected changes in American industrial and commercial life as did the region of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota contributory to Lake Superior. ”

“ Lake Superior may be regarded as the centre of their ancient possessions. Along its northern shores, and back into the interior they still roam in wild freedom, hunting, and fishing, and paddling their birch-bark canoes;—but in more civilized places, they are confined to reserved lands set apart for them by the Dominion Government, and many of them now gain their living by farming or by working for the neighbouring white people. ”

“ A considerable portion of the shore is rocky, and its alluvions are, in general, of too sandy and light a character for profitable husbandry. With an elevation of six hundred and forty-one feet above the Atlantic, and drawing its waters from territories situated north of the forty-sixth degree of north latitude, Lake Superior cannot be represented as enjoying a climate favorable to the productions of the vegetable kingdom. ”

“ Apart from the occupation of these waters by the bark canoes of the aboriginal tribes, this lake, as yet, is used for little else than the fur trade, and has but a few vessels upon it. But the masters of these vessels are familiar with all its regions. Lake Superior, it will be seen, is the most remote of the seas we are now describing, as well as most magnificent. Its waters and its shores are the least visited by civilized man. No law holds dominion there, but the law of interest, or of passion. ”

“ As we had few men, however, and the weather appeared settled, we determined to risk coasting round the northern shore of the lake in our north canoe.
The scenery around the fort is very pretty. In its immediate vicinity the land is flat, covered with small trees and willows, which are agreeably suggestive of partridges and other game; but in the distance rise goodly-sized mountains; and on the left hand the noble expanse of the Lake Superior, with rocky islands on its mighty bosom and abrupt hills on its shores, stretches out to the horizon. ”

“ I have been about Lake Superior since 1863. Have never known any rookery near the lake or in Lake Superior Basin, although I think they did breed near Lake Superior, for they were in such great quantities about the lake during the whole summer. ”

“ Not only had the unfortunate selection of an astronomical boundary-line (the 49th parallel) shut us out from the western extreme of Lake Superior, and left us the Laurentian wilderness lying north of that lake, as a threshold to the fertile lands of the Saskatchewan and the Red River; but far away to the west of the Rocky Mountains, and extending to the very shores of the Pacific, there lay a land of rugged mountains almost insurmountable to railroad enterprise. ”

“ Numerous islands are scattered about the lake, some low and green, others rocky and rising precipitately to great heights directly up from the deep water. The coast of the lake is for the most part rocky. Nowhere upon the inland waters of North America is the scenery so bold and grand as around Lake Superior. Famous among travelers [55] are those precipitous walls of red sandstone on the south coast, described in all the earlier accounts of the lake as the "Pictured Rocks." They stand opposite the greatest width of the lake and exposed to the greatest force of the heavy storms from the north. ”

“ The Lake of the Woods, then surrounded by a deserted wilderness of rock and forest, was carefully examined, and from it the party made their way in a north-easterly direction to Lake Superior, the whole route consisting of little more than a series of lakes, streams, and swamps, broken by an occasional portage or bar of land, over which the canoes had to be dragged. ”

“ Disturnell, an accurate authority, speaking of the Superior region, says: 'The traveler finds the whole district to within a few miles of Lake Superior, abounding in every resource which will make a country wealthy and prosperous. Clear, beautiful lakes are interspersed, and these have plenty of large trout and other fish. Water and water powers are everywhere to be found, and the timber is of the best kind—maple groves, beech, oak, pine, etc. ”

“ Scenery of Lake Superior. By Henry R. Schoolcraft.
Few portions of America can vie in scenic attractions with this interior sea. Its size alone gives it all the elements of grandeur; but these have been heightened by the mountain masses which nature has piled along its shores. In some places, these masses consist of vast walls, of coarse gray, or drab-colored sandstone, placed horizontally, until they have attained many hundred feet in height above the water. ”

“ On the lake shore, there are naked sand hills; and these are found all around the lake.
This world has undergone great changes since its original creation. In examining the western country, I came to the conclusion, that a large portion of it was once under water; and that the lakes formerly discharged their waters into the sea, through the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
The lakes Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie, are now about twenty-five feet lower than lake Superior. The falls of St. Mary, at the outlet of the upper lake, are nothing more than rapids. ”

“ After having fished from Labrador to the Mississippi, and killed trout in every State where trout are to be killed, I am satisfied that the fishing of Lake Superior surpasses that of any other region on our continent, and is, as a natural consequence, the best in the world. ”

“ That Congress did not act arbitrarily in determining that 'for the purposes of navigation of said waters and the waters connected therewith,' the whole flow of the stream should be devoted exclusively to that end, is most evident when we consider the character of this stream and its relation to the whole problem of lake navigation. The river St. Marys is the only outlet for the waters of Lake Superior. The stretch of water called the falls and rapids of the river is about 3,000 feet long, and from bank to bank has a width of about 4,000 feet. ”

“ Then carrying across a height of land and descending another stream, he found himself on Lake Superior, and coasted along its western shores until he reached the Grand Portage, between Lake Superior and Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake.
Here were met a large party of Killistinoe and Assinipoil Indians, “with their respective kings and their families.” They had come to this place to meet the traders from the east, who were accustomed to make this their road to the north-west. ”

“ Nevertheless, a minute investigation of all their species has shewn that Lake Superior proper, and the fresh waters north of it, constitute in many respects a special zoological district, sufficiently different from that of the lower lakes and the northern United States, to form a natural division in the great fauna of the fresh-water fishes of the temperate zone of this continent.
We have shewn that there are types, occurring in all the lower lakes, which never occur in Lake Superior and northwards, and that most of the species found in Lake Superior are peculiar to it ”

“ I accomplished the former part of my design, and reached Lake Superior in proper time; but unluckily the traders I met there acquainted me, that they had no goods to spare; those they had with them being barely sufficient to answer their own demands in these remote parts. Thus disappointed a second time, I found myself obliged to return to the place from whence I began my expedition, which I did after continuing some months on the North and East borders of Lake Superior, and exploring the Bays and Rivers that empty themselves into this large body of water. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But Lake Superior is the largest of all the lakes, being no less than 360 miles in length, and 140 miles in breadth, with a circumference of 1116 miles; the line of coast formed by the margins of these lakes extends to upwards of 4000 miles, while they are all, nearly throughout their entire length and breadth, navigable for vessels of the largest description, their depth varying, except within a short distance of the shores, from 12 to 200 fathoms. ”

“ To the east, nature presents a milder aspect; a plain of great extent and richness stretches away toward the St. Lawrence. Many streams pour their flood into this lake; the principal are the Maitland, Severn, Moon, and French Rivers; they are broad and deep, but their sources lie at no great distance. By far the largest supply of water comes from the vast basin of Lake Superior, through the Channel of St. Mary. Near the northwestern extremity of Huron, a narrow strait [124] connects it with Lake Michigan in the United States ”

“ In the first place, we notice about Lake Superior an extensive tract of polished, grooved and scratched rocks, which present here the same uniform character which they have everywhere. As there is so little disposition, among so many otherwise intelligent geologists, to perceive the facts as they are, whenever they bear upon the question of drift, I cannot but repeat, what I have already mentioned more than once, but what I have observed again here over a tract of some fifteen hundred miles, that the rocks are everywhere smoothed, rounded, grooved and furrowed in a uniform direction. ”

“ GREAT LAKES OF NORTH AMERICA, THE. The connected string of five fresh-water inland seas, Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario, lying in the interior of North America, between the Dominion of Canada on the north and the United States of America on the south, and forming the head-waters of the St Lawrence river system, are collectively and generally known as “The Great Lakes.” From the head of lake Superior these lakes are navigable to Buffalo, at the foot of lake Erie, a distance of 1023 m., for vessels having a draught of 20 ft. ”

“ A flourishing village located on the shore of Lake Superior, takes its name from two small harbors bearing that name. The Vermillion Iron Company have built extensive piers into the lake to facilitate the shipping of ores. They have large shops for railroad purposes, with an electric light plant. The company employ about two hundred men. Two Harbors is the county seat of Lake county. ”

“ As early as the beginning of the sixteenth century, some of the French settlers had formed an idea that the great Lake Superior was a highway to the vast fur-producing countries of the North-West, although not till 1641 did any white man venture upon its waters. ”