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St. Clair River
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St. Clair River
The St. Clair River is a 40.5-mile-long (65.2 km) river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States and between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is a significant component in the Great Lakes Waterway, whose shipping channels permit cargo vessels to travel between the upper and lower Great Lakes. The St. Clair Delta, also called the St. Clair Flats, is the largest freshwater delta in the world.
The river, which some consider a strait, flows in a southerly direction, connecting the southern end of Lake Huron to the northern end of Lake St. Clair. It branches into several channels near its mouth at Lake St. Clair, creating a broad delta region known as the St. Clair Flats. Like a strait, the river serves as a narrow strip of water which connects two larger bodies of water.
The river is 40.5 miles (65.2 km) long and drops 5 feet (2 m) in elevation from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The flow rate averages around 182,000 cubic feet per second (5,200 m3/s), and the drainage area is 223,600 square miles (579,000 km2). This takes into account the combined drainage areas of Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior.
Generations of indigenous cultures traveled by canoe on the lakes and rivers in this area, carrying on trade across the region and continent.
In the 18th century, French voyageurs and coureurs des bois traveled on the river to trade with the Ojibwa and other regional Native Americans and transport furs in canoes to major posts of French and British traders, including Fort Detroit, built in 1701 downriver from Lake St. Clair on the Detroit River. European demand for American furs, especially beaver, was high until the 1830s.
During the mid-19th century and later, Port Huron and Marine City, Michigan, became major shipbuilding centers, especially the latter. Lumber harvested on The Thumb of Michigan was shipped downriver as log rafts to Detroit for processing and export both domestically and internationally. The wooden ships built along the river carried migrants and immigrants up the river and west through the upper Great Lakes on their way to new homes in the American West. Their farms later shipped out grain to eastern markets as part of the developing area.
Beginning in the late 19th century, iron ore mined in the Mesabi Range, copper and grain were carried east through the lakes by lake freighters, increasingly made of steel in the 20th century, traveled throughout the Great Lakes, transporting commodities such as iron ore from the Mesabi Range, copper, and grain, all products of settlers' labor. Iron was taken to Ashtabula, Ohio and other industrial cities for processing and steel manufacture, and grain was often shipped through to major eastern markets such as Cleveland and New York City.
From the late 19th century, lake steamers carried passengers and traveled among the small towns along the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, and around the Great Lakes. At one time 31 lines operated, but with the rise of automobile use in the 20th century, they gradually declined.
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St. Clair River
The St. Clair River is a 40.5-mile-long (65.2 km) river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States and between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is a significant component in the Great Lakes Waterway, whose shipping channels permit cargo vessels to travel between the upper and lower Great Lakes. The St. Clair Delta, also called the St. Clair Flats, is the largest freshwater delta in the world.
The river, which some consider a strait, flows in a southerly direction, connecting the southern end of Lake Huron to the northern end of Lake St. Clair. It branches into several channels near its mouth at Lake St. Clair, creating a broad delta region known as the St. Clair Flats. Like a strait, the river serves as a narrow strip of water which connects two larger bodies of water.
The river is 40.5 miles (65.2 km) long and drops 5 feet (2 m) in elevation from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The flow rate averages around 182,000 cubic feet per second (5,200 m3/s), and the drainage area is 223,600 square miles (579,000 km2). This takes into account the combined drainage areas of Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior.
Generations of indigenous cultures traveled by canoe on the lakes and rivers in this area, carrying on trade across the region and continent.
In the 18th century, French voyageurs and coureurs des bois traveled on the river to trade with the Ojibwa and other regional Native Americans and transport furs in canoes to major posts of French and British traders, including Fort Detroit, built in 1701 downriver from Lake St. Clair on the Detroit River. European demand for American furs, especially beaver, was high until the 1830s.
During the mid-19th century and later, Port Huron and Marine City, Michigan, became major shipbuilding centers, especially the latter. Lumber harvested on The Thumb of Michigan was shipped downriver as log rafts to Detroit for processing and export both domestically and internationally. The wooden ships built along the river carried migrants and immigrants up the river and west through the upper Great Lakes on their way to new homes in the American West. Their farms later shipped out grain to eastern markets as part of the developing area.
Beginning in the late 19th century, iron ore mined in the Mesabi Range, copper and grain were carried east through the lakes by lake freighters, increasingly made of steel in the 20th century, traveled throughout the Great Lakes, transporting commodities such as iron ore from the Mesabi Range, copper, and grain, all products of settlers' labor. Iron was taken to Ashtabula, Ohio and other industrial cities for processing and steel manufacture, and grain was often shipped through to major eastern markets such as Cleveland and New York City.
From the late 19th century, lake steamers carried passengers and traveled among the small towns along the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, and around the Great Lakes. At one time 31 lines operated, but with the rise of automobile use in the 20th century, they gradually declined.
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