For thousands of years, water was the primary means of travel and commerce here. Before interstate highways, coastal schooners hauled raw materials and manufactured goods along the New England coast, while lighthouses stood as reminders of hazards faced by mariners, including dense fog, rocky ledges, and strong currents. Though the Schoodic Peninsula may seem far removed from Mount Desert Island and the rest of Acadia National Park when traveled by road, they have long been linked by water, just as the stories and people of this land are tied to the bounty and dangers of the sea. Wabanaki people traveled coastal and inland waters by birch bark canoes, which supported fishing, seasonal movement, and trading essential to the Wabanaki way of life. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, steam ferries such as the Schoodic served as a primary means of coastal transportation, and boats like the Friendship Sloop, originally built for lobster fishing, now carry sightseers from around the world.