==History==
The first [[Europe]]ans to see Lake Michigan were [[France|French]] traders and explorers in the 1600's1600s. One of which, [[Samuel de Champlain]] (1567?-1635), who mapped much of northeastern [[North America]], called Lake Michigan the Grand Lac. It was later named "Lake of the Stinking Water" or "Lake of the Puants," after the people who occupied its shores.
In 1679, the lake became known as Lac des Illinois because it gave access to the country of the [[Indian]]s, so named. Three years before, [[Claude-Jean Allouez]] (1622-1689), a French [[Jesuit]] [[missionary]], called it Lac St. Joseph, by which name it was often designated by early writers while others called it Lac Dauphin.
==Facts==
Lake Michigan is the the sixth largest lake in the world.
Lake Michigan is the third largest of the [[Great Lakes]] and is the only one of the lakes which is contained entirely inside U.S. borders—making Lake Michigan the largest body of [[fresh water]] in the [[United States]].