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 .B97 
 Copy 1 
 
 LatSalle 
 
 and tKe 
 
 Griffon 
 
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 in 2010 with funding from 
 The Library of Congress 
 
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HISTORICAL PAPER 
 
 DKWVKRED 
 
 By C. M. burton, 
 
 before the 
 
 SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 AT A SOCIAL COURT HELD AT THE RESIDENCE OF 
 
 GOVERNOR THEODORE H. EATON, 
 
 JANUARY TWENTY- SIXTH, 
 
 NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWO. 
 
 ^ 
 
 1903. 
 
 Winn & Hammond, 
 
 Detroit. 
 
T 
 
 b IOj 
 
 p/nn 
 
LaSalle and the griffon. 
 
 By C. M. Burton. 
 
 ON the 26th day of January, 1679, was laid the 
 keel of the Griffon, the first sail vessel on 
 Lake Erie, and the last sail vessel built and 
 sailed on this lake for more than half a century. 
 Some question has been raised as to the exact loca- 
 tion of the shipyard of the Griffon, but it is sufficient 
 for us to know that it was located on the Niagara 
 River, between the Falls and the present City of 
 Buffalo, probably on the eastern side of the river, but 
 possibly on the Canadian side. 
 
 Rene Robert Cavelier, commonly known by the 
 name of LaSalle, which was the name of his ances- 
 tral estate in France, came to America in 1666, at 
 the age of 23 years. He early evinced a desire to 
 explore the western country, along lines that were 
 entirely unknown at that date. 
 
 LaSalle in his youth had studied for the priest- 
 hood, but the education obtained in his preparatory 
 studies directed his mind along the lines of liberal 
 thought, then quite prevalent in France, and he soon 
 concluded that he was not fitted for the ministry, 
 and so turned his attention to more worldly affairs. 
 
 The Society of Jesus, commonly called the Jesuits, 
 was very powerful both in France and in Canada at 
 this time, and its influence with the Court party and 
 constant attempts to control the political affairs of 
 the new country had raised against it a host of 
 enemies. 
 
Governor Frontenac was the most important of 
 the enemies of this Order in New France, but there 
 were many others of lesser note then, and in after 
 times, as LaSalle, Cadillac, and all of the priests of 
 the other religious orders, who were outspoken in 
 their opposition and suffered in consequence. 
 
 In some ways Frontenac and LaSalle were alike. 
 Both zealous in their love for their mother country, 
 and anxious that its unknown territory should be 
 explored and reduced to a proper subjection. Both 
 decidedly opposed to the Jesuits, and determined 
 that they would not be subject to the rulings of the 
 Order. Both indefatigable in the work in which 
 they were engaged, and determined to succeed at all 
 hazards. So it happened that these two men fell to 
 liking each other, and their contact was a matter of 
 benefit to both. 
 
 A fort had been erected upon the north shore of 
 Lake Ontario, which LaSalle obtained as a grant 
 from the King of France, and with the grant he 
 obtained the privilege of founding there a colony to 
 be administered to by a Recollet Friar. The same 
 plan was followed many years later by Cadillac in 
 the founding of our own City of Detroit, and with a 
 like result, in that it brought down upon the head of 
 each the wrath of the Order of Jesuits, then the 
 most powerful organization in the world. 
 
 It was hard for either man to stand up in opposi- 
 tion to this Order, and the troubles and trials of 
 each may largely be laid to the opposition of this 
 enemy. 
 
 LaSalle had conceived the idea that by progress- 
 ing westward along the line of the St. Lawrence 
 River, and beyond, he would ultimately discover a 
 passage that would lead to China, and, it is said, that 
 
this idea, promulgated at this time to a horde of 
 imbehevers, was scoffed at and ridiculed to so great 
 an extent that the LaChine Rapids in the River St. 
 Lawrence were so named in derision of LaSalle's 
 contemplated expedition to China through those 
 waters. 
 
 The building of Fort Frontenac, at Kingston, 
 was in opposition tO' the wishes of the Iroquois In- 
 dians, with whom the French could never keep on 
 friendly terms, and they desired its destruction. It 
 was not destroyed, but it did not prosper, and it was 
 not long before LaSalle asked permission to leave 
 it, and to work on further, into- the unknown coun- 
 try in his explorations. 
 
 In 1678 he obtained permission to explore the 
 western country, and began making preparations 
 for the journey. 
 
 We now know that as early as 1656, and possibly 
 much earlier, certain persons had passed around 
 Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, and through the 
 Detroit River, and had explored the same sufficiently 
 to make a fairly accurate map of the waters, and the 
 adjacent land. This map had been published in 
 Paris, by the official geographer, and copies of it 
 were quite extensively circulated. These maps show 
 that there were Jesuit missions scattered all over the 
 lower portion of Canada, between the Detroit River 
 and Lake Ontario, but they do not show that the ex- 
 plorers knew of the Falls of Niagara, or that there 
 was any connection between Lakes Erie and On- 
 tario. 
 
 It is fair to suppose that LaSalle knew of the ex- 
 istence of these maps, for they w'ere printed in 
 France and sold publicly. Their existence has 
 always been known to students, but little attention 
 
\ , 
 
 to them was paid by Windsor, Frost, Bancroft, or 
 Parkman, and no mention is made of them by any 
 of these writers to prove the early exploration of 
 the western country. 
 
 In 1669 LaSalle had accompanied the two priests, 
 Dollier de Casson and de Galinee, as far as the Falls 
 of Niagara on their trip through the Great Lakes, 
 but at this point he had returned to Montreal, and 
 they had proceeded on their journey and had made 
 a map of their explorations, showing the Detroit 
 River, but the map had not, in 1678, been published, 
 and was not published for many years, though 
 LaSalle may have seen the original draft. 
 
 So far as can be ascertained, LaSalle did not know 
 how large Lake Erie was, or where a voyage would 
 lead to, if once started upon its waters. 
 
 He built a brigantine of ten tons on Lake Ontario 
 in 1678, and in order to extend his operations in 
 trading and exploring further west, he planned to 
 build a larger vessel above the Falls on Lake Erie. 
 
 His chief companions were Henry DeTonty, he of 
 the iron hand ; LaMothe de Lussiere, who, I believe, 
 was a near relative of our own Antoine de la Mothe 
 Cadillac, and Father Louis Hennepin. Father Hen- 
 nepin was a Recollet priest, at that time an intimate 
 friend of the great explorer, and one of the recorders 
 of the events of this occasion. The brigantine was 
 employed to convey materials from Montreal for the 
 purpose of building the new boat, and a tramway 
 was built to convey the heavy materials up the eleva- 
 tion between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. On the 
 26th of January, 1679, the keel of the boat was laid, 
 and men worked diligently to complete the vessel and 
 get it launched, lest it should be destroyed by the 
 Iroquois, who had threatened to burn it. The loss 
 
of a part of the materials for the new boat required 
 the return of LaSalle to Fort Frontenac and Mon- 
 treal for new supplies, and subsequently Hennepin 
 also returned to Fort Frontenac. In the meantime 
 the work on the boat progressed, and in May it was 
 launched and named the Griffon. It sailed part way 
 up the Niagara River, but did not ascend the Rapids, 
 and rode at anchor until the arrival of LaSalle, Hen- 
 nepin, and LaForest. With the arrival of these men 
 the heavy materials, anchors, cannon, munitions, and 
 provisions were carried over the portage and around 
 the Falls. Several times the sails were hoisted and 
 the Griffon attempted to ascend the Rapids to the 
 lake proper, but every attempt was a failure. Aj; 
 length, however, towards the end of July, or the 
 first of August, 1679, a propitious breeze, with the 
 aid of the land force towing the boat, carried it 
 through the Rapids, and they were upon the great 
 inland sea. 
 
 Tonty, in his narrative of the events of this period, 
 says that just before the Griffon succeeded in mount- 
 ing the Rapids of the Niagara, he, with five men, 
 was sent forward to the mouth of the Detroit River, 
 there to join fourteen Frenchmen who had already 
 been sent to the place. This would indicate a knowl- 
 edge on the part of LaSalle of the existence of the 
 Detroit River and the topography of the country, 
 though this information might have been obtained 
 from Joliet, who had come down from Detroit River 
 and met the party of LaSalle at their stopping place 
 at the Niagara, while the Griffon was being built, or 
 it might have been obtained from either of the maps 
 before mentioned. Tonty arrived at his destination 
 on the 20th of August, having set out on the 226. of 
 July. Here he awaited the coming of LaSalle and 
 
Hennepin, with their companions on the Griffon, 
 who had started on the 7th of August, and upon their 
 arrival the entire party embarked and proceeded up 
 the river to Lake Huron. Tonty makes no mention 
 of Lake Ste. Claire. 
 
 Hennepin's account of the Detroit River is very 
 interesting, and it is apparent that the company was 
 surprised and pleased with the prospect of the coun- 
 try. Vast prairies, which stretched as far as the eye 
 could see, and bordered by hills covered with vines 
 and orchards of fruit trees, with groves and high 
 forest trees. On the banks of the river were quanti- 
 ties of deer, stags, kids, bears, not wild, but easy to 
 catch, more delicious to eat than the fresh pork of 
 Europe. They also found wild hens and swans in 
 great quantities. They covered the high sides of 
 their vessel with the skins of the deer they killed in 
 the chase. As they ascended the river they found 
 the banks covered with forests of walnut, chestnut, 
 plum and pear trees, and wild grapes, from which 
 they made a little wine. 
 
 It seems almost with prophetic pen that Father 
 Hennepin wrote on this occasion : "Those who will 
 have the good fortune one day to possess the lands 
 of this agreeable and fertile Detroit will bless those 
 who have made smooth the road and who have 
 traversed Lake Erie through more than a hundred 
 leagues of unknown navigation." 
 
 Hennepin proposed to LaSalle to found an estab- 
 lishment at the Detroit, he was so greatly pleased 
 with its location and prospects, but LaSalle had other 
 objects in view than stopping when his journey had 
 but just begun, and so he proceeded. 
 
 It was on the nth day of August, 1679, that they 
 entered the Detroit River, and the next day they 
 
reached a small lake, which, in honor of the Saint's 
 day of August 12th, they named Lake Ste, Claire, 
 Passing into Lake Huron they crossed the lake under 
 many difficulties and through severe storms, and 
 landed at Michilimackinac. The party proceeded to 
 Green Bay, where the Griffon was loaded with furs, 
 and dispatched on her return trip. On the i8th of 
 September the loaded Griffon sailed for Niagara, but 
 without LaSalle, Hennepin, or Tonty. She was 
 wrecked a short time afterwards, but in what spot 
 was never clearly ascertained. Thus begun and 
 ended the sail navigation of the Great Western Lakes 
 by the French. 
 
 The quarrel between the French and Iroquois 
 lasted for some years, and the French did not dare 
 undertake any improvements along the border of 
 Lake Erie. Other explorers occasionally passed 
 along the shores of Lake Erie and entered the upper 
 lakes, but they used only the canoes and larger bat- 
 teaux. The French were in possession of the country 
 and claimed to own it, though the English would not 
 acquiesce in their claim, and in 1689 sent a detach- 
 ment of troops under two officers, McGregor and 
 Rosebloom, to explore and take possession of the 
 upper country in the name of Great Britain. The 
 Englishmen were captured on Lake Huron and 
 stripped of everything and sent to Montreal. 
 
 Nearly every advance into the western country 
 was made on a road leading northwest from Mon- 
 treal, along the Ottawa River to Lake Nippissing, 
 and from that lake to the Georgian Bay. A post that 
 was called Detroit, and which was located near the 
 entrance of Lake Huron, on the banks of the River 
 St. Clair, was destroyed by orders of the French 
 Government in 1688 (August 27), and from that 
 
date until the founding of Detroit, in 1701, by Cadil- 
 lac, the French held actual possession on the lakes 
 only of the upper country, though they claimed pos- 
 session of the entire lake region. In 1702 Cadillac's 
 wife made a trip through Lake Ontario, around the 
 Falls of Niagara, and along the shores of Lake Erie 
 to Detroit, and thereafter this was the usual route 
 for traders and voyagers. It was sixty years more 
 before the English came to Detroit as conquerors, 
 and then Robert Rogers, the New England Ranger, 
 came with his companies of troops to take possession 
 of the place in the name of the English Government. 
 He, too, came with canoes and batteaux, for there 
 were no sail vessels in existence. The coming of the 
 English marks an era in the progress of lake naviga- 
 tion, for the very next year, 1761, two sail vessels 
 were built on the Niagara River for use on Lake 
 Erie. 
 
 Before the building of any vessels. Major Walters, 
 who was in charge of Niagara in 1760, reported that 
 he was afraid sloops would not answer on Lake Erie, 
 for the reason that there were no harbors, nor could 
 such vessels get near enough to shore, owing to shoal 
 water. He thought shallops and batteaux would be 
 more serviceable. Notwithstanding this discourage- 
 ment, in the following year Lieutenant Robertson 
 arrived at Niagara to build lake vessels, and that 
 3^ear a Mr. Theis built two vessels on an island in the 
 Niagara River for service on Lakes Erie and Huron, 
 and as far as Lake Superior. One was a schooner 
 drawing seven feet loaded, and carrying six gtms, to 
 be commanded by Lieutenant Robertson of Mont- 
 gomery's Regiment, and the other, a sloop to carry 
 ten guns. I do not know these boats by name, that 
 is, not so as to be able to identify them, but the 
 
"Serpent," "Beaver," "Charlotte," "Gladwin," "Vic- 
 tory," and "Boston" appeared at about this time. 
 
 These vessels played an important part in the 
 siege of Detroit, and it is largely owing to the assist- 
 ance received from them that Major Gladwin was 
 enabled to withstand the attacks of the Indians until 
 they were exhausted and discouraged. Major 
 Gladwin himself sailed from Detroit on the 30th of 
 August, 1764, on the schooner Victory. Almost on 
 the same day Captain John Montresor explored the 
 River Rouge, four miles from its mouth, to find a 
 proper location for wintering vessels. In this year, 
 also, men were set at work on He au Cochon, our 
 Belle Isle Park, cutting timber for two scows to be 
 used for bringing stone and other materials to the 
 village. These boats were 70 feet long and 18 feet 
 broad, capable of carrying 25 tons. 
 
 The new coming English and American citizens 
 had taken nearly exclusive control of the carrying 
 trade, and it increased very rapidly. It was esti- 
 mated that in 1764 there were 180 boats employed in 
 the Indian trade at Detroit, and that the trade 
 amounted to £100,000 per annum, but it must be un- 
 derstood that most of these boats were small, for the 
 larger sail vessels did not increase in number very 
 rapidly. The first of the sail vessels were owned by 
 the Government, and were used for military pur- 
 poses, though they brought up freight when not 
 otherwise employed. The British officials seemed 
 unwilling to allow individuals to engage in the busi- 
 ness. No serious fault was found with this proce- 
 dure for many years. A shipyard was built at the 
 water's edge at the foot of Woodward avenue, ex- 
 tending some distance easterly from this point, and 
 here some buildings were erected for the officers and 
 
 ! .ofC. 
 
men engaged in the naval department, and a force of 
 men was kept employed during the Revolutionary- 
 War. 
 
 The Government appointed Alexander Grant, a 
 Detroit citizen, whose family afterwards resided at 
 Grosse Pointe, and who was master of the Brunswick, 
 commodore of the lakes, to have general charge of 
 the lake marine. Grant was a man of considerable 
 importance, a member of the privy council, and at 
 one time president of Upper Canada Parliament. He 
 held the office of commodore for many years, and 
 during the period the shipping business thrived. I 
 believe that private ownership of vessels began after 
 the French war was ended, but that during the 
 Revolution all vessels were either owned or con- 
 trolled by the British Government. 
 
 During British control there were many more 
 boats put on the lakes; the Angelica, Adventurer, 
 Athabaska, Annette, Chippewa, Enterprise, Dun- 
 more, Detroit, Faith, Felicite, Good Intent, Gage, 
 Hope, Harlequin, Hunter, Nancy, Ottawa, Saginah, 
 Speedwell, Weasel, Wyandotte, and Welcome, and 
 perhaps others. Many Detroit merchants were in- 
 terested in or owned vessels for their private busi- 
 ness, but the largest single vessel owner was the 
 Northwest Company, of which McTavish, Frobisher 
 & Co., of Montreal, were the representatives, and 
 Angus Mcintosh and John Askin the local agents 
 and contractors. A number of the boats above named 
 belonged to this company. 
 
 After the War of the Revolution was ended, the 
 British still retained possession of Detroit, and of 
 the lakes, in utter disregard of the terms of the treaty 
 of 1783, and still carried the trade of all the upper 
 lake regions to Niagara, Montreal and Quebec. They 
 
stationed armed vessels all along the west end of 
 Lake Erie, to prevent succors and assistance from 
 reaching General Wayne, on his progress northward, 
 that ended in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. 
 Two years later the lake posts were abandoned by 
 British troops, and the reign of the Republic began. 
 Concerning the cost of building boats during this 
 period, little can be determined at this distance of 
 time, but I have in my possession the account of 
 Peter Curry for building and managing the sloop 
 Detroit from 1792 to 1796, and I have copied the 
 items merely as a matter of curiosity. Peter Curry 
 was the owner of a large tract of land on the River 
 Rouge, adjoining the parcel officially known as the 
 Ship Yard Tract (Woodmere Cemetery), and sit- 
 uated on the southerly side of Fort street. This was 
 the shipyard for this part of the country, for here the 
 ship timbers could readily be obtained, and the River 
 Rouge was always navigable and never subject to be 
 disturbed by storms. The parcel of land next below 
 Mr. Curry's was owned by McTavish, Frobisher & 
 Co., the representatives of the Northwest Company, 
 and here their vessels were made, repaired and stored 
 when not in use. 
 
 The account with the sloop Detroit is as follows : 
 
 1792. To services in conducting and building the 
 
 sloop, from November 8, 1792, to May 
 
 18, 1793, 192 days at 11/- £105-12-00 
 
 To allowance for gil4 gals, rum while 
 
 building the sloop 18- 5-00 
 
 To pay, as master, from May 19, 1793, to 
 Dec. 8, 1793, 6 months, 21 days, at 
 £ 12 per month 80- 8-00 
 
 1793. To primage on £1556-15-4 at 2j^% 38-18- 4 
 
 To paid Superintendent's fees 12- 2-T0 
 
 To one year's pay as master of the Detroit. 160- 0-00 
 
 13 
 
1794- To primage on £954-9-10 at 2^/^% 23-17- 3 
 
 To paid Superintendent's fees 11-18- 
 
 To pay as master, 6 months, 28 days, at 
 
 £ 160 per year 92- 8-ioJ/$ 
 
 1795- To primage for one year 8- 8-ioJ/^ 
 
 1796. To paid Superintendent's fees 4- 8-10^ 
 
 To a chest of tools used in building vessel. 9- 6- 8 
 To zil mos. allowance of tea, for use of 
 
 the cabin, i lb. per mo., 12/- 22-10-00 
 
 To zn nios. allowance of loaf sugar for 
 
 cabin, at 4 lbs. per mo., 4/- 30-10-00 
 
 To transportation of merchandise in the 
 
 cabin 100-10-00 
 
 Total, N. Y. Currency • • £945- 5- 8^ 
 
 The bill is instructive in showing the rapid dedine 
 of the Canadian carrying trade, for with the end of 
 the account in 1796 came the American occupation of 
 the lake ports, and the carrying trade was at once 
 diverted to the American ports in American boats. 
 The trade to Montreal and Quebec was nearly at an 
 end, and Buffalo, Albany, and New York were the 
 eastern trading posts. 
 
 The schooner Washington was the first American 
 vessel on Lake Erie, in 1797, but others soon ap- 
 peared and many of those formerly designated as 
 Canadian craft became Americanized. The new ves- 
 sels that appeared were the Montreal, Rover, Ran- 
 ger, Cincinnati, Swan, Adams, Wilkinson. The 
 earliest return of duties received on American ves- 
 sels that I have in my possession is for the year 1800. 
 There were only four vessels, the schooners Thames, 
 Montreal, and Wilkinson, and the sloop Washington, 
 registered. All of these sailed from Port Erie, 
 Canada, to Detroit, and all were British except the 
 Wilkinson. The total tonnage was 255, and the total 
 duties collected was $15.30. The next year the ton- 
 nage had increased to 330, and the duties to $25.22. 
 In 1802 the tonnage was 497, and the duties $29.83, 
 and every vessel belonged to American citizens. 
 
 14 
 
Shortly after the outbreak of the War of 1812, 
 the British captured Detroit and became virtual mas- 
 ters of the lakes. There were no battles on the water 
 until the Battle of Lake Erie, September loth, 18 13, 
 and Detroit still held the British army. The vessels 
 in this battle were the Detroit, Chippewa, Hunter, 
 Queen Charlotte, Lady Prevost, and Little Belt, on 
 the side of Great Britain, and the Lawrence, Scor- 
 pion, Ariel, Caledonia, Niagara, Somers, Porcupine, 
 and Trippe, under Commodore Perry. This was 
 the only naval battle that ever took place on the 
 western waters, and no better description of its result 
 can be written than that dispatched by Oliver Hazard 
 Perry to General William Henry Harrison : 
 
 "Dear General : — We have met the enemy and 
 they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, 
 and one sloop." 
 
 The battle was so disastrous to British hopes and 
 expectations that they despaired of longer retaining 
 Detroit, and that place was evacuated within a short 
 time, and the Battle of the Thames and defeat of 
 Proctor soon followed. The war ended with the be- 
 ginning of 181 5, and an era of hard work and pros- 
 perity followed. 
 
 Steam navigation had already been tried on Lake 
 Champlain, and in 18 17 a steamer appeared on Lake 
 Ontario. The Walk-in-the- Water, the first steam- 
 boat on Lake Erie, was built at Black Rock, a few 
 miles below Buffalo. 
 
 It is a fact worthy of notice that the Niagara 
 River has been the shipyard for the commencement 
 of navigation at the three epochs of marine ship 
 building. It was on that river that the Griffon first 
 floated. It was there also that the Beaver and Glad- 
 win were launched, eighty years later, the first vessel 
 
 15 
 
made by Englishmen, and again after an interval of 
 nearly sixty years more the forerunner of our vast 
 navy of lake carriers slid from its stays into the 
 waters of the Niagara on Thursday, May 28th, 1818. 
 
 As much difficulty vi^as experienced in getting the 
 Walk-in-the- Water into the waters of Lake Erie as 
 there had been 129 years before in getting the Grif- 
 fon through the same channel. The engine was not 
 powerful enough to crowd the boat through the rapid 
 current of the river, and after several days spent in 
 making attempts, twelve yoke of cattle were attached 
 to a long hawser, and by the aid of this new power, 
 the "horned breeze," the boat was finally brought 
 into the calmer waters of the lake. 
 
 This steamer reached Detroit Thursday, August 
 27th, 1 8 18, and plied between that place and Buffalo 
 until she went ashore in a storm in the fall of 1821. 
 
 The immediate successor to the Walk-in-the- 
 Water was the steamboat Superior, and this boat was 
 soon followed by others. The western fever had 
 broken out in the East, and the tide of immigration 
 set in shortly after these boats came to be used, and 
 the fever did not subside until after the panic of 
 1837. There were no railroads, and the best way of 
 reaching Michigan was by way of the Erie Canal, 
 and thence by boat to Detroit. The boats were 
 crowded during the entire period of navigation and 
 new and larger steamers were added every season. 
 It was estimated that the boats landed at the wharfs 
 of Detroit one thousand strangers every day in the 
 season of 1836, and probably as many or more the 
 next year. 
 
 Everyone went wild with land speculation, and 
 there were more boat accommodations for passengers 
 in those years than there are at the present time, 
 
 16 
 
though the elegant boats of that time would appear 
 but as hovels compared with the floating palaces of 
 to-day. It is not necessary, or perhaps profitable, to 
 further follow the story of lake commerce. 
 
 I have said nothing of the ship-wrecks, the storms, 
 the great losses that have occurred on these lakes 
 from the launching of the Griffon to the present time. 
 Millions of dollars of property and thousands of lives 
 have been taken by these waters as a penalty for 
 riding on their bosoms, but in spite of all discourage- 
 ments, the lake carrying trade increases every year 
 and has become the wonder of the world. 
 
 The tonnage that passes the locks at Sault Ste. 
 Marie is more than double that which passes through 
 the great Suez Canal, and all that passes through the 
 Straits of Detroit exceeds many times that which 
 enters the port of Liverpool. 
 
 After I had completed writing the foregoing I 
 received a letter from your worthy Governor, which 
 contained a clipping from the Review of Reviews in 
 1902, as follows : 
 
 "In 1899 there were more than 36,000,000 tons of 
 freight carried through the St. Clair River. This 
 seems large when it is stated by itself, but its real 
 magnitude will perhaps better be appreciated when it 
 is known it is 10,000,000 in excess of the tonnage of 
 all the seaports in the United States for the same 
 year, and 3,000,000 tons in excess of the total ar- 
 rivals and" clearances, both coastwise and foreign, of 
 Liverpool and London combined." 
 
 17 
 

 
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