The Water Highway

The Water Highway. . , Straits of Mackinac - a juncture in travel , Transportation through the Straits of Mackinac has changed dramatically over the centuries. The earliest inhabitants travelled by boat and found the Straits a convenient east-west highway linking the midwest of the North American continent to the Atlantic world by way of the St. Lawrence River. Once land transportation, in the form of railways and highways, became convenient the traffic patterns in the Straits swiveled to a north-south direction. , The water has been used by all peoples , Before the arrival of Europeans, some Native Americans spent their summers in the Straits fishing and trading. They explored and learned the interconnected waterways that could carry them far to the west and east. , When Europeans arrived, the strategic importance of the Great Lakes in the fur trade made Michilimackinac a well-known name throughout the world. Over time, the fur trade was replaced by fishing and lumbering. Despite land-based highways, these products and other heavy products of the last two centuries have found transport on the water highway cheaper. Today, you still see freighters carrying products to and from the rest of the world. , Caption 1744 Map of the Great Lakes