Abraham Lincoln in Michigan

[RJNorton]

(08-31-2014 07:25 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  that traveled the Detroit River. The occupants of the vessel could have viewed downtown Detroit standing on it's deck. However, Lincoln did not step foot in Detroit, itself. Still, the river was considered to be on the Michigan side of territory.

Bill, in Following in Lincoln's Footsteps, author Ralph Gary writes, "At some point, probably on the Detroit River, he (Lincoln) saw a steamer piled up on an island or, according to another story, maybe his boat got stuck on a sandbar in Lake Erie. Lincoln got the idea for "expandsible buoyant chambers placed at the sides" that would ease itself off a bar." This was the idea that he patented the next year (1849).