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Before there were cities, states or a nation, there was the
port!
French-Canadian Voyageurs
began striking inland from the Head of the Lakes in the 17th
century, searching for pelts to transport back down the Lakes
to Montreal. Today, more than 300 years later, Duluth-Superior
remains one of North America’s most important ports,
handling millions of tons of commodities during the ten months
the Great Lakes are ice-free each year.
Set against a backdrop of the key industries
that helped build North America: iron and steel, forest products,
grain, and coal, Pride of the Inland Seas tells the
fascinating tale of the development of the Twin Ports during
three centuries of economic, technological, political, and
social change. This is the story of the people at the Head
of the Lakes who built, loaded, and sailed the ships that
have made Duluth-Superior synonymous with Great Lakes maritime
commerce.
In the early 1900s the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers undertook a fifteen-year harbor improvement program
that solidified Duluth-Superior’s leading role in maritime
commerce.
Authors
Bill Beck and C. Patrick Labadie bring lifetimes of Great
Lakes experience
to the labor of love that is Pride of the Inland
Seas.
Published in collaboration
with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority
Publication date: July 2004 |
