USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume I > Part 41
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Fort Brady now occupies a commanding site of seventy-five acres, in the southwestern part of the Soo and, from a splendid rise of ground. overlooking the city, the river and all the imposing sights and works of the region. It is one of the most modern and healthful posts in the United States, and is in special favor with the government as a re- cuperative point for troops returning from the Philippines and other enervating regions. The buildings of the present post were not all completed until 1895, although part of the officers' quarters and bar-
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FORT BRADY OF TODAY : BARRACKS AND CAMPUS
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racks were so far finished in the fall of 1892 as to be occupied by troops. Company F, of the post, was the first received-November 25, 1892, and three days later came the second company from Fort Mackinaw; the third. from Detroit (Company D, of the Nineteenth Infantry) arrived October 22, 1893. The post is now ocenpied by the second battalion. Twenty-sixth U. S. Infantry, with Major L. L. Durfee in command. Estimated value of the buildings on the grounds $200.000.
The twenty-six aeres upon which stood the original Fort Brady was ceded to the United States by the Chippewas June 16, 1820. the locality having been selected by the French for military purposes in 1750 when Chevalier Repentigny constructed a storkade at that locality. After the fall of Quebec the post was ocenpied by a small body of British troops, and after the treaty of peace with Great Britain the post was left nn- ocenpied until American occupaney. In July, 1822. General Brady was directed to proceed thither with six companies of infantry and con- strnet a stockade and barracks upon the land ceded by the treaty of 1820. He carried out his instructions, and erected the buildings which have since been known as old Fort Brady. The post was occupied by I'mited States troops until 1857, when they were removed to Fort Snell- ing. Minnesota, and the property left in charge of an officer until May 8, 1866, when Fort Brady was again garrisoned.
The old stockade and barracks were found in such dilapidated ean- dition that their removal or restoration was ordered. The cost of im- provements in 1849 was $4,000, and many thousands of dollars were expended in subsequent years in repairs and erection of new buildings.
Up to the time of the transfer of the post to its present fine site, in 1892-5, the occupation of Fort Brady by United States troops was twice interrupted. First, during the Mexican war, when the regulars were withdrawn for service in the field and their place filled by a company of the First Michigan Infantry, under Lieutenant E. K. Howard, which held the post until April, 1848, From that time until June 1, 1849, the fort was untenanted. In consequence of the Minnesota Indian scare of 1857. the post was evacnated and the troops dispatched to Fort Snelling, there being no garrison at Fart Brady from that period until May 8, 1866. At that date Company D. Fourth United States Infantry, ar- rived ; since which the post has been occupied continuously.
GOVERNMENT OR CANM. PARK
From the establishment of old Fort Brady originated the beautiful government park, or Canal park as it is more generally known. which lies sonth of the great locks and Fort Brady pier. The building of the U. S. Weather Bureau is at its western end, while the Federal building is toward the east. The grounds are kept in perfect condition and are often crowded with pleasure seekers and visitors bound for the locks. the State Fish Hatchery and other attractions northward. The main entrance to the park is a genuine Japanese torii. or stone archway. used in the Kingdom of Nippon only at the entrance to a Buddhist temple.
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This unique and imposing archway-so far as known the only one in the country-was brought to the United States as a gift to his home city by Hon. Charles S. Osborn (now governor), and has been placed where it will be admired by thousands of visitors from all parts of the country.
STATE FISH HATCHERY
The Michigan State Fish Hatehery, which has been accomplishing such efficient work in restocking the lakes and streams of the Upper Peninsula for the past fifteen years, is located northeast of the Amer- ican eanal and directly north of the new lock which is in course of con- struction. It ineludes not only a large building. thoroughly and mod- eruly equipped, by a well arranged system of adjacent ponds. The sta-
STATE FISH HATCHERY AND POND SYSTEM, THE SOO
tion was built in 1805 and the pond system four years later, since which it has been under the control of the State Board of Fish Commissioners and the Bureau of Fisheries. The local and active supe: intendent. HI. H. Marks, has been recognized for years as one of the foremost experts in pisciculture in the United States.
It is proposed to move the Soo station from its present location to Fort Brady pier. east of the locks, where the city has offered to provide, free of charge, 120 gallons of water per minute from its city mains.
Considering the small amounts annually appropriated by the state for the propagation and distribution of fish-from $35,000 to $37.000- the work accomplished has been remarkable. It is the wish of the com- mission to have a station for the propagation of bass. wall-eyed pike and perch fry, especially for the Upper Peninsula, to be located in some dis- trict which abounds in eongenial lakes and streams, and the proposition is enthusiastically supported by both sportsmen and those who are alive
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THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
to the economic importance of conserving the fish supply of this section of the state.
An emphatic personal testimonial of the success of the work aceom- plished by the Soo hatchery and the State Fish Commission is given in the following words by George A. Newett, editor of Iron Ore, Ishpem- ing: "Personally we know of very many lakes and streams that have been a source of great profit, as well as pleasure, due to the stocking with fish. We have a case in mind, the Dead river to the north of Ish- peming, where there never was a trout caught above the big fall. They could not get above the obstruction and for some reason the spawn had not been carried above by water fowl or in other manner. This stream was stocked with native brook trout several years ago, the editor of Iron Ore making the plant, and since that time hundreds of tons of trout have been taken from this river and its tributaries. Big trout weighing over four pounds are frequently caught, and annually tons of these fish are taken. This is only one instance of hundreds of which we know. Of course, an important work is the keeping up of the big lakes' supply of trout and white fish, Only for this attention, these fine fish would long ago have been practically canght out, but the supply has held ont remarkably well considering the amount of illegal fishing that has been practiced."
The State Board of Fish Commissioners has the special work of sup- plying the Upper Peninsula with trout-brook, lake and rainbow; the Bureau of Fisheries with that of planting white fsh and trout in the great lakes, The average output of the Soo station for the past ten years has been as follows: Fry planted by the State Board in the streams and lakes of the Upper Peninsula-1.600.000 brook trout. 690,000 rain- bow trout, 2.000,000 lake trout and 10,000,000 wall-eyed pike; by the Burean of Fisheries in Lake Superior. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan- 25,000,000 white fish and 8,000,000 tront.
THE COUNTY AND COUNTY SEAT
It will be readily understood that the beginnings of Chippewa county were made at Sault Ste. Marie, and a reversion to the general history will give the reader both a general and a clear idea of its condi- tion in 1826. By an act of the territorial legislature, approved on De- cember 22, 1825, authority was given to organize the county of Chip- pewa, the act to take effect February 1, 1826. The district defined as Chippewa embraced the territory within the following bounds: Begin. ning on the north side of Lake Huron, at Isle St. Vital, running due north until it strikes a river which falls into the northwest part of Muddy Lake, of the River Ste. Marie; thence up that river to its source ; thence west to the Meristie river of Lake Michigan : thence up the river to latitude 46 degrees 31 minutes; thence west to the Mississippi river; thence up that river to its source : thence north to the boundary line of the United States, and with that line returning through Lake Superior to the mouth of the St. Mary's River, and thence southwest to the place
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THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
of beginning. The county seat was established at the Sault, and the county court was empowered to try all snits save those pending before the United States district court of Michilimackinac. Its present bounds, as established by act of March 9, 1843, were as follows: Beginning at a point on a line between ranges 12 and 13 to the intersection of that line by the north boundary of town 45; thence north to Lake Superior, east and south along the margin of the lake and west bank of St. Mary's River to Lake Huron, west to a point on Lake Huron south of the line between ranges 2 and 3 east, north and west along the boundary line of Michilimackinac connty to the place of beginning, including Drum- mond and Sugar Islands.
In 1855 the real and personal property of Chippewa county was
EF
CHIPPEWA COUNTY COURT HOUSE, SAULT STE. MARIE
valued at $160,277; in 1865, at $124,851; 1875, $996.242; 1880, $1.409,- 870, and in 1906 (as equalized by the state board), $12,500,000.
The population since 1837, as given by varions enumerations, has been as follows :
1837
366
1870
1,689
1840.
534
1874
2,170
1845
1,017
1880
5.248
1850
898
1890.
12,019
1854
1,933
1900
21.338
1860
1,603
1910.
24.472
1864
1,229
By townships, eities and villages the showing made by the United States census is as follows :
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THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
833
COUNTY DIVISIONS
1910
1900
1890
Bay Mills Township
233
Bruce Township
1,324
1,071
1,318
Dafter Township
847
738
Detour Township, Village
including Detour
935
1,043
964
Detour Village
721
880
Drummond Township
624
499
496
Kinross Township
244
144
Pickford Township
1,420
1,425
993
Raber Township
882
644
Rudyard Township
1,353
678
Sault Ste. Marie City
12,615
10,538
5,760
Ward 1
4,085
Ward 2
4,009
Ward 3
2,987
Ward 4
1,534
Soo Township
837
878
669
Sugar Island Township
625
540
563
Superior Township
1,321
2,274
893
Trout Lake Township
912
367
112
Whitefish Township
300
499
251
The first meeting of the village of Sault Ste. Marie was held Febru. ary 2, 1874, Peter B. Barbeau being elected president of the board. At that time, and for years after, Judge Barbeau resided in the old frame ageney building, erected by Major Johnson, the father-in-law of Henry R. Schoolcraft in 1822. It still stands about a mile east of the Catholic church on Portage street. This was the first frame building erected at the Soo.
The second was the Baptist mission house, which stood almost in front of the present court house, and was erected by Rev. Abel Bing- ham in 1829. In the same year the Methodist Episcopal mission was established at the Soo, other Protestant denominations organizing socie- ties at a later day.
The Van Anden House was the first hotel established at Sault Ste. Marie, and so prospered that additions were made to it in 1834.
The Sault was incorporated as a full-fledged city by the state legis- lature in 1879, and its charter has since been amended. This marks the commencement of the period when it took on all the modern aspects of metropolitan life. The old school system disappeared, a large and con- venient high school building was erected; new church organizations and societies came into being, and the press of the city was established as a permanent force in the progress of the community.
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THIE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
AMERICAN CANAL AND LOCKS
The destiny of the Soo was fixed as the greatest gateway of marine commerce in the world with the completion of the St. Mary's Falls Amer- jean Canal in 1853. How the state of Michigan inaugurated the great work in 1837 and sent her contractors to the ground in 1839, only to be opposed by the national government through its Fort Brady troops, has been graphically and fully told. But the original efforts of the common- wealth finally bore fruit after some fifteen years of friction and delay.
The progress of this gigantic series of engineering feats covered by the general term "the American canal and locks" is thus traced by Colonel
HOUSE AT THE SOO WHERE SCHOOLCRAFT WROTE HIS HISTORY [ Hullt In 1822 by Major Johnson, His Father-in-Law]
C. MeD. Townsend, corps of engineers, U. S. A., the author of an official government report issued in 1911:
"The first ship canal, known as the State Canal, was built on the American side of the river in 1853 to 1855, some 750,000 acres of land in Michigan having been granted by the United States congress for the construction thereof. The canal was 1 1-12 miles long. 64 feet wide at bottom. 100 feet wide at water surface, and 13 feet deep. There were two tandem locks of masonry, each 350 by 70 feet, having 111% feet of water on the miter sills and a lift of about 9 feet cach. Captain A. Can- field. Topographical Engineers, U. S. A., made the original surveys. Charles T. Harvey was superintendent of construction, and the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Company was the contractor. The locks were destroyed in 1888 by excavations for the present Poe Lock.
"The Weitzel Lock, 515 feet long, 80 feet wide in chamber, narrow- ing to 60 feet at the gates, with 17 feet depth of water on the miter sills
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF GOVERNMENT LOCKS AT THE SOO
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THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
when the upper pool is 601.9 feet and the lower pool 584.4 feet above mean tide at New York, was built by the United States in the years 1870 to 1881. During the same period the depth of the canal was in- creased to 16 feet, the mean width to 160 feet, and the stone slope walls were replaced with timber piers having a vertical face. General Or- lando M. Poe was the engineer officer in charge of the district from 1870 to 1873, and General Godfrey Weitzel from 1873 to 1882. Alfred Noble was the assistant engineer in local charge from 1870 to 1882. Boyle and Roach were the principal contractors.
"The Canadian canal, 11/8 miles long, 150 wide, and 22 feet deep, with lock 900 feet long and 60 feet wide, having 22 feet of water on the miter sills, was built on the north side of the river in the years 1888 to 1895. Hon. Collingwood Schreiber was chief engineer of Dominion Canals, etc .; and W. G. MeNeill Thompson was the government en- gineer in local charge of construction work. Ryan & Hlaney were the contractors.
"The Poe Lock, 800 feet long, 100 feet wide, and having 22 feet of water on the sills, was built by the United States in the years 1887 to 1896. General Orlando M. Poe was the engineer officer in charge of the district from 1883 to 1895; and E. S. Wheeler the assistant engineer in local charge of construction work from 1882 to 1897. Hughes Bros, and Bangs were the principal contractors.
"The American canal since 1892 has been deepened to 25 feet, and its entrance piers have been extended so that its total length at the falls is now 1 3-5 miles. Its width is variable, being 500 feet at the upper entrance, 108 feet at the canal gate, 270 feet at the basin above locks, and 1,000 feet at the lower entrance. Dunbar and Sullivan and J. B. Donnelly were the principal contractors.
"The canal also practically includes those parts of the channels through St. Mary's River, which have been improved through shoals of sand, clay, boulders, sandstone and limestone rock. The United States government made the first appropriation for improving the river chan- nels in 1856. The Lake George route was improved for 12 feet draft, 1857 to 1860 and 1866 to 1869. The depth was increased to 16 feet, 1879 to 1883. The Hay Lake route was improved for a depth of 20 feet at mean stage of water, years 1882 to 1894. Betterment of the channels has been continued every year since, so that the dredged areas now total 34 miles in length with least width of 300 feet, increasing at angles and other critical places up to 1,000 feet. In 1903 excavation of channels was begun for 21 feet at lowest stage of water.
"The Engineer Officers in past charge of the river improvements were: Captain A. W. Whipple, 1858-1861; Colonel T. J. Cram, 1866- 1870; Major O. M. Poe, 1870-1873; Colonel G. Weitzel, 1873-1882; Major F. U. Farquhar, 1882-1883; Colonel O. M. Poe, 1883-1895; Colonel G. J. Lydecker, 1896-1902; Major W. H. Bixby, 1902-1904, and Col. Chas. E. L. B. Davis, 1904-1908. J. Hickler & Sons. C. F. & H. T. Dunbar, and Carkin, Stickney & Cram were the principal contractors.
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THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
"The cost of the several improvements, stated in round numbers, is as follows :
Locks and canal of 1855 $1,000,000
Weitzel Lock 1,000,000
Poe Lock 3,000,000
Widening and deepening canal 3,000,000
Improving channel through river 8.000,000
Canadian Lock, canal and approaches
5,000,000
"Hydraulic power is used for operating the American locks; a pres- sure of 115 pounds per square inch being used for the Weitzel lock ma- chinery and a pressure of 200 pounds for the Poe lock machinery. Elec- tricity generated by water power is used for operating the Canadian lock.
"The Poe lock can be filled or emptied in about seven minutes, and the gates opened or closed in two minutes. The Weitzel lock can be operated in about the same time as the Poe lock. The Canadian lock can be operated in about 8 minutes. An up-lockage of a single boat 350 feet long has been made through the Poe lock in 11 minutes; but the average time spent in making a lockage last season was 31 minutes, this difference being due to the slow movement of boats while entering and leaving the locks and to the fact that in nearly half of the lockages more than one boat was passed. Frequently as many as five boats were in- cluded in a single lockage. The average time of lockage through the Canadian lock was about 23 minutes.
"From 1855 to 1881 the canal was controlled by the State of Michi- gan and tolls were charged to cover operating and repair expenses, the rate at first being 616 cents per registered ton, which was gradually re- duced to 216 cents. Similarly the minimum charge for lockage of a boat was reduced from five to three dollars. Since control was trans- ferred to the United States in 1881, the American canal has been free for public use by all nations. Likewise the Canadian canal has not collected tolls for either foreign or domestic commerce.
"The lock force under state control consisted of about 20 men, hav- ing one watch only as night navigation on the river was then impossible. Under United States control two watches, of 12 hours each, were estab- lished in 1881, and same continued until 1891, when three watches of eight hours each were organized. The force engaged in passing boats has been increased with the growth of commerce, the number now aggre- gating 74; in addition there are 19 others employed as clerks, watchmen and janitors."
Vol. 1-22
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EXPENDITURES FOR OPERATING AND CARE OF ST. MARY'S FALLS CANAL, MICHIGAN
TEAR
Operating
Repairs
Total
Cost per Freight Ton Mills
1882
$21,185.86
$ 6,360,00
$ 27,545.86
13.57
1883
22.134.97
14.200.80
36,335.77
16.03
1884
20,337.61
9.148.68
29,486.29
10.26
1885
18,635.27
10,429.25
29.064.52
8.92
1886
18.871.84
7,217.28
26.089.12
5.76
1887
18.887.11
2.945.44
21,832.55
3.97
1888
22.858.57
7,144.89
30,003.46
4.68
1889
23.987.45
6,616,16
30,603.61
4.07
1890
22.737.53
13,985.74
36,723.27
4.06
1891
34.657.27
10,303.52
44,960.79
5.06
1892
37.895.93
23.345.16
61,241.09
5.46
189:
34.402.15
7.425.92
41,828.07
3.87
1894
43.103.27
12,028,94
55,132.21
4,18
1895
39,063.20
11,472.41
50,535,61
3.49
1896
34,806.92
24,822.16
59,629.08
5.10
1897
46.750.02
32.457.13
79,207.15
5.64
1898
43.464.99
13.209.17
56,674.16
3,12
1899
65,142.64
23,858.24
89,000.88
4.00
1900
59,282.46
21.026.81
80,309.27
3.40
1901
59.457.05
16,102.29
75,559.34
2,95
1902
66,914.75
21.680.78
88,595.53
2.84
1903
62.648.42
20.297.67
82,946.09
2.84
1904
66.563.96
26,514.11
93.078.07
3.51
1905
64.423.96
20,998.96
85,422.92
2.20
1906
69.259.66
20.410.36
89,670,02
1.98
1907
68,162.42
21,664.84
89,827.26
2.11
1908
67,652.07
42,266.64
109,918.71
3.84
1909
68.963.78
37.550.48
106,514.26
3.53
1910
70,608,98
32.487.20
103,096.18
3.98
To the above must be added that excavations for a third lock, north of the Poe lock, ate now well under way. When completed it will be 1,350 feet long and cost npwards of $6,000,000. When this lock and an entirely separate canal are completed the United States government will have spent approximately $20,000,000 in aids to navigation in and about the Soo; and, although the state has never quite forgiven her cavalier treatment by the national government in 1839, she is willing to accord Unele Sam a full measure of praise for his generosity in this work.
An interesting comparison has been furnished by the government of the traffic passing through the American and Canadian canals, as fol- lows :
The traffic through the American canal for the season of 1910 was 42 per cent of the total freight, 53 per cent of the total net registered ton-
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THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
nage, and 50 per cent of the total number of passengers carried, the amounts being 25,927,661 tons of freight, 26,506,986 tons register, and 33.536 passengers. Compared with the season of 1909 there was a de- crease of 4,204.713 tons of freight, or 14 per cent; 2,432,477 tons regis- ter, or 8 per cent; and an increase of 5,800 passengers, or 21 per cent. The American canal opened May 5 and closed December 14, 1910, mak- ing the length of its season 224 days.
The traffic through the Canadian canal was 58 per cent of the total freight, 47 per cent of the total registered tonnage, and 50 per cent of the passengers carried, the amounts being 36,435,557 tons of freight, 23,349,137 tons register, and 33.397 passengers. Compared with the sea- son of 1909, there was an increase of 8,672,782 tons of freight, or 31 per cent ; 5.536,883 tons register, or 31 per cent; and 1,185 passengers, or 4 per cent.
The Canadian canal was opened April 12 and closed December 15, 1910, making the length of its season 248 days.
Our Canadian neighbors and friendly rivals have direct communica- tion with us-that is, the "Two Soos" are bound together by the great international bridge, 3,607 feet in length, which crosses St. Mary's Falls, from the head of the American to the head of the Canadian canal. It was completed in the autumn of 1887.
THE SOO OF TODAY
It now seems an appropriate picture of Sault Ste. Marie today-the city itself; and rather striking and quite appropriate in this condensation of its historie attractions and some of its industries: "The Soo is a charming city to visit, both in summer and winter. It is the 'Historic
INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE BETWEEN THE SOOS NEARLY A MILE LONG; TEN SPANS
City of Michigan." The first white man to set foot on Michigan soil did so at the Soo. The first permanent white settlement in the state was established at the Soo only forty-eight years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and more than one hundred years before the adop- tion of the flag of our nation. The Soo has been under three flags and
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the last British flag to float over Michigan soil did so at the Soo. It was cut down by General Cass some years after the treaty of peace and the beautiful granite shaft erected at the Soo in 1905 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the greatest locks in the world also marks the very spot of the 'Flag Episode' of General Cass, That shaft was designed by Stanford White-one of his last works (if not the last) before he fell a victim of the assassin, Harry Thaw. The house in which Schoolcraft lived and wrote his world-famous history still stands at the Soo. Many other like historic places have been pre- served-intensely interesting places to students of Michigan history. The soil of the city has been red with blood of early Indian wars and massaeres. Where the oll forts stood, and were stormed and snecess- fully defended at times, and overthrown and destroyed at other times. the magnificent new federal building now stands. Fort Brady, estab- lished in 1822, is now located on the brow of a beautiful platean over- looking the city, the river, the rapids, the great loeks and Canada Soo, and is now a veritable beauty spot und deemed the second best post in the United States. A battalion of Uncle Sam's regulars constantly man the post and are fed from the prodnets of Chippewa farms. The daily drills of our "Brave Boys in Blue" greatly delight the Soo visitors. One of the largest tanneries in America is located in the city. This tannery receives most of its raw hides in cargo lots from Australia and the Argentine and its finished prodnet finds great demand in Europe." It may be added that the Soo Woolen Mills constitute the only manu- factory of the kind in the Upper Peninsula, and that the great canal of the Michigan Lake Superior Power Company furnishes the power to a number of industries, the principal of which is the Union Carbide Company. The hirge plant of the latter utilized in the manufacture calcium carbide-the basis of acetylene gas, of motor fame-udjoins, to the southeast, the great power house of the Michigan Lake Superior Company.
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