Lake Huron, the fifth largest lake in the world, was the first of the Great Lakes seen by white men. By following the Ottawa River route, Samuel de Champlain came to the “Freshwater Sea” in 1615. It was half a century before the French fully understood the lake’s size. Lake shipping has swelled immensely since the Griffin’s solitary voyage in 1679. Much of the shore is still as wild as when the Huron Indians were the only travelers on the lake.