A Youthful 350, Sault Ste. Marie Celebrates Its Long, Long History

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Semisepticentennial.

It’s going to be hard to fit that on an anniversary mug, but organizers plan to fit a lot of celebrating into Sault Ste. Marie’s semisepticentennial year – that’s 350, half or “semi” of 700 or “septicentennial.”

The Sault is the oldest city in Michigan, but the history of the river upon which the community began stretches back much further.

“I am 8,000 years old,” the St. Marys River greets visitors at the front door of the River of History Museum in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. “I was born out of the trauma of this land as it buckled and ruptured and gave way amidst thunderous sound and gigantic force – carved and formed by nature’s relentless sculptor … the glacier.”

The natural upheaval of the land would form the river and the rapids that for thousands of years has drawn generations of Native people then European explorers and settlers who sustained themselves on the fish and game here. French, British and eventually U.S. armed forces would wage war upon each other for rights to the area’s natural resources and strategic location. The French and the United States built forts to protect their interests (the former Fort Brady is now the site of Lake Superior State University) and control of the area fluctuated over the years.

According to Bernie Arbic, author of City of the Rapids – Sault Ste. Marie’s Heritage, archaeological evidence shows that humans have been present in the region known to the Ojibwe as Bahweting, or “rapids,” since about 2000 B.C. Oral traditions of the Anishinaabeg say their people migrated to the area around 1400 A.D., about 200 years before the French, who called them “Saulters,” arrived, sault stemming from a French word for “leap” as in rapids or waterfalls.

The formal settlement of “Sainte Marie du Sault” was established in 1668 by Father Jacques Marquette, one of several Jesuit priests to live in the area through the years, including St. Isaac Jogues (1607-1646) who traveled to the Sault in 1641.

“How many communities in the U.S. can claim that a Catholic saint trod on their soil?” asks Bernie, who is also an officer with the Chippewa County Historical Society. His City of the Rapids, published in 2003, was the first historical account of Sault Ste. Marie written since Bayliss and Quaife’s River of Destiny in 1955.

The Michigan city has a Canadian sister city on the other side of the St. Marys – Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, which was formally recognized as a town in 1887. These days, the two cities are referred to as the twin Saults, but when humans first settled there, the river did not separate two countries or even two cities. It was just a river with people fishing on both banks.

“If you go back far enough, it really was one community for the longest time,” says Bernie. “After the War of 1812, the international boundary was there, and then Sault, Michigan, was the bigger community.” At the turn of the 20th century, Sault, Michigan, had nearly three times as many people as were living on the Ontario side. Today the Ontario city, with about 73,000 residents, has outpaced the Michigan side’s 14,000.

“Algoma Steel (still the Canadian Sault’s biggest employer) was just in its planning process. We were bigger until about 1910, when they caught up to us, and they never looked back,” Bernie says.

The story of the St. Marys River is the story of Sault Ste. Marie itself. At the largest of the rapids, Lake Superior falls into the river that leads to Lake Huron in a drop of more than 20 feet. The turbulent water stalled river travelers for thousands of years. Traders portaged canoes around the rapids with relative ease, but larger boats had to be unloaded and the cargo moved up and down what is today Water Street and, of course, Portage Avenue.

It would be more than 100 years after Sault, Michigan’s founding, in 1797, that the Northwest Fur Company built a 38-foot lock on the Canadian side of the river to allow small boats passage. Forty years after the lock was destroyed in the War of 1812, another was built, nearly 100 feet longer than the first and this time on the U.S. side. A 515-long by 80-foot-wide lock followed in 1881. In 1896, the original Poe Lock was built 800 feet long and 100 feet wide.

After the discovery of copper and iron ore in the Keweenaw and Central Upper Peninsula, the national need for new locks became clear. In 1881, control of the locks was transferred to the U.S. government under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which today maintains four locks: the Poe, Davis, Sabin and MacArthur. Only two are used – the MacArthur, completed in 1943, and a new Poe built in 1968, the only lock that can accommodate 1,000-foot freighters. A “super lock” to accommodate bigger freighters has been discussed for more than 30 years.

While the locks made travel on the river easier, other advances have made it easier to get over the river. Each month, nearly 100,000 vehicles cross the International Bridge. Ferry service between the twin Saults was discontinued when the bridge opened in 1962, but ferries operated by the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority still take travelers from the mainland to Sugar, Neebish and Drummond islands.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the Soo Locks every year, from the first week of spring to Christmas. The advent of drone photography of the ships and river with social media has stoked the interest to greater levels. This spring, the Soo Locks Visitor Center opened early and more than 300 people lined up to greet the first freighter when the locks opened at 12:01 a.m. March 25.

“We always present a plaque to the captain of the first ship though the locks, but this one was extra special with the 350th anniversary of the Sault,” says Linda Hoath, director of the Sault Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Interest in the semisepticentennial is strong, Linda adds, and just about every event happening in the Sault over the next year will be tied to the anniversary in some way. As part of the celebration, Bernie says the historical society is having the long out-of-print River of Destiny reprinted. It will be launched during a special event at the Sault’s Bayliss Library, named after the original authors. Tribal talks each month at the library through December explore tribal history, teachings and customs. “It’s going to be a fabulous year,” Linda says.

The St. Marys River may form the international boundary between two countries today, but Bernie says the twin Saults are still one community in many respects. “Cross-border marriages have become more difficult since 9-11, but they’re still happening.” Residents from both sides cross daily to work, and the two city councils hold a joint meeting each year.

“I think it’s neat being in a border town,” says Bernie. “There were a lot of ties between the two communities long ago, and there still are today.”

350 and Counting

The official Sault Ste. Marie 350th Festival runs July 20-27, starting with a fish fry at Aune Osborn Park, where music, a beer tent and family activities continue to July 22. Various events are scheduled around town to July 27, some still in planning. Log onto www.saultstemarie.com/350th-celebration-2018/ for a full schedule of events for the year linked to the semisepticentennial. Here’s a sample:

May 26 Dedication of St. Mary’s Stone Monument, recognizing St. Mary’s Church, built in 1668, first permanent wooden structure in Michigan.

June 1-30 Alberta House Olive Craig Gallery’s annual juried exhibition is devoted to past, present and future of Eastern Upper Peninsula.

June 21 Soo Theatre’s “350th Musical Celebration” with a song-writing contest and more.

June 23 International Bridge Walk, bikes 8:30 a.m., walkers 9:30 a.m.

June 29-30 Soo Locks Engineers Weekend, Soo Locks Park. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday is the only day you can walk over the MacArthur Lock to get even closer to the ships.

June 30 Bayliss Library Happy Birthday Event, 1 p.m., Bayliss Public Library, including launch of the newly reprinted River of Destiny.

July 4 Independence Day Parade, 7 p.m. Ashmun Street, followed by fireworks over the St. Marys River.

July 28-29 Rendezvous in the Sault, Historic Water Street. Living history event at Sault Historic Homes.

Dec. 16 350th Anniversary Closing Ceremonies, Pullar Stadium. Check out the historical photos of Pullar Stadium and the closing of the semisepticentennial time capsule.

Tom Pink is a freelance writer, history buff, volunteer and avid angler in the Michigan Sault.