The Grand Haven news. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1858-18??, 1861-04-03
The Great Lakes.

After the war Of 1912 was over, the
Northwestern Territory was held by our
Government by kind of military occu-
pations for some twenty years, when the
Indian title having been extinguished,
while settlers began to occupy Northern
Illinois and Wisconsin. The Sacs and
Foxes, having repented of their surrender
of this fair country, re-entered it in 1882,
but after short contest were expelled
and driven westward, and the working pc
riod commenced. Large cities have
sprung up on the Lake shores, and the
broad expanse of Lake Michigan is now
whitened by thousand sails; and even
the rocky cliffs of Superior echo the whis-
tie of the propeller instead of the scream
of the bald eagle.
Perhaps the ship-owners of the Allan
tic cities are hardly aware of the growth
of this Lake commerce within the last
twenty years, and that it is now nearly
equal in amount TO the whole foreign trade
of the country. Before entering on the
statistics of this trade, however, we will
give a brief description of the lakes them
selves:
Lake Superior, the largest expanse Of
fresh water on the globe, is $50 miles in
length, l60 in breadth, with depth OF
900 feet. 1t contains $4,000 square
miles of surface, which is elevated 627
feet above the surface of the ocean, while
portions of its bed are several hundred
feet below it. Its coast is 1900 miles in
extent, irregular, rocky shores, bold head
lands, and deep bays. 1t contains nu-
merous islands, one of which, Isle Roy
ale, has an area of $50 square miles,
The shores of this lake are rock bound,
sometimes rising into lofty cliffs and
pinnacles, twelve or thirteen hundred feet
high. Where the igneous rocks prevail,
the coast is finely indented; where the
sand stones abound, it is generally curved,
Lake Superior occupies an immense de-
preston for the most part excavated out
of the soft and yielding sand stone. Its
confguration on the east and north has
been determined by an irregular belt Of
granite, which forms rim, efiectually re.
sisting the further action of its waters
The temperature of the water in summer
is about 40 degrees.
Lake Huron connects with Superior
by the ST. Mary's River, is 26o miles long
and l60 broad; its circumference is l.
100 miles, its area 2O,40O. Georgian
Bay, 10 miles long, and 70 broad, forms
the northeastern portion, and lies with
British jurisdiction. Saginaw, deep
and wide-mouthed bay, is the principle
indentation on the western coast. The
rim of this lake is composed mostly Of
detrital rocks, which are rarely exposed.
In the northern portion of the lake, the
trap-rock on the Canada side intersect the
coast. The waters are as deep as those
of Superior, and possess great transpar-
ency. They rarely attain higher tenn
perature than so degrees, and, like those
of Superior, have the deep-blue tint Of
the ocean. The northern coast of Lake
Huron abounds in clusters of islands
Captain Bayfield, is said 10 have landed
on 10000 of them, and 10 have estimated
their number at 10000.
Lake Michigan, called by the early
voyagers Lac dies Illinois, is next in size
to Superior, being 800 miles in length
and 100 in breadth, with a circumference,
including Green Bay, of 1900 miles
1t contains $4,000 miles of surface, with
depth of 900 feet in the deeper parts,
though near the shore it grows gradually
shoal. The rocks which compose its rim
are of sedimentary nature, and afford
few indentations for harbors. The shores
are low, and lined in many places with
immense sand-banks. Green Bay, ol
Baie des Puans Of the Jesuits, on the
west coast, is one hundred miles long and
twenty broad. Great and Little Traverse
Bays occur on the eastern coast, anC
Great and Little Bays des Noquest OF
the northern. One cluster of islands j,
found at the outlet of the main lake, ant
another at that of Green Bay. Lake
Michigan is the only one of the Grea
Lakes which lies wholly within Ameri
can jurisdiction.