WHY DO YOU THINK THEY'RE CALLED "GREAT" LAKES? Part Three, Lake Huron

Welcome to Michigan's "Sunrise Side"––The shores of Lake Huron. Much quieter and just a teensy bit nicer than the heavily traveled shores of Lake Michigan––Lake Huron is where you go for true relaxation. Walk its sandy beaches for miles, enjoy a bonfire on the beach, and it begins to feel as if you have its entire 3,827 miles of coastline to yourself.

The residents like it this way, so I'd appreciate you not telling anyone about this gem of a Great Lake, please. : )

The early French explorers called this body of water La Mer Douce or Fresh Water Sea, though it was called "Lac des Hurons" on their early maps. It is 183 miles from the Michigan shore to the Canadian side. Huron carries the waters of Superior and Michigan, from the Straits of Mackinac, 206 miles south, where it suddenly narrows into the St. Clair River at Port Huron Michigan (a great place for ship watching). From there it flows into beautiful Lake St. Clair, then into the Detroit River and on into Lake Erie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Huron

Lake Huron

I could mention where this is. But then everyone would know 

Under the Blue Water Bridge to Canada, ships enter the St. Clair River at Port Huron

Lake St. Clair boat traffic for Detroit's 300th Anniversary July 2001

Sharing the channel on Lake St. Clair

On into Lake Erie

Vivian : )

ISLANDS OF THE DETROIT RIVER

View of Downtown Detroit from Scott Fountain on Belle Isle

 Mikerussell@wikipedia.org 

Looking over the map I posted below, I began to understand why I enjoy researching the Detroit River French. I like their modesty, their simple lack of vanity.

Modesty? There's a word we don't hear in these days of narcissistic celebrities and self glorifying social media. But the Detroit River French were a modest people––practical, hardworking, and down to earth as the river they settled. No ego on the banks of the Detroit River, not in 1701.

Detroit's founder, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a minor aristocrat, adopted many different names and titles to further his personal advancement. He had a grand plan for a new fur trading post on the Detroit River, yet he did not name his settlement Cadillac. He called it Fort Pontchartrain after the French Count who helped him gain funding for his mission from the King of France.

No one claimed the glory of discovering the Detroit River by giving it their own name. It was always called Rivière du Détroit, or River of the Strait. And that is exactly what the river is, a narrow, channel of water that connects two larger, bodies of water, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie.

The French habitants named all their surroundings for just what they were. North of the fort was Presque Isle, (almost an island) and the Grand Marais (big swamp). In the river lay Isle de Cachon. Named Hog Island, because they used pigs to trample the many snakes there, today it is Belle Isle (beautiful island). Farther south on the river was Isle de Dindes (Turkey Island). The largest island was called Grosse Isle (Big Island).

There were few claims of glory among the first habitants of Detroit, at least for themselves. In their eyes only God deserved glory. French mapmakers called the northern lake that fed the river Mer Douce or sweet sea, until the French explorer René Robert Cavelier named it Lac Sainte-Claire in 1679. St. Anne de Detroit Church, the first log building in their settlement, was named after Ste. Anne, whose feast day fell on the date they landed in Detroit.

The hearts and struggles of Detroit's first settlers always belonged to God.

Click the link below to enlarge and explore a great map of the  Detroit River from 1812. Though it was made by a British engineer you can still see many of the old French names, from River Rouge (Red River) to Bois Blanc Isle (White Wood). 

And if you like historic maps check out the David Rumsey Map Collection at: 

http://www.davidrumsey.com/

David Rumsey Map Collection

There is also an excellent Wikipedia article listing all the islands of the Detroit River. I count twenty eight. How about you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_in_the_Detroit_River

Vivian :)