A PEEK AT THE PAST…
Transportation of The Great Lakes
by Leonard DeFrain

The Indians in Michigan relied on the canoes of "dug-out" logs for transportation. As a young boy Saturday night movies at the theater meant cowboys and Indians. The Indians and the cowboys always had lots of horses. In all my history of Indians in Michigan, I have not read anything that ever mentions anything about them having horses. The only other means of transportation for the Indians was paths close to the shoreline of Lake Huron. The first road in Michigan, along the eastern side, was called Gratiot and extended from Detroit to Port Huron.

The first white settlers known to be in Huron County were John Allen and Alanson Daggett, who came in the spring of 1837. They were lumbermen, and they located themselves on the eastern coast of the county at a place they named Allen's Creek (Rock Falls) where they put up a water-powered sawmill. One early pioneer settler was John Hopson, who came to Rock Falls on June 6, 1847, in a skiff. Lyman French and a Mr. McDonald rowed him from Port Huron. It is not known exactly how many days it took, but it is known that each night they made camp on the beach and, provided the weather was favorable, they resumed their journey the next morning.

The Griffin, Armed Brig of 50 - 60 ton and 60 ft. length was launched at Niagara in 1679, generally considered to be the first European-style vessel on the upper Great Lakes. The Griffin carried the explorer LaSalle and his party to Green Bay on her maiden voyage. Loaded to the gun whales with furs, she left on the return trip with a crew of six in the fall of 1679 and was never heard from again.

As lake traffic increased in the early 1870s the need for a shelter became apparent. Sand Beach was selected for a harbor of refuge in 1873 and work started that same year and was to be completed in 1885. However, it was not completed until 1894.

Early pictures of boats in the harbor show mostly sailing vessels, which carried just about everything. Steam boats began to show up, and sailboats began to disappear.

Passenger boats stopped at many towns on Lake Huron shores. They not only carried passengers, but freight and animals, also.

The storm in November 1913 changed transportation on Lake Huron. Passenger boats could no longer stop at small towns as most of the docks were gone. Forestville had three docks as did Lexington. Forester, White Rock, Port Hope and many other ports were out of business.