SUPERIOR 



625 



Erie. If this anticlinal did not exist Lake Erie 

 would have had no existence, Lakes Huron and 

 Michigan would have emptied their waters through 

 Georgian Bay into Lake Ontario, and no falls would 

 have been known at Niagara. The narrow belt of Ni- 

 agara rocks curving about the head of Lake Michigan 

 contracts the water-shed so that it is lint a short dis- 

 tance to the tributaries of the Ohio, Mississippi, and 

 other rivers that empty into the Gnlf of Mexico. 

 The basin of Lake Superior lies apart from the ba- 

 sins of the other Great Lakes at the extreme north- 

 western limits of the formations which have been 

 mentioned. Its basin is excavated, in part, from the 

 lowest of the Silurian rocks. Tho mineral resources, 

 chiefly copper, iron, and silver, for which it is cele- 

 brated, belong to still older formations surrounding 

 it on all sides except the southern. The Lauren- 

 tian and Huronian mountains support a country of 

 forests and lakes of great extent, all the waters of 

 which reach the shores of Superior. The region is 

 really the western end of the great northern basin 

 drained by tho Ottawa, St. Maurice, and Saguenny 

 rivers. It is, indeed, a wilderness of small lakes, the 

 areas of which would make a water-surface as exten- 

 sive as that of Lake Ontario ; and the aggregate of 

 rivers would greatly exceed the volume of the St. 

 Lawrence river. Lake Superior, npon the Ameri- 

 can side, is somewhat low and sandy, the monotony 

 of the shore being broken by the Pictured Eocks ; 

 but upon the Canadian side the banks are less uni- 

 form. Among the islands the Twelve Apostles, Isle 

 Boyale, and Grand Isle, belong to the United States ; 

 and the Silver, Montreal, Leech, Slate, St. Ignace, 

 Pic, Sandy, Caribou, and smaller islands belong to 

 Canada. 



Lake Superior appears to have been comparatively 

 free from the greater part of the fluctuations in the 

 height of water that have been noticed upon the 

 lower of the Great Lakes. On April 14, 1858, there 

 was reported a change of 6 feet in the level of Lake 

 Michigan. On May 10, 1823, according to De Witt 

 Clinton, at Otter creek, on the Canada shore of Lake 

 Erie, a wave came in 9 feet high, and the same oc- 

 currence took place at Kettle creek, 21) miles dis- 

 tant. Another, in 1830, reported 3 waves at Madison 

 Kock, Lake Co., Ohio, the first rising 15 or 20 feet. 

 In 1814, or 184"), a wave came into Euclid creek 15 

 feet in height, carrying everything before it. On 

 Nov. 15, 1845, the water at Cleveland suddenly fell 

 2.8 feet during a high wind from the southwest. Tho 

 U. S. government lias, since 1859, taken 3 observa- 

 tions daily of tho height of the water at the Milwau- 

 kee lighthouse. In May, 1887, the water in Milwau- j 

 kee bay was a foot lower than in May, 1885. In 

 September the water reached the highest level it had 

 attained since 1859, a period of 27 years. In 1876, ; 

 however, the water-level wa.j very high, though not 

 as high as in 1886. Tho lowest stage of the water 

 recorded was in February, 1873, when the water-level 

 was 4 feet below the level of 1838. The annual flood ' 

 tide of the water is in September and October, and 

 the annual ebb tide in January, February, and March. 

 The greatest difference in the water-level noted in one 

 year was in 1871, when it was 2.6 feet higher in the 

 fall than in the previous winter. Before 1859 the j 

 observation of the water-stages depended upon ' 

 private sources, and they are conflicting. In 1852 

 Solomon Juneau, who had resided in Milwaukee 

 since 1818, said that never in his recollection had 

 the water in the bay been BO low as in 1820, and ' 

 never so high as in June, 1838, when the old Indian ' 

 race course was 6 feet under water. The difference 

 between the water-stage of 1819 and that of 1838 was 

 4.8 feet at Milwaukee and 5 feet 3 inches at Detroit. 

 This proves that Lake Michigan annually rises and 

 falls from 12 to 18 inches. Lake Superior also shows 

 fluctuations in a less degree. In 1789, opposite Isle 



! Royale, there was a sudden fall of four feet in the 

 j waters, and when they returned they did so with a 

 rush, the vibrations continuing for several hours. In 

 : 1834 the waters above the Sault St. Mary rapids sud- 

 j denly receded, and in half an hour returned with 

 great velocity. In August, 1845, Dr. Foster states 

 that while in an open boat between Copper harbor 

 i and Eagle river, an enormous surge, 20 feet in 

 height and crested with foam, rolled toward the 

 chore, succeeded by 2 or 3 swells. Dr. Foster ob- 

 served repeated flows and reflux of the waters in 

 1847, 1848, and 1849, which preceded or followed 

 storms on the lake. In 1851 D. D. Brockway re- 

 ported, in a perfect calm, a sudden rise of 15 inches, 

 and in another 2 feet. Tlie Lake Superior News 

 of July 17, 1855, reported extreme fluctuations be- 

 tween 9 A. M. and 4 p. M. The U. 8. government 

 ; has recently finished several charts, based upon 

 i a long series of observations, which show that 

 from 1882 to 1888 the surface of Lakes Michigan, 

 Huron, and Erie was considerably above the mean 

 level. The water at the present time is about ono 

 foot lower than the average from 1882 to 1887. Tho 

 charts also show that the fluctuations in the lake 

 levels have closely corresponded to the rainfalls. 

 The fact may be considered established that the 

 Lakes are bimply great pools, forming part of tho 

 course of a river, and that they conform to all the 

 laws governing the rise and fall of rivers. 



As early as 1C21 it was known that the shores of 

 Lake Superior contained great mineral wealth. The 

 French Jesuits first visited the great inland sea 

 early in the beginning of the 17th century, but it was 

 not till nearly fifty years later that Ken6 Mesnard 

 visited (he Lake ar.d wrote an accurate account of 

 Ihe discoveries uinde on his voyage about its shores. 

 Mesnard was followed by Allouez, Marquette, Da- 

 blon, and other French explorers, who made good 

 maps of the lake, and gathered much information 

 about the minerals from the natives with whom they 

 came in contact. In 1721 De Charlevoix, an advent- 

 urous Frenchman, spent nearly a year on and about 

 Lake Superior, and a few years later he published a 

 graphic account of his discoveries in Paris. During 

 the 18th century a number of explorers and trap- 

 pers visited the shores of the Gieat Lakes, and 

 while all of them seem to have foimed a high opin- 

 ion of the mineral wealth of the shores of Superior, 

 tho great distance from what was then the boundary 

 of civilization made it impossible to operate mines 

 of any kind. One English company, foimed to mine 

 copper, did scud, in 1770-72, a few men to the north 

 of Ontonagon river, but no copper was ever mined 

 by them. In 1830 Dr. Douglas Honghton, an able 

 geologist, visited the Lake Superior district in com- 

 pany with Gen. Lewis Cass, and continued his ex- 

 plorations for 10 years, spending nearly all of that 

 time in northern Michigan. In 1841 he made a re- 

 port to the State legislature setting forth his discov- 

 eries. The report made a sensation, and led to tho 

 development of the great copper interests of the 

 district. In 1845 Dr. Houghton was drowned iu 

 L'Anse bay, and with him perished much valuable 

 knowledge. In addition to discovering valuable 

 veins of copper, it is certain that ho found gold in 

 nuggets and grains. His death was a great loss to 

 the district. Since 1842 the development of the cop- 

 per mining industry has been rapid and continuous 

 (see COPPER). 



In 1845 what the discoverers thought to be a solid 

 mountain of iron ore was found at Negannee, Mar- 

 quette Co., and the Jackson Iron Company was 

 formed to mine and smelt the ore. From 1845 to 

 1855 very little was accomplished, but in the latter 

 year the'first canal at Sault St. Mary was completed 

 by the State, and it became possible to ship ore to 

 Eastern furnaces. In 1854 the old Cleveland mine 



