The book tells the story of the Lake Carriers' Association and its contributions to Great Lakes shipping, the region, and the national economy since its founding days in 1880 to the present. It describes the objectives of LCA in all the periods of history in chapters focused on the leadership and important concerns of that time. The leaders were presidents of major Great Lakes, ship owners, and later, professional men with significant maritime and government affairs experience. The LCA objectives were to improve safety of vessels and crews, obtaining government support for improvements of locks, channels, and ports, and the Coast Guard helps in aids to navigation and ice breaking and in preventing unnecessary government regulations. There is a section on the contributions of William Livingstone, the longest serving president. Other sections tell the story of the work of LCA committees on navigation, engineering, environment, crew selection, and training and national security.