Page 381 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

INTRODUCING THE GREA T LAKES  379
THE GREAT LAKES

Surrounding the world’s largest bodies of fresh water, the Great Lakes region is
a land of epic proportions. From the towering skyscrapers of Chicago, Illinois, and
the factories of Detroit, Michigan, to the seemingly endless plains of Indiana, the
bountiful pastures of Wisconsin, and Minnesota’s watery wilderness, this is one
of the most exciting destinations in the country.
Spreading west from the original American economy, the region’s history and heritage
colonies to beyond the Mississippi River, have now become important tourist
the Great Lakes region formed the first attractions, enhancing the natural beauty
frontier of the early United States. The of its many lakes, rivers, and forests.
lakes themselves – Ontario, Erie, Huron,
Michigan, and Superior – were a conduit History
for trade and exploration, and a key to Long before the United States was
the region’s development. Plentiful founded, the region surrounding the
harvests from the fertile soils, lumber Great Lakes was home to some of the
from the forests, and ore from the region’s most developed and powerful Native
mines all came together to support the American cultures. Evidence of one of
growth of such cities as Chicago, Cleve­ the most significant archaeological
land, Detroit, and Minneapolis. From the remnants in North America can be found
mid­19th century on, immigrants from in southern Ohio and Illinois, where the
all over the country and around the enigmatic mound­builder culture
world came here to work on farms and constructed the largest cities north of
in factories, thus establishing the diverse Mexico. Of these, the most impressive is
cultures and traditions that still flavor at Cahokia. Farther north, spanning the
Great Lakes life. While industry and agri­ international border between the US and
culture have given way to the service Canada – which runs right through the

A 1920s photograph showing parked automobiles at Detroit’s Cadillac Square
A church on Mackinac Island at sunset with harbor lighthouses in the background

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