TRANSPORTATION AND MARKETING 253 



by water. When the State was in its infancy, bright 

 dreams were entertained of such an inland canal 

 system linking up her river systems and affording 

 a ready means of trans-state shipments by water. An 

 abortive effort was made to join the Saginaw and 

 Grand Eiver basins in this way, the evidences of 

 which are still said to be traceable in the vicinity 

 of Bad Eiver, Saginaw County; and a much more 

 ambitious plan of canalization was undertaken^ in- 

 tended to unite Lake St. Clair with the mouth of the 

 Kalamazoo Eiver. At the same time companies were 

 established for the purpose of improving river navi- 

 gation, and the State made similar efforts on public 

 account. From time to time, agitation has been in- 

 stituted to interest the people of the State in this or 

 that internal waterway project, and the subject occa- 

 sionally is brought forward even now. The physical 

 conditions are most favorable on the Saginaw-Grand 

 Eiver route, and in former times advantage was 

 sometimes taken of the spring freshets which sub- 

 merged the low country of the region and thus made 

 possible the movement of logs between the two water- 

 courses. Farmers along the shores of the Great 

 Lakes and on the larger islands still send forward 

 a portion of their produce to market by boat, as in 

 the case of Manitou and Beaver Islands of Lake 

 Michigan, and the settlements on the "Garden" 

 Peninsula and on Huron Bay in the Upper Penin- 

 .sula, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior 

 respectively. 



The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 afforded 



