The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-01-12


delights the tourist has been rapid, and when
one thinks Of it, rather bewildering-a span
since steam and sail were unknown on the
mighty chain OF lakes which separate this
republic from tho colonies OF Great Britain at
tho north Then water fowl and red men
we're the only mariners. La Sale, the French
explorer, appeared on Lake Huron in 1879
with the Griffin, but it went down, and for a
century nothing but canoes and batteaux
were seen on Huron, or any other northern
lake, for that matter. Thirteen years before
the dawn OF this century the Gladwin a brig
Of 80 TONS was plying between Detroit and
Mackinac on various missions. Sometimes it
was in tho service of the government. and
again it was dealing in furs and supplies for
the trappers in the wilderness. Later on it
was lost on Lake Erie, where hundreds Of
other vessels have COMO down amid tempest
and storm. Lake Superior seldom gives
mp its dead, but it is not as furious
as Erie, which is more shallow and easily
tossed into pillows by an ordinary gale. Iii
Granger, in l10S three miles below Rochester,
built tho Jamima, vessel of thirty tons.
which has the honor of being the first Ancri-
can ship built on Lake Ontario. The first
American vessel built on Lake Erie war the
Washington, which took tho water near
Erie, Pa, in 1871. Others followed, but tho
demand for them was not great, and ship
huilding as IN industry was hardly recog-
MED interest. During the war of 1872 many
of tho vessels on the lakes were purchased 10y
the government, and after being supplied
with arms, sailed forth only to find an ever
lasting anchorage where cannon balls could
not reach them. Commodore Perry fought
his historical battle on Lake Erie, opposite the
present city Of Sandusliy, with nine sailing
vessels n tremendous feet in those days. One
shot from the big guns of today wouli have
probably sunk them all. There were 81 can
non and $50 men III the fleet Opposed 10 them
were q ships, G8 guns and 5O2 men. Last
summer in tho ST. Clair river | saw ono of
Perrys gunbOats tied up ut Il little dock mid
way from Detroit TO Port Huron. Smoke,
peaceful smoke, curled from piece Of stove
pipe in its decks, and as | passed | slnelled
ham and eggs instead Of powder.
The first steamboat on tho lakes was the
Ontario, which was made after the pattern
of tho Sea Horse then running on Long
Island sound. Tho Ontario was launched in
1877 and was 10 feet long aud Of 237 tons
burden Capt. Francis Mallaby, Of the
navy, was the master, and she ran between
Ogdensburg and Lewiston, N. Y. The
distance was GOO miles, tho fare SIS, and it
required twenty days 10 make the round trip.
The fir 3 Canadian steamer on the lakes was
the Trontenac, OF 800 TONS painted like "a
pirate However, tho greatest sensation In
vessels was the famed Walk-in-the- Water,
which was built on the Niagara river and
put into service in 1878 She was steamer
and the first one 20 ride tho waters Of Erie
and Michigan Her initial voyage was from
Black Rock, ". Y, to Detroit She made
the trip in five days, during the month of
August, and carried twenty-nne passengers
Wherever she touched she was royalty wei
coined 10y the crack Of cannon aud the cheers
Of excited citizens, who looked for tho first
tlmo on steamboat. The following year
she made her way into Lake Michigan and
late in the autumn was wrecked at Black
Rock, now a part of the city Of Buffalo.
Emigrauts began to pierce the vast wilder
ness in tho northwest soon after this in con-
siderable numbers, and the returning vessels
were freightsd with fuIs, In 1897 the schooner
Tiger took II cargo Of 40 packs of furs,
valued at ST. 600, from Detroit TO Buffalo.
However, tho shipping interest rather Ian
guishod, and for twenty years, from 1916
until 1885, only forty-one vessels all told
were built ON tho lakes. The Uncle Sam
touched 20 Chicago In 1874, and thereafter
during the season that embryo city was
favored with the comings and goings of one
steamer week Tho first explosion on the
American side of the lakes was i'll 1880, when
the Peacock Of the Erie Steamboat line went
up and fifteen lives went out.