Looking for Lake Erie: Travels Around a Great Lake

Wesley B. Turner is an associate professor of history at Brock
University and the author of The War of 1812: The War That Both Sides
Won and The Military in the Niagara Peninsula.

This account of a series of excursions the authors made to the various
parts of Lake Erie during the summer and fall of 1993 lacks the
apparatus to be a reference book: the table of contents is minimal, and
there is no index or bibliography. A clear map of Lake Erie, depicting
the names of places the authors visited, is provided, yet only one
road—Highway 3 in Ontario—is shown.

Instead of making a circuit of the lake, the authors alternated between
the Canadian and American shores, starting with the eastern third of
Lake Erie, then going to each side of the middle of the lake, and
finishing with the western basin. This regular shifting from one shore
to the other provides the basis for frequent comparisons of cities,
rural areas, waterfronts, farming, industries, and the lifestyles and
attitudes of the people living along the lake. The authors’ journey
included a boat cruise on Ontario’s Grand River and ferry rides to and
from South Bass Island. At the heart of their apparent travel book is a
thoughtful exploration of the interactions between people and their
environment and their history.