Leisure Cruising
Great Lakes cruising history has a long and uneven past. The industry reached a zenith from the mid-19th century until the 1950s. Tours of the Great Lakes on canoes and early passenger ships were offered very early in the 19th century. In 1844, cargo and passengers were being ferried around the Great Lakes, and by 1900, fleets of luxury steamships cruised the Great Lakes, offering respite from the cities. The 1818 Walk-In-Water was the first passenger-carrying steamship built to navigate the upper lakes, specifically Lake Erie. The ship made 7 trips her first season. Following the success of the Walk-In-Water, more vessels like it followed.
The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 increased steamboat traffic on the Great Lakes, as it allowed passengers to travel from New England and New York through Buffalo and Albany, a trip taken by Alexis de Tocqueville in the early 19th century. While staying in Detroit, Alexis de Tocqueville took advantage of an advertisement in the Detroit Gazette about a tour that offered “an opportunity of viewing the splendid scenery of the upper lakes.” On August 7, 1831, the tour landed at Mackinac Island. After the screw propeller and compound engines were introduced to the Great Lakes shipping companies in 1842 and 1869 respectively, newer, larger freight and passenger ships began to appear. Steamboat lines and fleets were established by railroad companies to carry goods and passengers from the northeast U.S. to the midwest.
Between 1830 and 1900, there were several fleets of steamships hauling passengers and freight around the Great Lakes. Some of the companies running regular services on the lakes included: Saginaw Bay Towing Association, Northern Steamship Company, Detroit and Cleveland Steam Navigation, Detroit and Mackinac Railway Company, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, Great Lakes Transit Corporation, and Lake Michigan & Lake Superior Transportation Company. Transit companies often advertised "healing getaways" to northern Michigan and touted the refreshing and healing airs away from the city. The Michigan Transit Company offered short cruises that would take professionals up to a resort for the weekend and bring them back refreshed for Monday morning.
Later in the 19th century, leisure cruising on the Great Lakes and inland waterways developed into an industry dominated by steamship and railroad companies. Large passenger vessels provided travel to resorts and hotels away from the cities. The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and resorts in Petoskey had a regular service. The ships were also used for day and chartered trips. Before trains and cars, steamships were the main transport across the Great Lakes. The summer vacation spots in the remote areas of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula were only accessible by water, which fueled the tourism industry into the 1890s. Chicago to Harbor Springs was a route popular with many vacationers in the Midwest.
A young Ernest Hemingway and his family often made their annual summer journey to the Petoskey area via steamer from Chicago to Harbor Springs. The Hemingway's journey began at a pier in Chicago where they boarded one of the several Great Lakes steamers that traveled along Michigan's west coast. The SS Manitou was their most common choice. It was the best known and most luxurious of the steamers, with its finely furnished cabins and ornate public areas. Porters would help the Hemingways load trunks filled with clothes, books, and provisions onto the ship, and the family would settle in and enjoy the day-and-a-half trip. When the Manitou docked in Harbor Spring, the Hemingways transferred themselves and their cargo to a "dummy train" at the rail station. (These trains were called this because they did not travel on to far away locations. They ran back and forth between local stops carrying people and goods.) The train the Hemingways boarded took them around the edge of Little Traverse Bay to Petoskey with several stops at resorts like Bay View.
Popular steamboat routes went from Detroit to Buffalo, Detroit to Fort Gratiot, Detroit to Chicago, St. Joseph to Chicago, Buffalo to Chicago, and Chicago to Harbor Springs. One of the earliest records of passenger cruising on the Great Lakes come from Thurlow Weed, who travelled from Buffalo to Chicago in 1847 for the "River Harbor Convention." Weed wrote that: "I am afloat, for the first time, on Lake Erie, in that magnificent steamer, the Empire. Captain Randall, who had steam up and was awaiting the arrival of the cars. In ascending to her beautiful saloon we found some three hundred ladies and gentlemen grouped around upon sofas, divans, etc., as luxuriously as on board of our own splendid Isaac Newton and Hendrick Hudson." He also commented on the luxuriousness of the steamer and its peaceful cruising across Lake Erie.
The SS Manitou was one of many pleasure boat companies that sold voyages on the lakes as recreational cruises that “rejuvenated” the “weary bodies” of citizens (Manitou brochure). The SS Manitou would make the trip from Chicago to Harbor Springs in 24 hours. In 1898, the fare was $5.00. Passengers often sailed off towards promises of delightful airs and thousands of miles of blue waters. Built in 1893, the steamship Manitou was a steel overnight passenger vessel. It was designed with 3 decks, coal-fired boilers, and a triple expansion engine. Until the 1930s, this steamer operated primarily between Chicago and Mackinac Island.
Rail companies—such as the Grand Rapids and Indiana—as well as steamship companies operated elaborate publicity campaigns to lure tourists north. Resort hotels were opened and people came to enjoy the beautiful views, great fishing and boating, and socializing with other resorters. “Summer Sauntering on Northern Waters,” pictured above, depicted the ever-popular steamship cruises in the 19th century as a “health-giving environment” with unmatched “scenic beauty." The booklet emphasized the quiet tranquility of northern Michigan waters and the scenic beauty of Lake Michigan's "billowy blue" expanse. The only way to reach these coveted spots—so Lake Michigan and Lake Superior Transportation Company saw it—was aboard the SS Manitou. On board, passengers could delight in luxurious facilities and equipment deisgned for both comfort and enjoyment away from the cities.
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company released several resort booklets to inform summer vacationers of the resorts in northern Michigan and how to get to them using the railroad. The rise of cabins, low-cost campgrounds, and state parks made vacationing in northern Michigan accessible and affordable. In doing so, a wider portion of society began to see these landscapes as a much-needed counterpart to the stressful realties of the modern world. "A guide to the health, pleasure, game and fishing resorts of northern Michigan : reached by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad" argued that Michiganders no longer had to travel thousands of miles for respite from their daily lives, but instead could hop on the train which had "light and easy access" to numerous places in northern Michigan.
Pleasure boats also sailed along the Inland Waterway as well as across the lakes. The Inland Waterway is Michigan’s longest chain of rivers and lakes at nearly forty miles long and includes two locks. The waterway was originally used by Indigenous Tribal communities to avoid the strong waves around Waugoshance Point on Lake Michigan. Consequently, fifty Native American encampments have been discovered along the shores of the Inland Water Route.
Completion of the lock in Cheboygan in 1869 opened the Inland waterway from Petoskey to Cheboygan and day long excursions over the waters became very popular with tourists. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad reached Petoskey in 1873, which opened up the region to tourism. Tourism brought development, settlers, and the lumber industry. Since waterways were the ideal route of transportation, the Crooked River was dredged and eventually a route was created. Prior to the establishment of the railroads, the only means to transport logs and finished products in the area was by using tugboats on the waterway.
After the advent of the railroad, the Inland Waterway as a route of transportation declined in importance but became a tourist destination. Passengers could board the boats on the Inland Waterway and take trips to Mackinac Island, and other places in the Upper Lakes region. Now the Inland waterway trails are mostly used for paddle boarding, kayaking, canoeing, boating, and other waterbourne recreational activities.
