File:Detroit River, Windsor (3380461075).jpg

The recorded history of the Detroit River began with the arrival of the French voyageurs, the first non-natives to navigate the river and land on Detroit's shores. Canoes made of birch or elm bark were a common mode of travel across the river, although the pirogue and bateaux were also used. The War of 1812 was partially fought along the Detroit River front, and by 1850, the census showed 21,019 people populated Detroit. Ferries, schooners and steamboats were found traveling along the river. During the Civil War, the river was patrolled in case of a Confederate attack from the Canadian north. As commerce grew, Detroit was becoming the busiest port in the world, and was dubbed "the Greatest Commercial Artery on Earth." 67,292,504 tonnage had passed through the Detroit River in 1907, compared with 18,727,230 through London, and 20,390,953 through New York City. From 1919 to 1933, when Prohibition outlawed the manufacture, distribution and purchase of alcoholic beverages in the United States, the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River carried 75 percent of all liquor smuggled into the United States.[1] It was known as "The Detroit-Windsor Funnel". Each winter during Prohibition, the local used car market (one of the only markets of its kind in the country at the time) would boom as would-be bootleggers purchased anything that would make it across the river. Parts and rusted bodies of Model T Fords and other Prohibition-era vehicles can still be found on the river bottom. These vehicles, often late at night, carried liquor across the frozen river. Sometimes, their heavy loads sent these cars and trucks crashing through the ice. In March 2003, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy was formed. The Conservancy is tasked with clean up and improvement of the Detroit riverfront from the Ambassador Bridge to the MacArthur Bridge. The central focus of the effort is the RiverWalk, which will be a riverfront pathway extending the entire 4.7 miles (7.6 km) between the two bridges. 75% of the east RiverWalk is expected to be completed by late 2007.[2]