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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 It was one of the first books I found in our library system and though it is very outdated, it still has a wealth of historical information on the shipping industry of the lakes.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.