Geology and History
The Straits are 5 miles (8.0 km) wide and 20 fathoms (120 ft; 37 m) deep. Hydrologically, the two connected lakes can be considered one, which is called Lake Michigan–Huron.
The Straits were an important Native American and fur trade route. Located on the southern side of the Straits is the town of Mackinaw City, Michigan, the site of Fort Michilimackinac, a reconstructed French fort founded in 1715, and on the northern side is St. Ignace, Michigan, site of a French Catholic mission to the Indians, founded in 1671. The eastern end of the Straits was controlled by Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island, a British colonial and early American military base and fur trade center, founded in 1781.
Read more about this topic: Straits Of Mackinac
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