Early Great Lakes Shipping
Lake shipping and trade began with the Native Americans who used dugouts, and birch bark canoes. They were the original users of the region's natural resources. Using extensive routes, the Native Americans either traded amongst themselves or with other local nations.
People-powered canoes were likewise the first means of exploration and trade for European explorers. And furs were the first trade goods for the French and English in the Great Lakes region. Fur-bearing animals, such as beaver, had been decimated in England by the early 1500s. They found a new source in the New World. Voyageurs in canoes, or bateaux, trapped the beaver in cold weather, since pelts thickened with the approach of winter.
Early Lakes sailing vessels were French, with the first being LaSalle's famous Le Griffon that sunk after leaving Green Bay, not too long after its Lake Erie launching in 1679.Trade and shipping along the Lakes progressed slowly but steadily. Inland trade was facilitated by the building of canals. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825, connecting Buffalo to the Hudson River (at Albany) and the Atlantic Ocean. At this time, Cleveland was still a small village at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, while Fairport Harbor and Sandusky, Ohio, were much larger centers of commerce. The building of the Ohio and Erie Canal, completed in 1832, connected Cleveland to the Ohio River at Portsmouth. This link brought prosperity to Cleveland and enabled the city to grow as a center of commerce and shipping. By this time, lumber, grain and livestock were being transported along the Lakes routinely.
In 1829, the Welland Canal opened, bypassing Niagara Falls to connect Lakes Ontario and Erie. With the opening of the Soo Locks in 1855, Lake Superior was opened to continuous Lake traffic without dependence on overland portages between Lake Huron and Lake Superior.
Major Technological Developments
Summary of Great Lakes Shipping Events