I recall the Copper Mines episode with some major skepticism. My question is, how did they transport the copper/ore back to Europe? Ships through the Great Lakes? What about the Niagaria River/Falls? No Canal circumventing them.
Portage, then reload onto another batch of ships?
Down the Mississippi? Naaaah.
Menzies had a British naval career, and has been through the Soo Locks, but seemed untroubled by that particular problem — and I found that troubling. Obviously it would involve ships to get across the ocean, but as of now there’s no sign of a Precolumbian canal to circumvent either Niagara or the drop from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Menzies conjured up the river in what is now Chicago flowing w instead of e, into the Mississippi.