Category Archives: Michigan

Chicago Diversion : Environmental Threat and Economic Opportunity?

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In 1885 Chicago built a diversion to carry waste water to the Mississippi out from Lake Michigan. This led to a number of locks and such that supersede the Great Lakes Compact and the Boundary Waters Treaty that govern water usage in the Great Lakes basin due to a SCOTUS decision from around the 1890s (I already returned the library book – The Great Lakes Water Wars).

Since this time, there have been major diversions that have gone into the Great Lakes – notably the one developed during WWII in Ontario that feeds into Thunder Bay. The rule of thumb has been that if it remains inside the basin there isn’t much to worry about, but if it is outside the basin (excepting Chicago due to an antiquated SCOTUS decision), it is not approved.

For those unfamiliar with how the Great Lakes basin governance works, it takes the agreement of all the governors of the states or the executives of the provinces to allow a diversion if it is under a certain volume. If it exceeds that volume, the Boundary Waters Treaty comes into play – as does the updated Compact – and all the executives in both the Great Lakes States and Provinces must approve with subsequent approval in Ottawa and D.C. (Yeah, how long do you think that would take?)

Anyway, the Chicago Diversion has continued to add more and more suburbs outside the basin by staying within their overall volume allowance from an over 100 year old SCOTUS decision that SCOTUS just decided it would not re-hear. For whatever reason, Michigan’s case to cut off the links that allow for the carp to enter the lakes (and genetic materials have already been found on top of the fences) despite the likelihood of them destroying both fishing and tourism interests in an already weakened economic area.

Now, the main diversion and overall waterways surrounding Chicago are antiquated. Would it not make sense to use Federal monies to not only prevent the carp from invading international waters (Canada is still the USA’s largest trading partner); but, also, to engender a major infrastructure project in one of the areas of the country suffering from massive unemployment by updating an over 100 year old water system?

Or, are Chicago and federal politicians so corrupt and short-sighted that they cannot see this will turn into a major international incident if not headed off at the pass?

Introduction to the Lakes : Introduction to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway

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More on Our Freshwater Seas.

Introduction to the lakes: An introduction to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway by Frederick Louis Whitlark was written in 1959. It was one of the first books I found in our library system and though it is very outdated, it still has a wealth of historical information on the shipping industry of the lakes.

Whitlark goes through the commonly used ships and their routes in the mid-twentieth century. The routes taken are detailed in the book as well. When this book was written, the Mackinac Bridge was still brand new. He goes through the many lighthouses that dot the shores of the Great Lakes mentioning the (now retired) Lightship Huron that guided many a vessel through the waters surrounding Port Huron.

An entire section of the book is dedicated to the commerce that was current in the 1950s when the lakes were plied with outgoing industrial wares and raw materials. Mention is made of the then dying pleasure cruises and steamships that dominated that industry on the lakes.

Each lake (Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario) and major waterway (St. Marys River, Waterlink between Erie and Huron, and Welland Ship Canal) within the basin as well as those making up the St. Lawrence Seaway (Thousand Island, Internation Rapids, Lake St. Frances, Soulanges, and Lachine) are given their own sections. Each section details common routes and the ships that ply them.

Rudimentary maps and drawings are interspersed throughout the book to aid the reader in understanding the unique geography of the area. Though mentioned, Whitlark does not spend much time on the many, many shipwrecks that make the Great Lakes considered some of the most treacherous waters in the world.

Introduction to the lakes: An introduction to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway shows its age in such memorable quotes as:

We are quite sure that the first civilized men to see any part of the Great Lakes drainage basin were Norewegian Vikings. A replica of the DragonShip in which Leif Erikson sailed to the New World in 997 A.D. is located in Duluth. p. 158

Despite that, this is a worthy read for those interested in the history of the Great Lakes.

Freshwater Heritage : A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918

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From time to time I will be reviewing books on The Great Lakes and Michigan as part of a series celebrating the grandeur of North America’s freshwater seas. If anyone wants to join in, I will be happy to start a read-a-long.

Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 by Don Bamford is a delightful history from the beginnings of sailing on the Great Lakes. I am not someone familiar with sailing terminology or boating, for that matter, but this book was very accessible to even me.

Mr. Bamford takes the reader on a journey from the early discovery by the French of Lake Ontario – and their expansion into the other freshwater seas and rivers that intersect the center of the North American continent. He has us follow LaSalle’s efforts to control the waterways despite issues with his fellows and sponsors in France.

51qP8ZR7+JLThe end of French control of the Lakes allowed the British (and, eventually, the Americans) to gain a strong foothold in the Great Lakes basin. Mr. Bamford shows the importance of the technology of sailing ships that was imported from Europe for dominance on the lakes. The same shipbuilding skills that gave the USA the USS Constitution (oldest commissioned Naval vessel anywhere) allowed the United States to dominate the Great Lakes. Of course, Don Bamford also clearly illustrates that the majority of the time both the British and the Americans were in a game of avoiding each other’s ships – or trading them through capture.

One of the unique characters of Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 was the attention given to how the challenges of building ships in the wilderness settings surrounding the Great Lakes – even where there were older settlements such as Detroit. The skill these early shipbuilders displayed cannot be underestimated. The tools used were hand tools without the electrical power we take for granted today. You can almost see the skilled tradesmen as they carved and assembled the ship’s parts into one of the majestic sailboats that dominated the lakes through the 19th century.

The last portion of Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 is devoted to the various trades that sailing boats supported on the lakes. Starting with the fur trade that was dominated by John Astor, Bamford shows how Astor’s monopoly came to dominate. His sections on the fishing and lumber industries that decimated the fish population in the lakes and its surrounding forests brings understanding to how that happened despite its brevity. Lastly, he includes a section on the seemingly forgotten mining industry that Michigan dominated through its Upper Peninsula copper and iron mines.

Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 is a pleasant journey through the majesty of the historical sailing vessels that dominated the freshwater seas known as the Great Lakes. It is well worth the time of any history buff or serious maritime history student. Don Bamford’s 32 years of research were well-served in this publication.