The North Shore Essay Example for Free

The North Shore Essay To travel across Minnesota, is the opportunity to experience the vast prairie lands, where an individual can see as far as the eye allows, to the lakes, where the water calms, and the trees enrich the landscape.   Perhaps no venture is as rich as the North Shore, where the terrain is varied, the fog rolls in as across what appears to be an ocean, and the view is grand.    The journey north to The North Shore, is enlivened with small towns, each filled with treasures from local artisans, and every other shop boasting of being the best in canoeing outfitters as the Boundary Waters approaches.    It is where an individual can quite literally reach the â€Å"end of the road.†Ã‚   The North Shore has had an impact on the history of Minnesota, from the settling of the land, to the economic fortunes and misfortunes. Tourism in the Duluth and North Shore area continues to expand, in this area rich in history.   The Superior Hiking Trail, a long distance footpath, was modeled after the Appalachian Trail, runs along the ridgeline adjacent to Lake Superiors North Shore from Duluth, Minnesota to the Canadian border.   By 1998, 240 miles of the project has been completed. The trail was completed with the assistance of federal, state and local governments in combination with artists, resort and business owners, and hiking enthusiasts.   The Trail was officially opened in July 1987 at Briton Peak on the Sawbill Trail. According to Backpacker magazine, Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) ranks as one of the 10 best hiking trails in the country.   This trail covers 224 miles of Minnesota’s most rugged terrain, running parallel to the North Shore of Lake Superior.   Throughout the trail, there are more than two-dozen rivers and streams among the ridges of the Sawtooth Mountains.   Throughout the trail there are opportunities to see Lake Superior and numerous inland lakes.   The high ridges are covered with oak trees and maple trees.   Additional growth includes boreal evergreens, birch, and aspen.   In the valleys, cedar and spruce trees and interspersed with red and white pine. The Superior National Forest The Superior Forest is covered with 445,000 acres of surface water, more than 1,300 miles of cold-water streams and 950 miles of warm water streams flow within the boundaries of the Superior. Fish species such as walleye, northern pike, small mouth bass, lake trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout can be found in abundance in these waters. The northern forest continues to thrive with a variety of pine, fir and spruce trees and a variety of wildlife including deer, moose, the gray wolf, and black bear.   The population of the gray wolf has returned in Northern Minnesota, where it had once dwindled.   Reports of the wolf population vary from 300 to 2500.   (www.duluthstreams.org) Lake Superior was known to the Native Americans as Gitche Gumi.   The North Shore is 150 miles long.   Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake, covers about 31,700 square miles.   Lake Superior is the deepest of the Great Lakes, as much as 700 feet deep, only 3 miles out from shore. The deepest spot, 1,332 feet, is 40 miles off Munising, Michigan. The lake is 380 miles long, 160 miles wide, and has a surface area of 31,700 square miles, and 2900 miles of shoreline. (www.duluthstreams.org) History of Lake Superior The Native Americans first traveled Lake Superior using birch bark canoes to navigate the waters of Lake Superior.   Immigrant Europeans also used birch bark canoes to explore Lake Superior as early as the 1600s.   During the 1700s, the fur trade expanded the economy of the area, increasing the usage of Lake Superior by larger, cargo-carrying vessels.   When the fur trade declined in the 1800s, the local economy focused their efforts on fishing Lake Superior.   Merchant ships increase trade and transportation. Settlement of the North Shore began following the La Pointe Treaty in 1854, in which the Native Americans gave the Minnesota shoreline of Lake Superior to the United States.   (Castle, 1915)   The signing of the La Pointe Treaty was the Ojibwe surrender of their last territory.   They didn’t fully understand the process and believed they were working toward a compromise when it occurred. Because of the rich resources of copper, iron, and timber, navigation of Lake Superior continued to grow.   With the introduction of the railroad, bulk cargo of wheat and corn became more common.   With the increase in traffic on Lake Superior, came increased risk, as ships and sailors were lost due to weather, human error or mechanical failure.   The collapse of the fur trade made an economic impact on the area of Lake   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1 Rhoda R. Gilman, The History and Peopling of Minnesota: Its Culture, Daedalus 129.3 (2000): 1, Questia, 24 Apr. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001774954. Superior and the Native Americans, who had once participated in trade between themselves and the Europeans.   (Castle, 1915) The waters of Minnesota flow south to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and north to Hudson Bay.   Minnesota’s history is interwoven with that of Canada, â€Å"described by French traders and missionaries in the 1600s, the region was for practical purposes a part of British territory until well into the nineteenth century. Today it shares with the Province of Ontario a coastline on Lake Superior and a vast wilderness canoe country. With Manitoba it shares the agricultural wealth and the flood problems of the Red River Valley, and it depends on the prairie provinces for vital energy resourcesoil from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and hydroelectricity from northern Manitoba.†1 This area was first settled by Native Americans from the St. Lawrence Valley.   The Ojibwe Indians, settled in the areas west of Lake Michigan and Superior, in an attempt to flee the Iroquois.   â€Å"For the next century and a half the land now comprising Minnesota was included in the Canadian fur-trade systema continent-spanning network that linked American Indian cultures and resources with the commercial world of Europe. Indian people handled production on their own terms, while transportation and marketing were dominated first by licensees of the French crown and later by large British-managed monopolies.†1 1 Rhoda R. Gilman, The History and Peopling of Minnesota: Its Culture, Daedalus 129.3 (2000): 1, Questia, 24 Apr. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001774954. Initially, settlement of the area occurred quickly, as the rumors of copper and gold spread.   As the railroad neared, the population of Duluth grew from 14 families in January of 1869, to 3,500 people by July of 1869, mostly consisting of Scandinavian immigrants. The increase in population also brought an increase in the building of sawmills, grain elevators and warehouses, and homes. (www.mnhs.org) Following the 1873 Panic, Duluth’s population rapidly dwindled to 1,300 people.  Ã‚   A period of recovery occurred during 1879 and 1889, returning stability to the area. The economy in Duluth rapidly spread across the state, increasing the ability to trade grain from the prairies.   Two Harbors was established as the first iron ore port in Minnesota, increasing the opportunities for laborers in the state.   The fishing industry continued to grow, from 35 commercial fisherman in 1879, to 195 commercial fisherman in 1885.   The fishing industry followed the same path as the fur trade, and eventually commercial fishermen were forced to look for other work.   (Castle, 1915) As an outlet for iron, Duluth became Minnesota’s third major city.   Shipbuilding opened up new opportunities in the area, bringing further prosperity.   Railroad yards and ore docks continued to multiply after the turn of the century, to meet demand.   (Gillman, 2000, 1)   To increase the ability to transport material goods, a trail through the woods was established during the 1870.   As the railroad expanded in the state, the Duluth Iron Range Railway was constructed connecting Duluth and Two Harbors in 1889.   The road led to a great deal of change in the lives of the residents and in the economy.   No longer were the residents of the area dependent on outside vendors to transport their products.   Roads enabled them to transport their own products.   Roads also increased tourism in the area.   (Castle, 1915) As spoken by New York journalist, John St. John in 1946, while describing Lake Superior: â€Å"To the travelerlet me say a few words. Take a bark canoe, which two or three trials will make you at home in, for they are much easier to get the ‘hang’ of than most persons suppose; go to the adjacent islands, run into the caverns and grottos which cannot be reached in any other way. If you are in pursuit of pleasure, whether lady or gentleman, you can find it in the Lake Superior region, provided you can be pleased with grand scenery, water-falls, lakes and mountains.†1 (www.mnhs.org) The Sault Locks were completed in 1855, enabling steamboats on the Lakes to carry passengers and freight.   During the first year, 149 steamers carried 8,295 passengers and 5,690 tons of cargo.   (Blegen, 1963) Reportedly, Minnesota as a tourist destination began in the spring of 1826, when   the steamer Lawrence arrived in Fort Snelling, needing   to re-establish its communication with the outside world.   (www.mnhs.org)   Fort Snelling became a popular location, with steamers arriving with passengers who were on what they considered to be a â€Å"fashionable tour of the Northwest.   It wasn’t long before visitors from as far away as New Orleans, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh traveled to Minnesota for a variety of reasons. Minnesota is rich in both history and culture.   First settled by the Ojibwe Indians, Minnesota was forever altered by the European immigrants who established treaties in order to acquire the land for their settlement.   These treaties forced the Native Americans to move onto reservations.   During the time span between 1826 and 1871, six treaties and agreements with the Dakota nation, and sixteen treaties, agreements, and major pieces of legislation affecting the Ojibwe, were used to take the native land.   (Peacock, 2000) References Blegen, Theodore C. (1963) Minnesota: A History of the State. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Castle Henry A. (1915) Minnesota, Its Story and Biography, 2 vols. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company. Copway, George. Life, Letters, and Speeches. Ed. A. Lavonne Brown Ruoff and Donald B. Smith. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Questia. 24 Apr. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=21009722. Duluth, Minn. a See-Worthy Seaport on Lake Superior. (2004, October 17). Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), p. 3. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5007582493 Gilman, R. R. (2000). The History and Peopling of Minnesota: Its Culture. Daedalus, 129(3), 1. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001774954 Minnesota Historical Society.   (1996)   Minnesota Lake Superior History.   Retrieved April 23, 2007 from http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecks Peacock, Thomas D., and Donald R. Day. Nations within a Nation: The Dakota and Ojibwe of Minnesota. Daedalus 129.3 (2000): 137. Questia. 24 Apr. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001775006.