The North Shore Essay Example for Free

The North Shore EssayTo travel across atomic number 25, is the opportunity to experience the massive prairie lands, where an individual can see as far as the eye allows, to the lakes, where the urine calms, and the trees enrich the landscape. mayhap 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 gram. The journey north to The North Shore, is enlivened with small towns, each filled with treasures from topical anaesthetic artisans, and every other shop boasting of being the best in canoeing outfitters as the Boundary amniotic fluid approaches. It is where an individual can quite literally reach the end of the way. The North Shore has had an impact on the memoir of manganese, from the settling of the land, to the economic fortunes and misfortunes.Tourism in the Duluth and North Shore heavens continues to expand, in this ambit rich in history. The brag Hiking Trail, a wide di stance footpath, was modeled after the Appalachian Trail, runs along the ridgeline adjacent to Lake selects North Shore from Duluth, atomic number 25 to the Canadian border. By 1998, 240 miles of the project has been completed. The trail was completed with the help of federal, state and local governments in combination with artists, resort and business owners, and hiking enthusiasts. The Trail was officially heart-to-heart in July 1987 at Briton Peak on the Sawbill Trail.According to Backpacker magazine, Minnesotas transcendent Hiking Trail (SHT) ranks as one of the 10 best hiking trails in the country. This trail covers 224 miles of Minnesotas more or less rugged terrain, running parallel to the North Shore of Lake captain. end-to-end 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 A-one and numerous inland lakes. The high ridges are cover with oak trees and mapl e 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 ForestThe 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 browned trout can be found in abundance in these waters.The northern forest continues to thrive with a class of pine, fir and spruce trees and a variety of wildlife including deer, moose, the gray animate being, and black bear. The universe of the gray wolf has re minuteed 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 inherent Americans as Gitche Gumi. The North Shore is 150 miles long. Lake Sup erior, the worlds 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, international nautical mile. The lake is 380 miles long, one hundred sixty miles wide, and has a surface area of 31,700 square miles, and 2900 miles of shoreline. (www.duluthstreams.org)History of Lake SuperiorThe indispensable Americans first traveled Lake Superior using birch bark canoes to navigate the waters of Lake Superior. Immigrant Europeans alike use birch bark canoes to look for Lake Superior as early as the 1600s. During the 1700s, the fur trade expanded the economy of the area, change magnitude the utilisation of Lake Superior by larger, cargo-carrying vessels. When the fur trade declined in the 1800s, the local economy focused their efforts on angle 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 termination territory. They didnt 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 dealing on Lake Superior, came change magnitude risk, as ships and sailors were lost due to weather, human error or mechanical failure. The knit of the fur trade made an economic impact on the area of Lake 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. Minnesotas history is interwoven with that of Canada, 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 capacious 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.1This 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. For the next century and a half t he 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, era transportation and marketing were dominated first by licensees of the French crown and later by large British-managed monopolies.11 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 familiesin 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, Duluths population rapidly dwindled to 1,300 people. A dot of recovery occurred during 1879 and 1889, returning st skill to the area.The economy in Duluth rapidly spread across the state, increasing the ability to trade grain from the prairies. Two Harbors was realized 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 fisher in 1879, to 195 commercial fisherman in 1885. The fishing industry followed the same path as the fur trade, and eventually commercial fishermen were pressure to look for other work. (Castle, 1915)As an outlet for iron, Duluth became Minnesotas third major city. Shipbuildingopened 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 railroa d 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 outdoors 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 describingLake SuperiorTo the travelerlet me say a few words. Take a bark canoe, which two or troika trials will make you at home in, for they are much easier to get the hang of than most persons venture go to the adjacent islands, run into the caverns and grottos which cannot be reached in any other way. If you are in quest 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 touristdestination 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 fashionable tour of the Northwest. It wasnt 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 everlastingly 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)ReferencesBlegen, Theodore C. (1963) Minnesota A History of the State. Minneapolis University ofMinnesota Press.Castle Henry A. (1915) Minnesota, Its Story and Biography, 2 vols. Chicago Lewis PublishingCompany.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 harbor 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=5007582493Gilman, R. R. (2000). The History and Peopling of Minnesota Its Culture. Daedalus, 129(3), 1. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from Questia database h ttp//www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=5001774954Minnesota Historical Society. (1996) Minnesota Lake Superior History. Retrieved April 23, 2007 from http//www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecksPeacock, 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.