Saginaw Bay
Encyclopedia
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
within Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
located on the eastern side of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb
The Thumb
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten; thus the Thumb is the area that looks like the thumb of the mitten. The Thumb is generally considered to be in the Mid-Michigan area of the state, located east of Flint/Tri-Cities...
region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
Lower Peninsula of Michigan
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is the southern of the two major landmasses of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with Ohio and Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people...
. Saginaw Bay is 1143 square miles (2,960.4 km²) in area. It is located in parts of five Michigan counties: Arenac
Arenac County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 17,269 people, 6,710 households, and 4,717 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 9,563 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
, Bay
Bay County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 110,157 people, 43,930 households, and 30,048 families residing in the county. The population density was 248 people per square mile . There were 46,423 housing units at an average density of 104 per square mile...
, Huron
Huron County, Michigan
-Highways:* M-19* M-25* M-53* M-142-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 36,079 people, 14,597 households, and 10,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile . There were 20,430 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile...
, Iosco
Iosco County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 27,339 people, 11,727 households, and 7,857 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 20,432 housing units at an average density of 37 per square mile...
, and Tuscola
Tuscola County, Michigan
-Highways:* M-15* M-24* M-25* M-46* M-81* M-138-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 58,266 people, 21,454 households, and 15,983 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile . There were 23,378 housing units at an average density of 29 per...
.
Saginaw Bay watershed
The Saginaw Bay watershed is the largest drainage basinDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
in Michigan, draining approximately 15% of the total land area. The watershed contains the largest contiguous freshwater coastal wetland system in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Origin of the name
O-Sag-e-non or Sag-in-a-we from the Ojibwa language, which means "to flow out", is a possible origin for the name "Saginaw". It may refer to the Saginaw RiverSaginaw River
The Saginaw River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee rivers southwest of Saginaw. It flows northward into the Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron just northeast of Bay City. The watershed area is .The river is an important shipping...
, which flows out into Saginaw Bay, and eventually into Lake Huron. The name "Saginaw" is not related to Saguenay
Kingdom of Saguenay
The name "Kingdom of Saguenay" supposedly has its origin in an Iroquoian legend, as recorded by the French during French colonisation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries...
, a region in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
whose name is of Algonquin
Algonquin language
Algonquin is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by the Algonquin First Nations of Quebec and Ontario...
origin.
History
The modern history of Saginaw Bay dates back to early 17th century. French explorersFrench colonization of the Americas
The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
were the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region.
The first European to visit the Saginaw Bay area was Father Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette
Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...
, a French missionary priest, who went there in 1668 after establishing a mission in St. Ignace
St. Ignace, Michigan
Saint Ignace, usually written as St. Ignace, is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 2,678. It is the county seat of Mackinac County. From the Lower Peninsula, St. Ignace is the gateway to the Upper Peninsula.St...
. In 1686, father arrived in the valley to establish an Indian mission, but his efforts failed.
The region was ceded to Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
under the terms of the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
of 1763. Twenty years later, it was ceded to the newly-independent United States of America. It became part of the Michigan Territory
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
in 1805.
Settlements
About 1813, Louis CampauLouis Campau
Louis Campau was an important figure in the early settlement of two important Michigan cities.He established the first trading post at what is today Saginaw, Michigan, as early as 1815. He also fought in the War of 1812 and played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Saginaw in 1819. This...
erected an Indian trading post along the Saginaw River
Saginaw River
The Saginaw River is a river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee rivers southwest of Saginaw. It flows northward into the Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron just northeast of Bay City. The watershed area is .The river is an important shipping...
which led to the settlement of Saginaw
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
in 1816, and to which the history of other settlements of Saginaw Bay area are rooted.
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...
is a major port at the lower end of the bay. The two Charity Islands in the middle of the bay, Charity Island and Little Charity Island
Little Charity Island
Little Charity Island is a small island in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. The 5.4-acre island is located in Sims Township, Arenac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Acquired by the U.S...
, are excellent fishing grounds.
Weather
Saginaw Bay Light No. 1, a navigational light near the mouth of the Saginaw River, houses NOAA weather equipment providing weather conditions for the Bay.Gravelly Shoal Light
Gravelly Shoal Light
Gravelly Shoals Light is an automated lighthouse that is an active aid to navigation on the shallow shoals extending southeast from Point Lookout on the western side of Saginaw Bay. The light is situated about offshore and was built to help guide boats through the deeper water between the...
, located near Charity Island, also houses a weather station.
Culture
- A World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
escort carrier was named Saginaw BayUSS Saginaw Bay (CVE-82)USS Saginaw Bay was an Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was laid down as MC hull 1119 on 1 November 1943 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Inc., of Vancouver, Washington; launched on 19 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Howard L...
. - The Saginaw Bay Yacht ClubSaginaw Bay Yacht ClubIntroductionThe Saginaw Bay Yacht club is situated on the Eastern shore of the Saginaw river about a mile and a half from the Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron, Michigan.-Establishment:...
remains one of the most prestigious in the region.