MICHIGAN, Lake, in the northern part of the United States, the second in size of the Great Lakes (9.v.), and the largest body of fresh water lying wholly within the United States. It is bounded on the north and east by the State of Michigan, on the south by Indiana and on the west by Illinois and Wisconsin. Its outlet is Straits of Mackinac, through which its waters flow into Lake Huron (q.v.). The Mis sissippi is supposed to have been its outlet in ancient times; and now the lake is con nected with this river by means of the Chicago Drainage Canal and the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Lake Michigan is a most important part of a great water system which furnishes transportation to the ocean for an extensive grain-growing and lumbering region. The lake is 581 feet above sea-level; its length from north to south is 316 miles; the average width 75 miles, the maximum depth, 875 feet and mean depth, 690 feet; area, 2Z450 square miles; drainage area, 68,100 square miles. It is subject to violent storms, which are most destructive in the late autumn months. A lunar tidal wave shows itself in a slight degree. The shore-line of the southern at of the lake, east and west, is regular, but that of the northern part, east and west, has a number of indentations many of which form good harbors. At the mouths of rivers which flow into the lake there are good harbors. Nearly the whole extent of coast is low, most of it sandy; the Michigan coast has some high bluffs and considerable rocky shore-line. Green Bay on the west, indenting. Wisconsin, is the largest bay; and Grand Travers Bay, on the east indenting the coast of Michigan, is the next in size. Another important inlet on the east is Little Travers Bay. Big Noquet and Little Noquet are inlets from Green Bay. The chief harbors, which are formed by mouths of rivers, are Chicago, Milwaukee and Grand Haven. Escanaba and: several other good har bors are on the shores of Green Bay (q.v.). There are few islands in the southern part of the lake, all small and near the coast. At the
entrance to Green Bay there is a group• of islands, the largest of which is Washington. The Manitou (q.v.) group, in the northern and northeastern part of the lake, has several good-sized islands; the largest, Beaver, is about 52 miles long.
The chief rivers which flow into the lake are the Ford, Escanaba and Manistique from the north; the Manistee, Pere Marquette, Muskegon, Grand, Kalamazoo and Saint Joseph from the east. The Fox and the Menominee enter the lake through Green Bay.
The chief cities on the lake are Chicago in Illinois and Milwaukee in Wisconsin. Other important cities are Kenosha, Racine and Man itowoc (Wis.), Manistee, Ludington and' Grand Haven (Mich.), and Michigan City (Ind.). The navigation on Lake Michigan is most ex tensive and important. In the upper waters, or the southern part, navigation continues nearly all the year, but in the northern part navigation is closed about four months on account of the ice in the Straits of Mackinac. Large shipments of lumber are sent by way of the lake from northern Michigan and Wisconsin to Milwaukee and Chicago, and a vast amount of wheat and corn of the Mississippi Valley is sent east through Chicago and over Lake Michigan. Large mineral shipments are made. The fish eries of the lake are most important. The lake trout and whitefish of Lake Michigan are sent, fresh and canned, to all the large markets of the vicinity and to the Eastern markets.
The early missionaries and traders traversed the waters of this lake. In 1634 Jean Nicolet, an agent of Champlain (q.v.), visited the north ern part of the lake, entered Greed Bay and partially explored the Fox River. Father Mar quette (q.v.) visited this lake and established mission stations on its shores. La Salle (q.v.) and Father Hennepin (q.v.) in 1679 made their famous voyage on this lake, and La Salle built a fort at the mouth of the Saint Joseph River.