{"id":905,"date":"2017-03-18T16:12:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T16:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=905"},"modified":"2017-03-24T17:44:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T17:44:03","slug":"glaciation-and-us-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-great-lakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=905","title":{"rendered":"Glaciation and us! The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

{The following talk was presented at the monthly Ontonagon County Historical Society membership meeting held at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mass City, MI \u00a0on March 16, 2017 (St. Urho’s Day for you Finns out there). \u00a0The talk was a prelude to the screening of Bill Mason’s 1968 film\u00a0The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes}.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Before we get to our featured presentation, we are going to travel back and forth in time a bit to set the scene for the short film you are about to see. \u00a0Technically, it is a story whose beginnings we can only speculate about because we were not there all those eons ago when it began. \u00a0If this was a crime story, it would be handled like detective \u00a0analysing the evidence from a cold case. \u00a0My connection to the story requires a much shorter trip through only 43 or 44 years, so that is where we will begin our little trip through time and space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During my undergraduate years at NMU, I had an item on my list of \u2018must take classes\u2019 called Geomorphology to be taught by the head of the Department of Geography, Earth Science, and Conservation, Dr. John D. Hughes. \u00a0Having never had a class from Dr. Hughes, I inquired from the upper level and grad students who would congregate in the department coffee lounge what I might expect from Dr. \u00a0Hughes. \u00a0Suffice to say I was a bit alarmed when the nicest thing uttered about the class was, \u201dI am glad they only teach that one every other year because I was able to dodge it in my schedule.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Armed with this unsettling mental picture, I entered class on the first day just a little apprehensive. \u00a0According to the syllabus, \u00a0we were there to \u201c<\/span>the study of the physical features of the surface of the earth and their relation to its geological structures<\/span>\u201d. \u00a0The biggest surprise for me was Dr. Hughes – he was an engaging lecturer with a wicked sense of humor. \u00a0The subject matter was fascinating and the good Dr. was a wonder to behold when diagramming features with chalk. \u00a0\u00a0I absolutely loved the course! \u00a0In that Dr. Hughes cut his PhD teeth on the topic of glaciation of the Great Lakes region, \u00a0we spent a fair amount of class time and a good deal of field study on that very subject. \u00a0I entered almost completely ignorant of the Great Lakes glacial past and left wondering, \u201cWhy did I not learn any of this before I was a Junior in college?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fast forward to 1975. \u00a0I arrive in Ontonagon to teach seventh grade Geography\/Earth Science and I am itching to resolve the lack of knowledge being imparted to Michigan public school students on the topic of glaciation. \u00a0I spent a good deal of time that first year scanning the local landscape for examples of Michigan\u2019s glacial past and was sorely disappointed by the lack of visible evidence I found. \u00a0I made it a point to visit Dr. Hughes the next summer to find out why.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He peered over his glasses as only learned men can do when confronted by a pupil who had an important piece of information sail over their head. \u00a0This is a look that took me years to master, but I have gotten pretty good at it by now. \u00a0\u201cWell,\u201d he began, \u201cthe difference lies in the manner that the glaciers retreated and the bodies of water they left behind. \u00a0Unlike the eastern and central U.P., the western end of the peninsula was submerged under hundreds of feet of early Lake Superior right after the ice melted back, thereby obscuring many of the more identifiable glacial features we can see in other parts of the UP and Wisconsin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He may not have known it at the time, but he had thrown down a challenge that I immediately began working on: \u00a0how does one teach glaciation in an area where most of the glacial features are not easily seen? \u00a0It dawned on me soon after that the parent material of the soils that cover Ontonagon County were deposited by the retreating glacier, so if we studied the soil patterns, we could tie that into the area\u2019s glacial past! \u00a0I began sending students into their own back yards so they could connect these glacially deposited soils with their glacial origins. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oh, how the kids south of Mass City toiled to sample the soil their ancestors had farmed on. That string of islands in the early lake that make up what we now know as The Ridge acted as a natural breakwall allowing the thick clay deposits to collect there. \u00a0The deep, calm waters stretching south to the early lake shore near present day Bruce Crossing conspired with this island chain to deposit heavy clay soils that were not fun to dig up. \u00a0It was hard as concrete when dry and unbelievably sticky when wet. \u00a0Rumors spread that Raisanen was torturing his students with dirt! \u00a0Those living on old beach deposits \u00a0farther inland and around the islands fared much better. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another small skip in time up to 1977 found me doing my own summer project east of Munising and just south of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. \u00a0The central goal \u00a0of the project was to estimate the amount of virgin White Pine timber that had been growing on a 4 mile by 7 mile plot of land known as The Kingston Plains before logging and extensive burning commenced in the 1880s. \u00a0Of course, part of this project would include writing a geological the history of this flat, sandy glacial outwash plain. \u00a0I went to see my old friend, Dr. John Hughes again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I stepped into his office and announced why I was there – to pick his brain about the glacial history of the Kingston Plains. \u00a0He was holding a 4 foot long, 4 inch diameter piece of wood and countered my volley with, \u201cHow old do you think this is?\u201d \u00a0Judging by the diameter, I guessed 30 years. \u00a0\u201cNo, no, no . . . how OLD do you think it is?\u201d \u00a0Ah . . . \u2018old\u2019 as in \u2018ancient\u2019 – so I took a stab at 4,000 years. \u00a0He sighed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He tossed it to me and got up to point at the map on the wall. \u00a0The wood is as dry and light as balsa. \u00a0\u201cCleveland Cliffs is digging a new tailings basin near Gribben Lake and they uncovered these black spruce trees \u00a030 feet underground,\u201d he explained. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe carbon dated them to 9,300 years ago give or take a hundred years. \u00a0The ice had melted back far enough from the Marquette area that there was soil formation and plant growth taking place for some time. \u00a0These trees were about 30 years old when the glacier readvanced to a point about where the Marquette Mountain Ski hill is today. \u00a0When the melt back began again, these trees were first buried, and then there must have been a massive deluge that ripped the tops off them. \u00a0There is a whole forest there and we have two more weeks to get out as much of it as we can before they resume digging.\u201d \u00a0If you have a chance to stop in at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum near Negaunee, there is a display case of pictures and a sample of one of these tree stumps.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t get me wrong. \u00a0I was fascinated by the story but \u00a0being a relatively young, impatient grad student, I tried to direct him back to why I was there: \u00a0\u201cThat is really interesting Dr. Hughes, but I came to talk to you about the Kingston Plains.\u201d \u00a0Then he did it to me for the second time. \u00a0The look over the glasses. \u00a0My mind was reeling: \u00a0what did I miss here?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He pointed at the Marquette moraine on his wall map and then to the Gribben Basin where the sample had been unearthed. \u00a0He tapped the moraine and basin a couple of times before his finger began to trace the moraine to the east. \u00a0\u201cNote the interruption here where the Au Train River drainage breached the terminal moraine to the south toward Bay de Noc.\u201d \u00a0He kept tracing until his finger landed on the northern edge of the Kingston Plains. \u00a0He tapped the map a few more times to make his point clear. \u00a0The same ice sheet that had buried the Gribben Basin forest 9,300 years ago was the same one that had created the outwash plain where I was measuring 90 year old White Pine stumps. \u00a0I stopped believing the myths of the absent minded professor at that moment because what I took to be his excited explanation about the Gribben Basin was actually the answer to the very question I had asked when I walked in. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0By now, you may be asking yourself, \u2018What does this have to do with tonight\u2019s program?\u201d \u00a0You see, I was feeling a little deflated after my second stare down, so I had to save face after getting \u2018The Look\u2019. \u00a0All I could think to say was \u2018Dr. Hughes – have you ever seen a film called \u201cThe Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes\u201d?\u201d \u00a0Ontonagon elementary teacher Mark Bobula had introduced it to me when he found out I was teaching about glaciation and I have used it in class religiously for the past 40 years. \u00a0The film was written and produced by Canadian Bill Mason in 1968 and I instantly felt a pang of regret for bringing it up because Dr. Hughes was also Canadian. \u00a0Of COURSE he would have heard of it! \u00a0I was pleasantly surprised when he said, \u201cNo, I am not familiar with it.\u201d \u00a0I left with a little more spring in my step because I had recovered a bit of my dignity by teaching the teacher in return for what he had taught me. \u00a0He thanked me for the information, I thanked him for his help and that was the last time I asked him a question without really focusing in on what he told me in return. \u00a0I owe my interest in the subject of glaciers to Dr. Hughes and pity all of those poor students who avoided his class because they had heard that it would be brutal!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have now come full circle – I started showing <\/span>The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes<\/span><\/i> on real film, eventually trading that in for videotape, and after all of these years of using a stock copy, I finally purchased the original on DVD from the National Film Board of Canada. \u00a0I took the liberty of translating the narration into a written script because it is all set to music \u00a0(reprinted below) \u00a0I would be remiss if I didn\u2019t tell you that the time travel theme I started with continues in the film so please sit back and relax as we take in the the formation of the Great Lakes set to music. \u00a0Don\u2019t blink or you may miss thousands of years of geological history! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video –\u00a0The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes –\u00a0<\/em>complete script printed below:<\/p>\n

RISE AND FALL OF THE GREAT LAKES \u2013 BILL MASON (1968)<\/p>\n

Distributed by the National Film Board of Canada<\/p>\n

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Now listen to me people and I\u2019ll tell you what I found<\/p>\n

I found that changes, oh those changes, keep the world going \u2018round<\/p>\n

Yesterday, today, and when you wake up the next morning<\/p>\n

Long before the inland waters were travelled by a man<\/p>\n

The Great Lakes were being created by the glaciers on the land<\/p>\n

And the lakes still are forming, all changing one by one<\/p>\n

Yes they ask us with their beauty, what things are to come<\/p>\n

If you travel to the Great Lakes, five jewels beneath the Sun<\/p>\n

You\u2019d learn enough about those changes to satisfy anyone<\/p>\n

In case you must be told again, the Great Lakes haven\u2019t always been<\/strong><\/p>\n

So look about you carefully and realize that what you see<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will not remain, will always change<\/strong><\/p>\n

And if you could just leave today and travel back to yesterday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Would what you see still be the same?, Would what you see still be the same?<\/strong><\/p>\n

10,000 years ago today, the glaciers were going away<\/p>\n

The lakes did remain, the lakes that always change<\/p>\n

But if you could leave yesterday and travel back another day<\/p>\n

Would what you see still be the same?\u00a0 Would what you see still be the same?<\/p>\n

Now ain\u2019t that nice, you\u2019re up on ice.\u00a0 A mile thick and moving slow . . .<\/p>\n

Now take your partner by the hair, hold her hand and form a square<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell a story as we go, but don\u2019t forget to do sa do \u2013 don\u2019t let go<\/strong><\/p>\n

Long ago in olden days the Great Lakes started in this place<\/strong><\/p>\n

They started quiet, they started slow, but watch and see the Great Lakes grow –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Allemande left<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then one day, the ice age came, lots of snow and not much rain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The weight of the ice made the land go down and scraped out a hole in the middle of the ground – Allemande right<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rock did scrape, the ice did move and pretty soon to tell you the truth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone was beating time to the old square dance in two-four time \u2013 do sa do<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then one day, an eventful day, the Sun came out and decided to play<\/strong><\/p>\n

And after a while decided to stay, and up and melted the ice away \u2013 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Easy now, hold your partner<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the Sun came out that day, the mighty glacier moved away<\/strong><\/p>\n

The consequences they did make the first and genuine Great Lake<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now this story happened again and again, the last time it happened was way back when<\/strong><\/p>\n

10,000 years ago today, the very last the glacier went away \u2013 bye bye<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now the water coming in has to go somehow, and those days weren\u2019t the same as now<\/strong><\/p>\n

The water then was going north and now-a-days it all goes south \u2013 how come?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now swing your partner round and round, now bow to your partner it\u2019s all over now<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the weight of the glacier moved away, the land did spring up again<\/p>\n

And cut off the flow of the water north, and made it go instead to the south<\/p>\n

When you travel on the waters, and you think it\u2019s going fine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just remember you are bouncing, like a tennis ball through time<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you travel the Great Lakes waters, you can see far and wide<\/strong><\/p>\n

The traces of that glacier on its prehistoric glide<\/strong><\/p>\n

As you travel on the waters, which the ancient ice age planned<\/p>\n

Just remember there are changes also made by man<\/p>\n

And the waters shimmer golden in the ever golden Sun<\/p>\n

I hope there\u2019s so much beauty in the changes that are to come<\/p>\n

You were born by the waters, do you swim the waters<\/strong><\/p>\n

You will die by the waters, do you drink the good water<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rivers go on like a sad lover\u2019s song<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is this a beginning or the end?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now listen to me people and I \u2018ll tell you what I\u2019ve found<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found that changes, oh those changes, keep the world going \u2018round<\/p>\n

Yesterday, today, and when you wake up the next morning<\/p>\n

Words and Music by Bruce MacKay \u2013 Canoe man \u2013 James Blake<\/p>\n