The Great Lakes form a vast inland freshwater basin that covers an area almost as large as the state of Wyoming--Lake Superior alone is larger than Maine. All five lakes--Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Superior--are interconnected by rivers, straits, and canals providing a continuous 2,200-mile deep-water navigation artery from the Atlantic Ocean to the shores of northeast Minnesota.
At the dawn of steam navigation, the lakes became major trade mutes for carrying grain, produce, ...