Editing Great Lakes (section)

==History==
[[File:Le-griffon.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A woodcut of ''Le Griffon'']]
Several Native American populations ([[Paleo-indians]]) inhabited the region around 10,000 BC, after the end of the Wisconsin glaciation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = O'Shea |first1 = John |last2 = Meadows |first2 = Guy |date = June 23, 2009 |title = Evidence for early hunters beneath the Great Lakes |journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume = 106 |issue = 25 |pages = 10120–10123 |quote = The earliest human occupation in the upper Great Lakes is associated with the regional fluted-point Paleoindian tradition, which conventionally ends with the drop in water level to the Lake Stanley stage |pmc = 2700903 |pmid = 19506245 |doi = 10.1073/pnas.0902785106 |bibcode = 2009PNAS..10610120O |doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3584 |title = Ancient Land and First Peoples |publisher = Wisconsin Historical Society |date = February 6, 2013 |access-date = February 13, 2020 }}</ref> The peoples of the Great Lakes traded from around 1000 AD, as copper nuggets have been extracted from the region and fashioned into ornaments and weapons in the mounds of Southern Ohio.

The [[Rush–Bagot Treaty]] signed in 1818, after the [[War of 1812]] and the later [[Treaty of Washington (1871)|Treaty of Washington]] eventually led to a complete disarmament of naval vessels in the Great Lakes. Nonetheless, both nations maintained coast guard vessels in the Great Lakes.

The brigantine {{ship||Le Griffon}}, which was commissioned by [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]], was built at Cayuga Creek, near the southern end of the [[Niagara River]], and became the first known sailing ship to travel the upper Great Lakes on August 7, 1679.<ref name="Woodford1991">{{cite book |last = Woodford |first = Arthur M. |title = Charting the Inland Seas: A History of the U.S. Lake Survey |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PjcUrS0vZGcC&pg=PA4 |year = 1991 |publisher = Wayne State University Press |isbn = 978-0-8143-2499-8 |page = 4 }}</ref> During settlement, the Great Lakes and its rivers were the only practical means of moving people and freight. Barges from middle North America were able to reach the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes when the [[First Welland Canal|Welland Canal]] opened in 1824 and the later Erie Canal opened in 1825.<ref name="Bernstein2010oi">{{cite book |last = Bernstein |first = Peter L. |title = Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=94edBai9RDoC&pg=PA349 |year = 2010 |publisher = W.W. Norton |isbn = 978-0-393-32795-3 |page = 349 }}</ref> By 1848, with the opening of the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]] at Chicago, direct access to the Mississippi River was possible from the lakes.<ref name="Danzer2011re">{{cite book |last = Danzer |first = Gerald A. |title = Illinois: A History in Pictures |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VulYOvM4f48C&pg=PA90 |year = 2011 |publisher = [[University of Illinois Press]] |isbn = 978-0-252-03288-2 |page = 90 }}</ref> With these two canals an all-inland water route was provided between New York City and [[New Orleans]].

The main business of many of the passenger lines in the 19th century was transporting immigrants. Many of the larger cities owe their existence to their position on the lakes as a freight destination as well as for being a magnet for immigrants. After railroads and surface roads developed, the freight and passenger businesses dwindled and, except for ferries and a few foreign cruise ships, have now vanished.
The immigration routes still have an effect today. Immigrants often formed their own communities, and some areas have a pronounced ethnicity, such as Dutch, German, Polish, Finnish, and many others. Since many immigrants settled for a time in New England before moving westward, many areas on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes also have a New England feel, especially in home styles and accent.

[[File:Eastland Christopher Columbus leaving Chicago ca1912.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The passenger ship {{SS|Eastland}} (foreground) leaving Chicago, c. 1909]]

Since general freight these days is transported by railroads and trucks, domestic ships mostly move bulk cargoes, such as [[iron ore]], [[coal]] and [[limestone]] for the [[steel]] industry. The domestic bulk freight developed because of the nearby mines. It was more economical to transport the ingredients for steel to centralized plants rather than to make steel on the spot. Grain exports are also a major cargo on the lakes. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, iron and other ores such as copper were shipped south on (downbound ships), and supplies, food, and coal were shipped north (upbound). Because of the location of the coal fields in Pennsylvania and [[West Virginia]], and the general northeast track of the [[Appalachian Mountains]], railroads naturally developed shipping routes that went due north to ports such as [[Erie, Pennsylvania]] and [[Ashtabula, Ohio]].

Because the lake maritime community largely developed independently, it has some distinctive vocabulary. Ships, no matter the size, are called "boats". When the sailing ships gave way to steamships, they were called "steamboats"—the same term used on the Mississippi. The ships also have a distinctive design; ships that primarily trade on the lakes are known as "[[Lake freighter|lakers]]". Foreign boats are known as "salties". One of the more common sights on the lakes has been since about 1950 the {{convert|1000|by|105|ft|adj=on}}, {{convert|78850|LT|metric ton|adj=on}} self-unloader. This is a laker with a conveyor belt system that can unload itself by swinging a crane over the side.<ref>{{cite web |last = Wharton |first = George |title = Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature – Burns Harbor |url = http://www.boatnerd.com/pictures/fleet/burnsharbor.htm |work = Boatnerd |access-date = August 6, 2010 }}</ref> Today, the Great Lakes fleet is much smaller in numbers than it once was because of the increased use of overland freight, and a few larger ships replacing many small ones.

During World War II, the risk of submarine attacks against coastal training facilities motivated the [[United States Navy]] to operate two aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes, {{USS|Sable|IX-81|6}} and {{USS|Wolverine|IX-64|6}}. Both served as training ships to qualify naval aviators in carrier landing and takeoff.<ref name="Gonzalez2008o">{{cite book |last = Gonzalez |first = Therese |title = Great Lakes Naval Training Station |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CbX3WAOPaHIC&pg=PA71 |year = 2008 |publisher = Arcadia Publishing |isbn = 978-0-7385-5193-7 |page = 71 }}</ref> [[Lake Champlain]] briefly became the sixth Great Lake of the United States on March 6, 1998, when [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the [[National Sea Grant Program]], contained a line declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. Following a small uproar, the Senate voted to revoke the designation on March 24 (although New York and Vermont universities would continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).<ref>{{cite news |last = Seelye |first = Katharine Q. |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/25/us/lakes-are-born-great-5-sniff-so-upstart-is-ousted.html |title = Lakes Are Born Great, 5 Sniff, So Upstart Is Ousted |work = The New York Times |date = March 25, 1998 |access-date = November 14, 2013 }}</ref>

Alan B. McCullough has written that the fishing industry of the Great Lakes got its start "on the American side of Lake Ontario in [[Chaumont Bay]], near the [[Maumee River]] on Lake Erie, and on the [[Detroit River]] at about the time of the War of 1812". Although the region was sparsely populated until the 1830s, so there was not much local demand and transporting fish was prohibitively costly, there were economic and infrastructure developments that were promising for the future of the fishing industry going into the 1830s. Particularly, the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal and the Welland Canal a few years later. The fishing industry expanded particularly in the waters associated with the [[fur trade]] that connect Lake Erie and Lake Huron. In fact, two major suppliers of fish in the 1830s were the fur trading companies [[Hudson's Bay Company]] and the [[American Fur Company]].<ref name="bogue3">{{cite book |last1 = Bogue |first1 = Magaret Beattie |title = Fishing the Great Lakes: An Environmental History, 1783–1933 |date = 2000 |publisher = The University of Wisconsin Press |pages = 29–31 }}</ref>

The catch from these waters was sent to the growing market for [[salted fish]] in Detroit, where merchants involved in the fur trade had already gained some experience handling salted fish. One such merchant was [[John P. Clark]], a [[shipbuilder]] and merchant who began selling fish in the area of [[Manitowoc, Wisconsin]] where whitefish was abundant. Another operation cropped up in [[Georgian Bay]], Canadian waters plentiful with trout as well as whitefish. In 1831, Alexander MacGregor from [[Goderich, Ontario]] found whitefish and [[herring]] in abundant supply around the Fishing Islands. A contemporary account by [[Methodist]] missionary John Evans describes the fish as resembling a "bright cloud moving rapidly through the water".<ref name="bogue3" />

From 1844 through 1857, [[palace steamer]]s carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes.<ref name="Thompson19912">{{cite book |last = Thompson |first = Mark L. |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KRLZDXIEWCsC&pg=PA210 |title = Steamboats & Sailors of the Great Lakes |publisher = Wayne State University Press |year = 1991 |isbn = 978-0-8143-2359-5 |page = 210 }}</ref> In the first half of the 20th century [[Great Lakes passenger steamers|large luxurious passenger steamers]] sailed the lakes in opulence.<ref name="KoutskyKoutsky20062">{{cite book |last1 = Strand |first1 = Kathryn Koutsky |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_zmhDMlWrIC&pg=PA34 |title = Minnesota Vacation Days: An Illustrated History |last2 = Koutsky |first2 = Linda |publisher = Minnesota Historical Society |year = 2006 |isbn = 978-0-87351-526-9 |page = 34 }}</ref> The [[Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company]] had several vessels at the time and hired workers from all walks of life to help operate these vessels.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ABuzV44QuUkC&pg=PA30 |title = Toast of the Town: The Life and Times of Sunnie Wilson |publisher = Wayne State University Press |year = 2005 |isbn = 978-0-8143-2696-1 |page = 30 }}</ref> Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands. As of 2007, four car ferry services cross the Great Lakes, two on Lake Michigan: a steamer from [[Ludington, Michigan]], to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and a high speed catamaran from Milwaukee to [[Muskegon, Michigan]], one on Lake Erie: a boat from [[Kingsville, Ontario]], or [[Leamington, Ontario]], to [[Pelee, Ontario|Pelee Island, Ontario]], then onto [[Sandusky, Ohio]], and one on Lake Huron: the MS ''Chi-Cheemaun''<ref>{{cite web |title = MS Chi-Cheemaun About Us |url = http://www.ontarioferries.com/ontarioferries/english/aboutus.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141129135305/http://www.ontarioferries.com/ontarioferries/english/aboutus.html |archive-date = November 29, 2014 |access-date = June 29, 2014 |publisher = Ontario Ferries }}</ref> runs between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island, operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company. [[HSC Virgen de Coromoto|An international ferry]] across Lake Ontario from [[Rochester, New York]], to [[Toronto]] ran during 2004 and 2005 but is no longer in operation.

=== Shipwrecks ===
{{See also|List of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes|Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes|Great Lakes Storm of 1913}}
The large size of the Great Lakes increases the risk of water travel; [[storm]]s and [[reef]]s are common threats. The lakes are prone to sudden and severe storms, in particular in the autumn, from late October until early December. Hundreds of ships have met their end on the lakes. The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near [[Thunder Bay (Michigan)]], beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. The Lake Superior shipwreck coast from [[Grand Marais, Michigan]], to [[Whitefish Point]] became known as the "[[Graveyard of the Great Lakes]]". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.<ref>{{cite book |last = Stonehouse |first = Frederick |orig-date = 1985 |year = 1998 |title = Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast |page = 267 |publisher = Avery Color Studios |location = Gwinn, Michigan |isbn = 0-932212-43-3 }}</ref> The [[Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve]] serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area.

The first ship to sink in Lake Michigan was ''Le Griffon'', also the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. Caught in a 1679 storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, she was lost with all hands aboard.<ref name="ledger0411042">{{cite news |url = http://www.ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=3448 |last = Matile |first = Roger |date = April 11, 2004 |title = Has a famed Great Lakes mystery been solved? |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160101014314/http://www.ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=3448 |archive-date = January 1, 2016 |newspaper = Ledger-Sentinel |location = Oswego, Illinois }}</ref> Its wreck may have been found in 2004,<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.canada.com/technology/France+claims+historic+Great+Lakes+wreck/1299362/story.html |title = France claims historic Great Lakes wreck |first = Randy |last = Boswell |publisher = Canwest News Service |date = February 17, 2009 }}</ref> but a wreck subsequently discovered in a different location was also claimed in 2014 to be ''Le Griffon''.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://news.yahoo.com/explorer-says-griffin-shipwreck-may-found-014242419.html |title = Explorer says Griffin shipwreck may be found |work = Yahoo! News |agency = Associated Press |date = June 24, 2014 }}</ref> The largest and last major freighter wrecked on the lakes was the {{SS|Edmund Fitzgerald}}, which sank on November 10, 1975, just over {{convert|17|mi|km|sigfig=1}} offshore from Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. The largest loss of life in a shipwreck out on the lakes may have been that of {{PS|Lady Elgin||2}}, wrecked in 1860 with the loss of around 400 lives on Lake Michigan. In an incident at a Chicago dock in 1915, the {{SS|Eastland}} rolled over while loading passengers, killing 844.

In 2007, the [[Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum|Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society]] announced that it had found the wreckage of ''Cyprus'', a {{convert|420|ft|m|adj=on}} long, century-old [[ore]] carrier. ''Cyprus'' sank during a Lake Superior storm on October 11, 1907, during its second voyage while hauling iron ore from [[Superior, Wisconsin]], to Buffalo, New York. The entire crew of 23 drowned, except one, Charles Pitz, who floated on a life raft for almost seven hours.<ref>{{cite news |date = September 10, 2007 |title = Century-old shipwreck discovered |publisher = NBC News |agency = Associated Press |url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna20679934 |access-date = December 3, 2007 }}</ref> In 2008, [[Deep sea diving|deep sea divers]] in Lake Ontario found the wreck of the 1780 [[Royal Navy]] warship {{HMS|Ontario|1780|6}} in what has been described as an "archaeological miracle".<ref>{{cite news |date = June 14, 2008 |title = Divers find 1780 British warship |publisher = BBC News |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7454578.stm |access-date = June 15, 2008 }}</ref> There are no plans to raise her as the site is being treated as a war grave. In 2010, ''[[L.R. Doty]]'' was found in Lake Michigan by an exploration diving team led by dive boat Captain Jitka Hanakova from her boat ''Molly V''.<ref>{{cite news |date = June 24, 2010 |title = L.R. Doty, ship that sank in Lake Michigan 112 years ago, found largely intact near Milwaukee |newspaper = [[Star Tribune]] |location = Minneapolis |url = http://www.startribune.com/local/97084514.html |access-date = June 28, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100627120140/http://www.startribune.com/local/97084514.html |archive-date = June 27, 2010 }}</ref> The ship sank in October 1898, probably attempting to rescue a small schooner, ''Olive Jeanette'', during a terrible storm.

Still missing are the two last warships to sink in the Great Lakes, the French minesweepers [[French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles|''Inkerman'' and ''Cerisoles'']], which vanished in Lake Superior during a blizzard in 1918. 78 people died, making it the largest loss of life in Lake Superior and the greatest unexplained loss of life in the Great Lakes.

The [[Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary]] was established in 2021 in the waters of Lake Michigan off Wisconsin. It is the site of a large number of historically significant [[shipwreck]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/06/23/2021-12846/wisconsin-shipwreck-coast-national-marine-sanctuary-designation-final-regulations |title = Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Designation; Final Regulations |author = National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration |work = Federal Register |date = June 23, 2021 |access-date = June 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/media/docs/wisconsin-shipwreck-coast-national-marine-sanctuary.pdf |title = National Marine Sanctuaries media document: Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary |access-date = June 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-designates-new-national-marine-sanctuary-in-wisconsin-s-lake-michigan |work = NOAA News |title = NOAA designates new national marine sanctuary in Wisconsin's Lake Michigan |date = June 22, 2021 |access-date = June 29, 2021 }}</ref>