f ... < --" , X º º rº- g º T; R º º *º *gº º … º. ... ºs Żºłºś. p × S ● { } - º.º. ，ºģºssº y № ∞ √∞ √°√∞'，*, ， ;-->~~~~s rºse-n-r-z --------. -, *- : - - - - - - - - *.*, * ~ * - * * * - ' Geographical and Historical. 15 tion in 1775, followed by the Treaty of Paris, September 3rd, 1783, when the United States Government was recog- nized in, and assumed control of the region south of the As Great Lakes. - The boundary lines were not then well defined and much of the territory now forming the State of Michigan was in dispute until the war of 1812. By the treaty of Ghent, December 24th, 1814, the rights of the United States therein were fully confirmed, during the administra- tion of General Lewis Cass as Territorial Governor and General Superintendent of Indian affairs 1813–31, when west of the Maumee river there was estimated to be 6,000 whites and 40,000 Indians. During the British occupancy, a British fur- trad- ing Company took annually from the Lake Superior country, furs, the original cost of which was equal to a quarter of a million dollars. That company first built a canal for batteaux around the rapids, and one of the locks is still preserved as an ornament to the grounds of the Water-Power Company, on the Canadian side of the river. TJNITED STATES. OCCUPATION. United States occupation at Sault Ste. Marie virtually began in 1820, when General Lewis Cass, Territorial Governor of Michigan and Indian Agent, landed at the foot of the rapids with a small force of explorers and boatmen, commissioned by the United States Government to make treaties with the Indians. He obtained the ces- sion of the Indian lands now covered by Sault Ste. Marie. In 1837 the State of Michigan was admitted into the Union with the sovereign powers incident thereto, and having unthankfully received the Upper Peninsula as a bonus in exchange for a claim to a strip of territory on its southern boundary next to Ohio, it instituted the earliest measures on record towards ascertaining the value of its Lake Superior coast possessions. 16 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. A law was immediately passed creating a Geolog- ical Department and Douglas Houghton was made the director. He proved to be a most capable and enthusi- astic expert, and between that date and his death in 1845, had made five canoe trips along those almost unknown shores and had educated the public mind to a faint appre- ciation of the mineral wealth which lay dormant there. His memory is perpetuated most appropriately in the name of the City of Houghton, which is the commercial center of the lake copper mining operations. The copper deposits of Lake Superior were the source of supply for the Mound Builders, who made annual pilgrimages to Lake Superior; but neither the French nor the English were able to discover these deposits, although they obtained many specimens of copper, some of which were of considerable size. The copper boulder . in the National Museum at Washington, taken from the valley of the Ontonagon river in 1843, marks the first shipment of that metal. At the beginning of the year 1840 the shipping on Lake Superior consisted of the American Fur Company’s brig John Jacob Astor and a schooner built by the Ohio Fishing & Mining Company of Cleveland, the latter vessel having made the portage around the rapids. CHAPTER II. COPPER MINING DISCOVERIES AND DEVELOPMENTS. While Dr. Houghton explained the geological condi- tions of the copper belt along the south shore of the great lake, and demonstrated that it was not a freak of nature confined to small areas but a grand mineral formation embracing hills and valleys for thousands of square miles, it was reserved for plain, non-scientific John Hays, of Pittsburg, Pa., to demonstrate its commercial value. He was born at Zelenople, Butler County, Pa., October 9th, 1804. Receiving an ordinary common school education, he made his way to Pittsburg, Pa., where he engaged in the drug business for a number of years, gaining the respect and confi- dence of all who knew him. He was a student of current events and became interested by re- ports of Dr. Houghton and JOHN HAYS, - - isolº others respecting the mineral (From Original Photo.) wealth of the then remote Upper Peninsula. Believing that his health would be benefited by a trip to that region he decided to go there in August, 1843, and when his purpose became known, some capital- ists of that city proposed to advance funds to invest in copper mining locations and share in providing for his expenses, which proposition was gladly accepted. He went by steamer from Cleveland to Mackinac Island, thence by canoe to Sault Ste. Marie, where he secured 17 18 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. passage on a small vessel to Copper Harbor on Keweenaw Point. He became a purchaser of an interest in several locations, one of which was found to cover a deposit of black oxide of copper which was exceedingly rich (yield- ing as high as 86 per cent. of metal) but of limited extent. He returned to Pittsburg that year, but only to resume explorations the following season, and commence active mining operations in the oxide deposit. Mean- time he explored in that vicinity and on the 18th of November, 1844, came upon a vein of copper bearing matrix exposed on the side of a high cliff or hill which was seemingly painted green by the copper carbonates into which the metallic particles had been changed by exposure to the elements of air, light and moisture. Examining it closely he found native copper globules and nuggets showing a large percentage in the vein over three feet in width. This was the first discovery of the kind on record in the world's history. Hays appreciated its value and determined to go overland to Pittsburg at once and report the discovery to his business associates. The journey was a terrible undertaking, of which a detailed account has been preserved—but will be epitom- ized herein by stating that it involved a snow-shoe jour- ney of over 200 miles through a trackless forest to the first settlement on the Menominee river in Wisconsin, thence partially by sleigh, but mainly on foot, to Mil- waukee, thence by stage to Chicago, in like manner to Detroit except for a short distance on a “strap” railway (which was the beginning of the Michigan Central Rail- road), thence by stage to Cleveland and Pittsburg, arriv- ing there January 10th, 1845, after being over fifty days on the way, often traveling nights as well as days. Such facts as these show most forcibly the improvements in transit in the intervening sixty years, as the same dis- tance can now be traversed on palace cars in twenty-four hours. Copper Mining Discoveries. 19 The necessity of new facilities for smelting the copper was soon made apparent, and Mr. Hayes visited England in 1845–6 to gain information on that subject, and returned to see one established in Pittsburg the same year. The Cliff mine, as started by Mr. Hays, gradually exhausted the vein on its location, but not before it had earned some four millions of dollars upon an original investment of about $100,000. Out of this vast sum, Mr. Hays is understood to have received but little reward and in later years engaged in other business, eventually removing his residence to Cleveland, where he lived a comparatively retired life until his death there in April, 1902.* The reputation of being a copper producing region, handed down from Indian native sources to the earliest European visitors, led to the first explorations made about the great lake, and the success of the search for that metal was the beginning of commercial pursuits there other than fur trading, hence the records of the general industrial development should properly commence with data of the native copper mining and its transportation accessories. - Prior to 1883 Lake Superior mines furnished the major part of the copper produced in the United States, the proportion being 97 per cent. in 1856, nearly 95 per cent. in 1869, and was not less than 60 per cent. at any time up to 1883 inclusive. In that year the mines of Montana and Arizona became competitors and soon took the lead, which they have since maintained. But Lake Superior yet furnishes over one-fourth of the product of the United States, and the latter more than one-half of the copper output of the whole world. *The compiler named herein called upon Mr. Hayes in A. D. 1900 at his Cleveland home, when in his 96th year, and found his mind bright and his memory clear. After an interesting conversation of over an hour, the veteran pioneer in parting bestowed a blessing that will be always counted among memory’s treasures. 20 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. As sufficient proof of the immense importance of the aforesaid mining interests, the following statistics of the annual lake product up to the present year are appended.* Of the enormous amount paid as stated in dividends, the Calumet and Heckla contributed $90,850,000 and is adding at the rate of $4,000,000 per year in quarterly dividends of $1,000,000 each. Its shares numbering 100,000 originally costing $12, are now selling at $705 and it has proved the most profitable mine on record. It was discovered in 1865-6, mainly on lands of the Sault >k Year. & Gross Product Gross Walue of Total Dividends Fine Copper—Pounds. | Product—Dollars. Paid—Dollars. 1845 24,880 5,000 |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846 58,240 10,000 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1847 299,120 55,000 * * * * * * * * * * * g e º ºs 1848 1,032,640 200,000 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1849 1,505,280 336,000 60,000 1850 1,281,280 286,000 84,000 1851 1,744,960 289,500 60,000 1852 1,774,080 396,000 60,000 1853 2,905,280 648,500 90,000 1854 4,074,560 909,500 198,000 1855 5,809,334 1,586,160 168,000 1856 8,217,392 2,218,320 380,000 1857 9,530,830 2,382,500 480,000 1858 9,159,916 2,129,235 460,000 1859 8,937,995 1,950,355 360,000 1860 12,068,375 2,654,960 120,000 1861 15,182,837 3,487,995 260,000 1862 13,586,318 3,634,255 440,000 1863 12,985,444 4,415,600 720,000 1864 12,491,965 5,870,300 1,150,000 1865 14,358,592 5,635,515 510,000 1866 13,750,063 4,629,375 170,000 1867 17,515,607 4,442,841 110,000 1868 20,934,124 4,940,424 100,000 1869 26,625,301 6,230,016 210,000 1870 24,622,759 5,096,752 700,000 1871 25,746,448 5,728,485 1,640,000 1872 24,553,523 7,979,400 3,080,000 1873 30,291,505 8,726,100 2,330,000 1874 34,334,389 8,009,356 1,940,000 Copper Mining Discoveries. 21 Canal Company, selected by its promoter and Land Agent, Charles T. Harvey, in 1853, which could have been bought prior to such selection at one dollar and a quarter per acre—but was sold to operators at about $100 per acre before its real value was made known. Next in value is the Quincy mine which, on a capital- ization of 100,000 shares, costing $25 originally, has paid $15,270,000 in dividends, and its stock is quoted at $102 per share. The remaining $2,200,000 in dividends has been paid by sixteen other companies. COPPER PRODUCTION.—Continued. >k Y . Gross Product Gross Value of Total Dividends * |Fine Copper—Pounds. | Product—Dollars. Paid—Dollars. 1875 36,039,497 8,180,625 1,920,000 1876 38,270,997 7,998,430 1,870,000 1877 39,026,671 7,327,880 1,840,000 1878 41,687,266 6,920,540 1,860,000 1879 42,671,529 7,327,350 1,818,620 1880. 49,718,337 9,947,673 3,080,000 1881 54,548,909 9,971,702 2,665,000 1882 57,155,980 10,522,416 2,850,000 1883 59,702,404 9,457,853 2,670,000 1884 69,353,202 9,494,306 1,327,500 1885 72,147,889 7,942,597 1,970,000 1886 80,918,460 8,788,476 3,260,000 1887 76,028,697 8,530,342 2,670,000 1888 86,472,034 14,510,001 3,415,000 1889 88,175,675 11,894,942 3,540,000 1890 101,410,277 15,819,960 3,260,000 1891 114,222,709 14,574,727 3,540,000 1892 123,198,460 12,431,624 3,260,000 1893 112,605,078 12,105,145 3,520,000 1894 114,308,870 10,852,122 2,380,000 1895 129,330,749 13,877,109 3,280,000 1896 142,057,500 15,758,935 3,985,000 1897 142,702,586 16,530,843 5,431,000 1898 147,965,738 17,829,871 6,857,250 1899 146,950,338 26,098,382 . 12,318,450 1900 142,151,571 23,691,928 9,811,200 1901 155,716,848 26,038,857 7,496,900 1902 170,325,598 20,711,592 3,440,000 1903 192,299,191 26,383,449 4,980,000 1904 205,488,229 26,713,469 5,432,300 Totals...] 3,377,359,733 $512,906,599 $128,098,220 CHAPTER III. VAST IRON INTERESTS, LOCAL AND NATIONAL. Slowly following the copper mining industry, came that of iron ore, which was destined to take the lead commercially and hold it indefinitely. This owes its existence to the installation of the Sault canal without which it could never have forged ahead to its present vast proportions, and enabled the United States to occupy is present proud position of being at the head of all nations in the production of iron and steel in what has been termed the “iron age,” but should be renamed as the “age of steel.” In the township of Negaunee, Marquette County, Michigan, the first discovery of a Lake Superior iron ore mine was made, from thence the first shipment to lower lake ports occurred, and there the first forged “bloom” and the first “pig” metal directly from the ore was pro- duced, hence the pioneering record of that locality will be the most appropriate commencement of this chapter. The earliest announcement of the existence of large ore deposits must be credited to William A. Burt, famous as the inventor of the Solar compass, who undertook the first government survey in that vicinity. On the 19th of September, 1844, when making the survey near the Jack- son mine location, he was amazed at the variations shown by the magnetic needle of his compass, and instructing his assistants to search for the cause, numerous speci- mens of iron ore were found near by, mostly from out- crops in ledges. One of the specimens was preserved and is referred to in Swineford's local history, published in 1876. 22 Vast Iron Interests. 23 The pioneer of commercial oper- ations was Philo M. Everett, of Jackson, Michigan; who there or- ganized the Jackson Mining Com- pany in 1845, and proceeded to Marquette at the head of a party of explorers, which found and pre- empted the Jackson mine, the first of its kind in the great “North- e t -> PHILO. M. EveRETT, West. 1807-1892 A letter of Mr. Everett's is ex- * * * tant, giving an account of his experiences, dated November 10th, 1845. He was born at Winchester, Connecticut, in 1807; settled in Jack- son, Michigan; removed with his family to Marquette in 1848, and resided there until his death in 1892. Mainly under his supervision a forge for making blooms with charcoal as fuel, located at a water power on the Carp river about three miles from the mine, was commenced in 1847, turned out blooms regularly in 1848 and for a few later years. This plant did not prove profitable and was abandoned after protracted trials under various managements. The first shipment of ore was made from the Jackson mine in 1850, of five tons to A. L. Crawford, of New Castle, Pa. It was made into blooms there and the quality found most excellent. General Curtis, owner of a large iron works at Sharon, Pa., visited the mining location the same year and bought its control. In 1852, seventy tons of the ore was shipped to his furnace and there first made into pig iron, which marks the commence- ment of a new era in the “iron age” of that region. The Jackson Iron Company (being the name finally adopted) did not make regular shipments until the Sault canal was finished, when, in 1856, it commenced with 5,000 tons: a few hundred tons having been sent forward experimentally in the preceding four years. For a num- 24 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. ber of years the Jackson mine, the Cleveland mine two miles westward, and the Lake Superior mine adjoining the latter, were the only considerable shippers in the county. Later the first named, after producing nearly four millions of tons, became exhausted, but the last two continue in the lead. The shipments of the Cleveland (now the Cleveland-Cliffs Company) to close of 1904 were 13,123,224 tons, and those of the Lake Superior, 12,313,058. The Marquette County mines constituted the only source of ore supply until 1877, when the Menominee District was added to the shipping list. This was fol- lowed in 1884 by the Gogebic District of Wisconsin and the Vermillion District of Minnesota, and in 1902 by the Mesaba District further to the northward in the same State. The products of the three latter being known as “hematite” or “soft” ores, quite different from the orig- inal specular rock ores of Marquette County, the latter now furnishing more of “hematite” since its use has become more generally adopted. The “hematite” ores in the latest discovered districts were found in vast beds, where excavating and loading machinery can be used to advantage and the tonnage amounts have been enormously increased. Thus the shipments, which in 1884 were only 2,225,141 tons, in 1902 had increased to 27,577,121, receding to 21,528,- 419 in 1904, but expected from present indications to increase to 30,000,000 in the season of 1905. With these explanations the following table is copied from that pub- lished by the Marquette Mining Journal, January, 1895: SHIPMENTS. From Marquette Mines, 1854–1904 included, 72,251,360 tons. From Menominee Mines, 1877–1904 & & 49,036,576 “ From Gogebic Mines, 1884–1904 & & 43,016,606 “ From Vermillion Mines, 1884–1904 & & 22,020,719 “ From Mesaba Mines, 1892–1904 & 6 78,740,835 “ Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265,066,096 “ Vast Iron Interests. . 25. The following additional statistics of the yearly ship- ments of iron ore through the canal for the first half century will demonstrate the marvelously rapid develop- ment of this industry of basic importance to national prosperity.” PIG IRON PRODUCT. The pig iron industry was first installed by Charles T. Harvey (whose likeness appears on page 221), who organ- ized the Pioneer Iron Company in 1857 and became its managing director, with his office at Marquette, being at the same time Land Agent of the Sault Canal Construc- tion Company, which latter position he resigned in 1860 to engage in promoting the first railway which reached Lake Superior. After securing $125,000 of capital, mainly in New York City, he went to Stockbridge, Mass., and hired two experienced charcoal furnace men, named Stephen R. Gay and Lorenzo D. Harvey, to superintend + Year. Tons. Year. Tons. 1855 1,449 1881 2,307,005 1856 36,343 1882 2,965,412 1857 25,646 1883 2,352,840 1858 15,876 1884 2,518,693 1859 68,832 1885 2,466,642 1860 114,401 1886 3,565,144 1861 49,909 1887 4,762,107 1862 124,169 1888 5,063,877 1863 203,055 1889 7,292,643 1864 243,127 1890 9,003,725 1865 236,208 1891 7,071,053 1866 278,796 1892 9,072,241 1867 - 473,567 1893 6,065,716 1868 491,449 1894 7,748,312 1869 617,444 1895 10,429,037 1870 830,940 1896 9,934,828 1871 779,607 1897 12,464,574 1872 900,901 1898 14,024,673 1873 1,162,458 1899 18,251,804 1874 919,557 1900 19,059,393 1875 891,257 1901 20,593,537 1876 992,764 1902 27,571,121 1877 1,015,087 1903 24,289,878 ; 1,111,100 1904 21,822,839 1,375,691 1880 1,908,745 1905 31,332,637 26 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. the erecting of the first charcoal blast furnace in Michi- gan near the Jackson mine in the Township of Negaunee, which he named (being the Indian word for pioneer). He personally selected the furnace site and decided as to the plans for its construction, and thus inaugurated the enterprise which, under the same name and corporate organization, remains up to this date in the lead of that industry of which he was the pioneer in the Upper Peninsula. Original Pioneer Furnaces, Negaunee, Michigan. First Blast Furnace in Upper Peninsula, 1857-8, and where Lorenzo D. Harvey made the first “cast” of “pig” iron. The company now operates three furnaces, two in the City of Marquette and one at Gladstone, Michigan. The exhaustion of the woodlands near the original works caused it to be finally superseded in favor of locations where wood can be brought by affiliated railways from long distances. Twenty-two other charcoal furnaces were afterward in operation in the Upper Peninsula, totaling a product of over two million of tons, of which over one- third was made by the Pioneer Iron Company. All of these, except one at Manistique, have gone out of blast, the Pioneer Company alone maintaining and enlarging its works and products. Vast Iron Interests. 27 The history of the iron mining and manufacturing development of the Marquette District would be incom- plete without mention of its veteran co-operator, Peter White, who has attained the distinction of being the business-resident longest therein, and its most prominent financier for over half a century. (His portrait appears on page 74.) Honored by being elected as the representative of the mining interest in the Legislature of 1857, again as Senator in 1875, in 1903 elected by the people of the State as a Regent of its University, he was in 1905 most appropriately appointed a member of the Sault Canal Semi-Centennial Celebration Commission and made Pres- ident of the same. Reference will be made to him in that connection elsewhere, but any detailed personal history herein is rendered superfluous by the recent publication of his biography by Ralph D. Williams (Penton Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio), under the title of The Hon- orable Peter White, a volume which no intelligent resi- dent of the Great Lake region or investor in its industries should fail to possess and peruse. di - *-º-º::s: sº: CHAPTER IV. LAKE MARINE TRANSIT FACILITIES. The completion of the trans-continental railways from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean, notably the “Cana- dian Pacific” from Fort William, the “Northern Pacific” and the “Great Northern” from Duluth, with shorter lines leading through Southern Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas, opened avenues for grain to find its way east- ward in ever increasing volume until 76,730,965 bushels of wheat, 27,740,822 bushels of other grain, and 8,910,- 240 barrels of flour passed the canal in a single season (1902). This combined mineral and cereal traffic caused an amazingly increased marine carrying capacity and that feature has become one of the wonders of the new century.* Forty years ago there was not a steamer on the lakes that could carry 500 tons of ore or unload without the use of wheel-barrows, and from $3 to $6 per ton was paid on ore from Marquette to Cleveland. Iron steamers of 10,000 tons burden and upwards are rapidly multiplying. The lading and unloading is done entirely by gravity or machinery. Prices are reduced to average 50 and 75 cents per ton, according to distance between ports. It will suffice to indicate the present conditions to state that one of these mammoth steamers has loaded 9,000 tons in 34 minutes and unloaded the same amount in about four hours. * . *The following summary of relative values of the different commodities passing through the canals in 1901: Iron ore, pig iron and manufactured iron 26.6%; Cereals—wheat, rye, oats, corn, barley, flax and flour, 28.9%; Copper, 9.1%; Lumber, 5.7%; Coal, anthracite and bituminous, 5.3%; all other products, 24.4%. 28 Improved Lake Marine Transit Facilities. 29 The following item from the Mining Journal, of Sept. 6th, 1905, will serve as an up-to-date example: “The big steamer E. H. Gary broke all boat ore- carrying records during the month of August. She took five cargoes of ore, comprising a total of 56,000 tons, from Ashland to Chicago in the thirty-one days. At the rate of 75 cents a ton, the Gary's gross earnings for the Steamer E. H. Gary in Sault Canal. month were $42,000. Her running expenses, it is said, came to less than $4,000 for the month. This leaves a profit of at least $38,000. The Gary is a steel corpora- tion boat. The total shipments from the Lake Superior region for August were approximately 5,000,000 tons.” It is these improved facilities which have revolution- ized the iron and steel trade of the world and enabled the United States to forge to the front and stay there. The United States Steel Corporation (known as the 30 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. “Trust”) alone producing last year 8,400,000 tons of steel against 5,100,000 in all Great Britain. To these develop- ments the wealth of Carnegie and Rockefeller” can be traced to a large degree as well as that of the Nation proportionately. The following general statistics need no remarks except that the Canadian Canal on the opposite side of the Falls is included in the returns with the American, as both are alike free and vessels pass on one side or the other as convenience at the time dictates. “During the fifty years from the opening of the Michi- gan State canal and locks, on June 18, 1855, to June 30, 1905, 352,093 steamers, sailing vessels and unregistered craft, carrying the enormous amount of 367,380,603 net tons of freight of various kinds, the largest item of which was iron ore, have passed through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, making them the busiest artificial waterways in the world without any exception. “The traffic through this gateway for the shipment of the iron ore and copper of the Lake Superior district and the grain and other products of the west, in exchange for the manufactured iron, coal and other products of the east, has increased from 14,503 tons in the opening year, 1855, to 31,546,106 tons in 1904. “The banner year of business through the canals was in 1902, when the traffic amounted to 35,961,146 net tons, valued at $358,306,300. “In 1895, up to June 30th, 6,806 boats of various kinds, large and small, have carried 13,133,444 net tons of freight. During that month the freight traffic amounted to 6,057,491 tons.” The maximum traffic through the Sault canals for a single day was on June 19, 1905, when 300,752 tons of freight passed through the canals on 148 vessels, having an aggregate registered tonnage of 233,429. The traffic for this record day was divided as follows: Freight, Locks. Passages. net tons. American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 232,699 Canadian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 68,053 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 300,752 *It is known that the “richest man in the world” has been and is largely interested in the Lake Superior mineral and shipping interests. Improved Lake Marine Transit Facilities. 31 The value of the freight carried in 1887 (the first year in which an official record was kept in this respect) was $79,031,757. The value of the freight passing in 1904, was $334,- 502,686, an increase of $255,470,929, compared with that of 1887. The increase in tonnage of each year's traffic over that of the preceding year has averaged about 20 per cent. The per mile-ton charge for carrying freight on ves- sels passing through the Sault canals has decreased from 2.3 mills in 1887 to .81 mills in 1904. The average haul of freight during that period has been somewhat in excess of 800 miles. While the expense for operating and care of St. Mary’s Falls canal has increased from $31,207.48 in 1882 to $93,248.47 in 1904, the cost per freight ton has during the same period decreased from 16.62 mills to 4.25 mills. The traffic through the American canal in 1904 was 84 per cent. of the total freight and 57 per cent. of the passengers carried, the amounts being 26,517,916 tons of freight and 21,606 passengers. The traffic through the Canadian canal in 1904 was 16 per cent. of the total freight and 43 per cent. of the passengers carried, the amounts being 5,028,190 tons of freight and 16,089 passengers. GENERAL SUMMARY FOR AMERICAN AND CANADIAN CANALS TOGETHER FOR 1904. Total mile-tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,608,815,636 Total freight carried, tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,546,106 Total valuation placed on freight carried... $334,502,686 Average value per ton of freight carried... $10.60 Total amount paid for freight transportation321,552,894.30 Average distance freight was carried, miles 843.5 Cost per mile, per ton, mills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Average cost per ton for freight transp’tion $0.68 Total number registered vessels using canals. 886 Total number of passages unregister'd crafts 513 Time American canal operated, days. . . . . . . 223 Time Canadian canal operated, days. . . . . . . 241 Total valuation on registered vessels. . . . . . . $69,166,400 Total number of passengers transported. ... 37,695 The freight traffic through the Suez canal in 1904 was approx- imately about 12,000,000 tons, or nearly 1,000,000 tons less than the traffic through the Soo canals in June and July, 1905. 32 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. The following statement affords the latest and best gauge for estimating: TWENTIETH CENTURY LAKE MARINE PROGRESS. Prior to 1900, the average of ore-trade steamers was under 3,000 tons, with but two or three reaching 5,000 tons. During that year four were built, each of a capacity of 7,500 tons, viz: the J. J. HILL, the JoHN W. GATEs, the WM. EDENBORN and the J. L. ALVORD; these continued the largest steamers until the AUGUSTUs B. Wolvin, of 10,000 tons, was launched April 14, 1904. Its success led to that standard Óf capacity being copied for the E. H. GARY, mentioned on page 29, and twenty others since built and now in commission, including the PETER WHITE and WILLIAM G. MATHER recently launched. ORDERS FOR TWENTY-FIVE MORE OF THIS CLASS ARE NOW BEING FILLED AT THE VARIOUS LAKE SHIPYARDS TO BE MADE READY FOR THE SEASON OF 1906, INCLUDING Two WHICH ARE TO BE 600 FEET LONG, 58 FEET BEAM AND 12,000 TONS CAPACITY. SUPPLEMENTARY STATISTICS OF 1905. Before these pages went to press, official statistics for the year 1905 became available, of which the princi- pal items total as follows: Iron Ore, tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,332,637 Wheat, bushels ........................... 68,321,288 Other Grain, bushels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,229,553 Flour, barrels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . 5,772,719 Passengers, persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,204 Vessels, lockages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,679 Tons. Freight tonnage through United States Canal . . . .38,802,190 Freight tonnage through Dominion Canal . . . . . . . . 5,468,490 Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,270,680 CHAPTER V. ILLUSTRATED ENGINEERING DATA. SPECIMEN OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CANAL ENGINEERING. PHOTO OF FIRST CANAL LOCK AT LAKE SUPERIOR OR ON THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. It was built on the Canadian side of the Falls in 1790 by the North West Fur Co., was 38 ft. long, 8 ft. 9 in wide, with a lift of 9 ft. and a draft of 30 in. It was destroyed by United States soldiers during the war of 1812 and became covered by debris in after years. About 1895 it was uncovered and repaired to extent shown, to be preserved as a most remarkable histor- ical land mark. In 1822 a mill-race channel was excavated by the sol- diers of Fort Brady to furnish water power for a govern- ment saw mill located near the site of the present Park Hotel. In 1837 the State of Michigan appropriated $25,000 to be applied towards the construction of a canal around the Falls. John Almy was appointed engineer and made a survey. He reported in favor of three locks of six feet lift, each thirty-two feet wide and one hundred feet long, with a canal seventy-five feet wide and ten feet deep. Estimated cost, $112,544.80. In 1838 a contract was let for excavating the upper level of the canal on this plan. 33 34 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. In 1839 Aaron Weeks, the contractor, arrived at the Sault, May, 11th, on the schooner Eliza Ward, with fifty laborers, with lumber, barrows, etc., to commence work, but was stopped by the United States Army officers, and abandoned the undertaking, recouping his expenses from the State. - In 1852 Congress granted 750,000 acres of land to the State of Michigan to aid in building the canal, which was required to be one hundred feet wide, twelve feet deep, with locks at least two hundred and fifty feet long and sixty feet wide, to be commenced within three years and completed within ten years. In 1853 the legislature of Michigan provided by law for letting the work for the lands donated by Congress, stipulating that the locks should be three hundred and fifty feet long, seventy feet wide, with two lifts of nine feet each, the canal to be one hundred feet wide and twelve feet deep, and to be completed within two years. The contract was let April 5th to certain individuals who transferred it to the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Com- pany, incorporated by the State of New York, April 12th of that year, which was immediately organized, and appointed Charles T. Harvey General Agent and Acting Chief Engineer, who in that capacity chartered the steamer Illinois at Detroit and landed at the Sault, June 1st, with 400 laborers and foremen. On June 4th he formally “broke ground” by wheeling out the first barrow load of excavature. On April 10th, 1855, he opened the sluice gate in the upper level cofferdam and let the waters of Lake Superior flow into the finished canal.” Early in May the Governor personally inspected the work and on the 21st day delivered to the Secretary of - *NOTE–This date is mentioned in a letter to James F. Joy, Esq., the legal counsel of the Canal Company at Detroit. The following extract being recently copied from the original, dated “Sault” April 18, 1855: “I beg leave to inform you that the excavation work (proper) on this canal was completed on the 8th inst., that the water from Lake Superior was let in on Tuesday the 10th and after a week’s trial of the water at full level everything seems to be right. * * * *. We could today pass any of the lake vessels through the entire canal by spending some labor in removing ice around the lock gates not yet thawed off. * * * * * CHARLES T. HARVEY. Engineering History. 35 State his official acceptance of the work, when the State assumed its control. Its length was 5,400 feet, and its cost $999,000. It held and still holds the record of being the most rapidly, economically and honorably built public work of its magnitude in engineering annals. The photo lithograph on opposite page is a view of the lower pioneer canal lock of 1855 which had a lift of nine feet and was worked by the hand windlass arrange- ments appearing on the sides, as also the lock tenders' houses near by. The State Officials of that time did not deem it safe to have the 18 feet of fall overcome by one lift and set of gates, hence the presence of the double locks which per- formed their part without interruption for the next third of a century. When the time came for their removal, and the water was drawn off, the following photo of the upper lock was taken with Chief Engineer Harvey standing at centre of the gates. “PHOTO” OF UPPER PIONEER LOCK–1888. *"All honor then to every man connected with their design and construction. They were far in advance of their day, and if commerce had not outgrown their dimensions they would have done good service for a century.” + + + O. M. Poe. *Extract from an address of General Poe printed on page 148. (ºudeuſomouci tuomi）) "1881-gº SI "SY1001 TVNVO „L'InVS （IGIGINOld Engineering History. 37 In 1869 the legislature of Michigan offered to transfer the canal to the United States, and in 1881 formally com- pleted the arrangement. In 1870 Congress made the first appropriation of $150,000 to aid in improving the canal, which was con- strued to authorize the commencement of a new lock which was commenced May 28th, 1873, and opened to commerce September 1, 1881. It was 515 feet long, 80 feet wide in chamber, but not to risk gates of then unpre- cedented width the lock was narrowed to 60 feet at gate entrances with a single lift of 18 feet, and 15 feet depth on mitre sills. Its cost was stated at $1,159,330. It was built adjoining the original or State locks and both were operated conjointly for several years. Gen. Poe, of U. S. Engineers, took charge of the work until May 1st, 1873, when he was relieved by General Godfrey Weitzel, who remained in charge until its completion, and it has since been known as the Weitzel lock. Commerce soon rendered these lock facilities inade- quate, and in 1884 General Poe, who had general super- intendence of the National works on the Great Lakes, EASTERN ENTRANCE TO SOUTH, OR WEITZEL LOCK, 1881. 38 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. recommended a new lock in place of the original ones. Congress adopted his plans, and work was begun in May, 1887, when the State locks were finally closed after unin- terrupted service for about one-third of a century. The immense lock erected on their site is 800 feet long, 100 feet wide, 21 feet deep, and was opened to commerce August 3, 1896. Its cost including deepening the upper canal level and approaches, with extension of docks, was stated as $4,738,- 865, and is known as the Poe lock, its lamented constructor dying in 1895 from an injury received while inspecting its progress. - * POE LOCR PUMPED OUT-Showing valve openings and general interior. Engineering History. 39 In 1888 the Canadian government commenced building a canal on the north side of the Falls, 100 feet wide, 21 feet deep, with a lock 900 feet long, 60 feet wide, 18 feet lift. It was finished in 1895 at a cost of $4,093,025.60. - - EASTERN ENTRANCE CANADIAN CANAL, 1895. Waiving notice of the improvement of the St. Mary's river channels by the United States, at an outlay nearly equaling the cost of the canal, the engineering data is thus brought up to the date of the celebration. What memories cluster about that river bank and Falls since taken possession of two and one-third centur- ies before by public ceremonies in the name and behalf of Louis XIV, King of France! When the Chief Marshal was seen at the head of the celebration procession he was the last survivor of all the State and corporate officials who acted as such at the canal inauguration. Who will fill that place when the centennial celebration occurs? 40 Engineering History. NOTE-The following engineering item is copied from the Sault News of *PUNCH* UPRIGHT. (From photograph.) HORIZONTAL VIEW. August 5, 1905, with photo added. There is on exhibition in the corridor of the United States power house a mammoth steel and iron tool used with most satisfactory results on the Lake Superior entrance to the canal in the spring of 1855. The discovery was made after close of navi- gation in 1854 that a ridge, supposed to be sand by the State engineers, was in fact a solid ledge of rock running from one inch to three feet thick for an area of 30,000 square feet, which must be removed before May 19, or the State would not accept the canal. The leading engineers of the country were called to confer on the problem how to get it out and the con- clusion was that a new cofferdam must be built involving unlimited expense and loss of time. The contractors' chief engineer, C. T. Har- vey, contrived a machine which he called a “steam punch” with which the ledge was re- moved at a small expense and within contract time, effecting a saving under possible adverse circumstances of probably $250,000. A full account of the affair will be found in part III page 143. The tool, which originally weighed some 400 pounds but was reduced by use to 330 pounds, is 40 inches high and about 15 inches in diameter. The annexed cut is a “photo.” engraving of the same. It was forged in an ordinary blacksmith shop, and is a marvel when that fact is considered. Such mementoes of the days when there were no machine shops within 400 miles of the Sault are well worth preserving. … … vº South or Weitzel Lock. PHOTO-VIEW OF SAULT CANAL AND LOCKS. North or Poe Lock. Looking Westward from Government Office Building. （, ， ， ） } ***** ******* + ' !|- *- c’{ |-}, A |* ！” PART SECOND. JUB I L E E A N N A LS. CHAPTER I. INITIATORY STAGES OF CANAL “JUBILEE.” The person who had witnessed the marvelous changes in Lake Superior commercial conditions during the first half century of its canal facilities and appreciated their importance as suggestive of the appropriateness of a jubilee commemoration of the same, and took the first steps towards a public celebration of that event, was Charles T. Harvey, the veteran engineer, who was most prominently identified with the original conception and completion of the great work. Early in 1902 he went to Washington and secured the attention of Congress to the subject by drafting a joint resolution which was intro- duced by Mr. Sheldon (member of Congress from the Upper Peninsula) as No. 144, which was ordered printed and referred to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce—General Hepburn, of Iowa, Chairman. It provided for the jubilee celebration of the com- mencement of the work, which would occur June 4, 1903. His next movement was to proceed to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, to organize co-operation there. The Evening Journal of that city, under date of July 8th, 1902, in conspicuous headlines thus announced his arrival: - 4-3 44 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. “TO CELEBRATE THE BUILDING OF CANAL.” “C. T. HARVEY HERE TO START THE PLAN.” “HE IS THE MAN WHO BUILT THE FIRST LOCKS AT THE SOO; WOULD INVITE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS; WANTS CONGRESS TO GIVE $50,000 FOR THE CELEBRATION.” ‘‘LOCAL COMMITTEE TO MEET MR. HARVEY TO TALK OVER THE SCHEME. HOLDS WONDERFULLY ATTRACTIVE POSSIBILITIES FOR THIS CTIY.” “Charles T. Harvey, the man who promoted and built the first State canal at Sault Ste. Marie, has undertaken to interest Congress and the eight States adjoining the great lakes in a great celebration next June of the semi-centennial of the build- ing of the State ship canal in 1852. Mr. Harvey is in the Soo, having come here from his home in Ottawa for the express pur- pose of arousing local interest in the project. He will meet with a number of the city's representative citizens this afternoon or tomorrow morning when preparatory plans will be laid for boom- ing the celebration at this end. Mr. Harvey has already presented his plans for an immense celebration of this great event to individual members of both the senate and house of representatives at Washington, and has enlisted the hearty support of some of the leading members of both bodies. - His plan involves an appropriation of $50,000 by Congress, a portion of which is to be expended in the erection of a monu- ment commemorative of the event, and the balance in making the celebration here of such proportions as the historical and commercial importance of the event warrants. The Lake Carriers' Association, through its officials, has become interested in the plan and will lend all the aid in its power. One of the details of Mr. Harvey's plans is the bringing to the Soo of a large delegation of both houses of Congress and the President and his Cabinet on board of one of the Hill steamers, the Northland or the Northwest. Mr. Harvey says this feature has been submitted to scores of the members of Congress and has met with their most hearty approval. It is proposed that the expense of this trip be borne equally by the eight lake States. Governor Bliss has been approached on the subject and is thoroughly in sympathy with the idea. He has promised Mr. Harvey to bring the matter to the attention of the legislature as soon as it convenes. Mr. Harvey is thoroughly in earnest in his ideas and is very confident of success. The scheme certainly has great attractions for the Soo and no doubt all that can be done locally to accom- plish the result will be cared for. Mr. Harvey is nothing if not an entertaining talker and his recital of the early days of the Soo, of the pioneer work in building the first ship canal and of his tours through the wilds of the upper peninsula held his hearers entranced.” Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 45 On the following day, July 9th, the same paper had the following notice: A meeting of a number of the leading citizens of the city was held in the supervisor’s room at the county court house at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, at which time the first steps were taken to inaugurate a campaign for the celebration of the semi- centennial of the building of the first State ship canal as out- lined in yesterday's Journal. - C. T. Harvey, formerly of this city, the builder of the canal, was present and stated that when in Washington a few days since, an official notification was handed to him by the clerk of the committee on interstate and foreign commerce of the House of Representatives announcing that a special sub-committee had been designated to take the matter of commemorating the semi-cen- tennial anniversary of the commencement of the ship canal on June 4th, 1903, into consideration and to report at the next session of Congress suitable measures to be adopted by it in recognition of the event. The document, Mr. Harvey said, was on the way and would be delivered on arrival here to such persons as this meeting might designate to receive it. Mr. Harvey also exhibited a letter from Governor Bliss. stating that the idea of such a centennial celebration met with his warm approval and that he would be pleased to present plans to the next legislature with a recommendation that it should aid the project. The following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That this meeting pledge for itself and for the citizens of this city the heartiest and fullest co-operation on meas- ures to promote the proposed semi-centennial celebration and secure for it every needed local facility. - As the result of this meeting and organization the first outside funds were raised and a very handsome “folder” published, which contained such an able state- ment of the case that its main points will be copied in full, as follows: 1853 CITIZENS’ 1903 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CANAL ANNIVERSARY ASSOCIATION OF SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN. OFFICERS Hon. J. H. Steere tº ſº º ºs President Hon. Henry W. Seymour . . . . Vice-President Hon. J. G. Stradley . . . . . Vice-President Otto Fowle © & s e tº tº gº Treasurer M. A. Hays . . . . . . . . . Secretary EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Hon. J. G. Stradley Otto Fowle R. D. Perry 46 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. INVITATION. The citizens of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, organized as the above-named association, invite all residents of the “Great Lake Region,” or those having interest therein, whether in the United States or Canada, to join with them in special festive rejoicings at the most appropriate time to mark the marvelous progress made in developing the resources of the Great Northwest and distributing the commercial benefits therefrom to and beyond the Atlantic Coast. The Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the Commencement of the Lake Superior Ship Canal affords a more reliable gauge of such progress and benefits than any other event in that region can do, and is, therefore, adopted as a “jubilee year”—“mile stone” in the westward march of civilization. Every settler in Minnesota, Manitoba, the Dakotas, and “regions beyond,” including sections of Iowa and Nebraska, have obtained more for their products with the benefits and comforts of civilization brought earlier and cheaper to their homes, because of the added facilities of this greatest of canals. The manufacturers, merchants, and artisans of the lower lake cities, including Pittsburg and other metal-working centers, owe their prosperity more to that canal than to any other single transit improvement. Every consumer of grain products, not only in the north- eastern section of this continent but also in the British Isles and parts of Europe, have the cost of their daily bread reduced loecause of that matchless transit facility. When all these interests are so materially benefited, is it not time to pause in the prevailing “strenuous life” long enough to exchange congratulations on this jubilee? The members of the above-named association, believing that a great majority of the indicated beneficiaries will acclaim such proposition, now invite co-operation on the following lines: FIRST : That the United States Government, as the con- trolling power, cause memorial tablets to be placed upon a monolith and pedestal on the canal premises to be dedicated at such anniversary to honor the names and perpetuate the memory of the supervising officials, both National and State, and of the principal constructors, through whose activities the greatest waterway transit on the globe is there to be seen in unrivaled efficiency. Also that the tablets be unveiled with special ceremonies, participated in by the President and Cabinet, and designated officers of the Army and Navy, together with the members of both Houses of Congress. Invitations to be sent to the govern- ments of the Lake States, as also to that of the Dominion of Canada and contiguous Provinces, to honor the occasion by their presence as guests of the Nation. SECOND: That the Lake States join in a united invitation to the National and invited officials, including members of both Houses of Congress, to make a circuit trip on the lakes from Buffalo or other rendezvous to the aforesaid ceremonies, and Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 47 thence to Duluth, Chicago, and the most important intermediate ports and return, by special steamers chartered for that purpose. THIRD : That authorized representatives of the State of Michigan provide for the reception of the invited guests, and for their being hospitably entertained while within its borders. FourTH: That the municipality of Sault Ste. Marie pro- vide ample police force to maintain order and afford assistance wherever needed during the jubilee period. FIFTH: That the Citizens’ Association tender advice and service to officials in perfecting desirable local arrangements. With these agencies in full exercise, a most notable triumph of the spirit and blessings of “Peace on Earth” can occur at that time. It will be cited as a precedent when the full century period shall call for another jubilee, at which but few of the participants of 1903 can hope to be present, but the absent ones will then be brought to mind as having set a good example in that regard in this their day and generation. The Secretary of the Association will be pleased to answer any inquiries as to further details, by letter or otherwise. WHAT THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE Commence- MENT OF THE SHIP CANAL AT THE OUTLET OF LAKE SUPERIOR, THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1903, will STAND FOR. First: It occurs at a locality exhibiting the best practical illustration to be found on this planet of the enlargement of engineering ideals during the last two centuries since that pro- fession came into prominence. Here is to be seen a canal lock built for the Lake Superior traffic in the eighteenth century, which is 38 feet long by 834 feet wide, 9 feet lift, and 2% feet depth. Within a mile from it is located the latest example of the nineteenth century's expanded engineering ideas, in a canal lock 800 feet long, 100 feet wide, 18 feet lift, 21 feet depth, operated by hydraulic power. Also another a few rods distant from the one first mentioned, 900 feet long, 60 feet wide, 13 feet lift, 20 feet deep over miter sills, operated by electrical energy. Second: It presents the most illustrious example on the globe of the beneficent results of the national fostering of peace- ful pursuits by its citizens. With an expenditure of less than 10 per cent. of its outlay in one year on Army and Navy preparations for war exigencies, the United States has, by its aid to the Lake Superior Canal System, enabled a mining output, which places it at the head of the world’s industries in copper and iron, and instead of an importer, becoming an exporter, of the products of those metals. The annual cost to it of providing free transit to thirty-five millions of tons of merchantable property is less than that of maintaining one of its first-class war vessels or forts in peaceful desuetude during the same time. 48 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. But for this matchless example in economics, public opinion might not have acquiesced in the building of the great Isthmanian Canal as a National work, when authorized by law the present year, with general approval. Third: It commemorates the most praiseworthy instance of public spirited citizenship occurring in connection with public works of this country. In this case eminent business men in various States volun- tarily assumed the rolé of contractors for that then remote and largely isolated work, accepting payment in land at a higher rate per acre by fully 20 per cent. than they could have acquired the same for money by purchase of military or pension land warrants then obtainable in ample amounts, and to insure the completion of the canal in the most creditable manner, expended for improvements on the locks appliances and otherwise over 10 per cent. more in cash than the contract with the State required. For this no subsequent allowance was made by the Government, but the transaction entitles that public work to be designated as the most honorably performed contract undertak- ing of any entered into of a like nature by the State or Nation. Fourth: It affords the most remarkable example of growth of local commerce yet recorded in the world’s history. In 1853 all the traffic of Lake Superior was concentrated at Sault Ste. Marie, as no means of access then existed over land with the lake in any direction. At that period less than twenty horses amply sufficed to transfer over the existing plank road and tramway around the south side of the Falls all freight and passengers during the seven months of navigation. Fifty years later about thirty-five millions of tons of freight with tens of thousands of passengers will have passed that “portage” in a single season The nearest approach to this marine commerce development is at the Suez canal, near the junction of three continents, which has not exceeded ten millions of tons in twelve months (the last report at hand showing 9,378,152 tons), and at the German canal which in 1901 passed 4,281,027 tons. These facts speak louder than words and extended comment is evidently superfluous. Fifth: It indicates the most rapid increase in national wealth ever known. When the canal was commenced the United States stood in about the sixth rank of wealth in comparison with the other leading nations of the world, and within the following decade, or during the Civil War, its credit receded until its six per cent. bonds were sold in Europe at 40 cents on the dollar for gold exchange. g - - At the coming Semi-Centennial Celebration it will be enjoy- ing an undisputed position as the wealthiest nation on earth, and as able to borrow money in Europe at the lowest prevailing rates in old world financial centers, its 2 per cent. bonds now commanding a premium at home and abroad. The most impor- Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 49 tant industrial factor in this result is undoubtedly the “Soo” Canal, although only in the first half-century of its existence. Sixth : It pre-eminently proves the importance and econom- ical superiority of water transit as the cheapest means possible when applicable to long distances. - Also the effect of such natural laws when applied to the waterways of the St. Lawrence basin, the most extensive fresh- water system in existence. Seventh : It exhibits the most impressive earample of national comity as yet practically applied to international affairs. Here the two most powerful nations have built unequaled canals, one by each government, within their respective territor- ies, on opposite sides of the same river, and only about a mile apart. The use of these grand achievements are equally free to the navigators of both nations, without charge or differential restrictions of any kind. No fortresses guard the entrance or exit on either side—no military display is made to impress fre- quenters with national distinctiveness. Captains of approaching steamers need not decide whether to pass the canal under the British or United States flag, until they can see which is the most free from passing craft and permits the speediest lockage. To the advocates of “Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men” this affords the grandest example on those lines yet visible on this mundane sphere. That these seven unparalleled features warrant the most notable Semi-Centennial Celebration that sunlight has yet smiled upon, who can doubt? This “folder” which contained the foregoing admir- able statement of the case, also had profuse illustrations of the canal and its environment, was circulated by thous- ands, and was very effective in creating public opinion favorable to the project. It was supplemented by Mr. Harvey’s making an address when presenting it to the members of the Legislature in the Representatives' Hall, February 12, 1903, with Governor Bliss as Chairman, a report of which appeared in the newspapers of the State at the time. This was followed by the passage of Joint Resolution No. 64 by the Legislature that month, recom- mending the proposition to Congress and appropriating $10,000 to aid the same, but with a proviso that if Con- gress did not act that provision should be inoperative, which implied that all promoting expenses should be paid from private funds, which was an illiberal attitude to say the least, and had much to do with the subsequent 50 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. meagre allowance from Congress and non-action by other States. When the session of Congress came to an end the following month the expected appropriation was found to have been “cut out” and previous celebration measures seemed wasted. Mr. Harvey had another recourse, however, in reserve, which was to commemorate the completion instead of the commencement of the canal—which would defer the public celebration until July, 1905, and upon that plan he started afresh. He visited the “Soo” in July, 1903, and compared views with the leading residents there, and by corres- pondence, early in 1904, obtained the ratification of his plan to enlarge the scope of the local association and rename it the “Great Lake Semi-Centennial Association,” of which the local organization would act as a branch. Resolutions to this effect were published in the Sault Evening News of Jaunary 24th, as passed January 22d, 1904, and were certified by Mayor Stradley as acting Secretary, in which Hon. Peter White was unanimously requested to accept the Presidency, also Wm. R. Living- ston, of Detroit, and Charles T. Harvey, then of Toronto, Canada, to become Vice-Presidents, and form the Execu- tive Committee which was authorized to complete organi- zation, etc. To this request those gentlemen assented, and held a meeting of the Executive Committee at Detroit, February 9th, 1904, and the organization was subsequently completed by the appointment of Edward S. Bice, of Marquette, as Treasurer, and Ralph D. Williams, of Cleveland, as Secretary, thus constituting the associa- tion to which reference is made in the State Law of 1905. From that time on, President White and Vice- President Harvey devoted themselves to the celebration project with renewed energy. The latter visited Wash- ington during part of February and March and secured the introduction of joint resolutions relative to the cele- bration in both Senate and House, and obtained pledges Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 51 tº of aid from leading Senators and Members, but on their advice deferred special efforts therefor until the short session ending in 1905. This President White attended, and after weeks of persistent effort obtained, with the special assistance of Senator Burrows, the insertion of the following paragraph in what was known as the “Gen- eral Deficiency Bill”: “For the purpose of assisting in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of the Sault Ste. Marie canal, to be held at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the present year—ten thousand dollars.” With this measure of success at Washington, Messrs. White and Harvey transferred their efforts to Lansing. Again the latter addressed the members of the Legis- lature, as the following notice issued at the time indicates: HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES, STATE OF MICHIGAN. Lansing, Wednesday, March 29, 1905. “The Congress of the United States having made an appro- priation during the present month in aid of celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the utilization of the Lake Superior Ship Canal, an address will be made to the members of both Houses of the Legislature and others interested in the annals of the Great Lake Region upon the history and benefits of that unequaled public work, by Charles T. Harvey, the engineer in charge of its original construction. Governor Warner will preside, taking the chair at eight o'clock p. m., when the presentation of a document of unique historical interest will be made to him in trust for the State, as a prelude to the address.” He drafted the joint resolution which passed with some minor amendments. But long delays occurred, and with the amount reduced from the $25,000 asked for; to $15,000, its passage was in prolonged doubt. President White was constrained to make several trips to the Cap- ital and held numerous consultations with members before it passed in the first instance, only to be recalled *See fac-simile of this document in pages 268, part 4. 52 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. * and revoted on, and was not finally approved by the Gov- º ernor until May 3rd in the form copied in appended note.* *LEGISLATURE OF STATE OF MICHIGAN. JOINT RESOLUTION. RELATIVE TO THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE CoM- PLETION OF THE LAKE SUPERIOR SHIP CANAL, INCLUDING THE PARTICIPATION OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN THE SAME, AND OTHER PURPOSEs ConnECTED THEREwiTH, AND MAKING AN APPROPRIATION THEREFOR. Whereas, in the month of July, nineteen hundred and five, will occur the completion of half a century of service of the ship canal around the Falls of the St. Mary's river at the outlet of Lake Superior, in the State of Michigan; and Whereas, during that period it has developed the greatest concentration of marine tonnage in the world and has been of inestimable advantage to the nation, especially in enabling the iron and steel industries of the States bordering on the Great Lakes to attain the front rank which the same now occupy, also affording the most ample and economical outlet for the vast grain field products of the trans-Mississippi regions; and Whereas, it was for two-thirds of those years under the con- trol and management of the State of Michigan as a trust for the national benefit, the administration of which reflected great honor upon the officials of this State who wisely performed the duties therewith devolved upon them, until the United States assumed its control in A. D. eighteen hundred eighty-eight, and has greatly enlarged the same on a scale commensurate with the requirements of the vast national traffic passing through it; and Whereas, Congress has, by an act approved March third, nineteen hundred and five, appropriated ten thousand dollars for the purpose of assisting in the celebration of the fiftieth anni- versary of the inauguration of the canal, occurring the present year; - Resolved, That the State of Michigan will most cordially co-operate with the United States in rendering such celebration a notable event in the history of the Great Lake region. FIRST : By the erection, near the canal, of a monolith column of most durable stone, on the four sides of which to be inserted four or more memorial bronze tablets; one for names of United States officials prominently connected with the inception and improvement of canal; one for the names of State of Michigan officials in similar capacities; one for the names of the original constructors; and one for the names of those prominently con- nected with the celebration proceedings, including the Semi- Centennial Association as promoters of the same. SECOND: By the publication of an artistic statistical and memorial volume, furnishing views of the canal at the different stages of development, condensed statistics of the first fifty years of traffic, with illustrated biographical sketches of the persons whose names appear upon the before mentioned memorial tablets. Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 53 With the National and State sanction thus obtained, the promoting period embraced in this chapter can be considered as closed. During that interval the amount of THIRD : By such arrangements as shall be deemed appropriate for the reception of the President of the United States and other invited National, State, or other officials, also of members of Congress and of this legislature and of other States, when attend- ing the dedication of the memorial monument; at such date and with such ceremonies and adjuncts as the commission hereinafter authorized shall determine and announce. Resolved, That the management of said celebration proceed- ings shall be vested in a commission, to be known as The Lake Superior Canal Semi-Centennial Celebration Commission of Nineteen Hundred and Five, and to consist of three persons to be appointed by the Governor, who shall serve without salaried compensation, but be reimbursed for actual incidental expenses while promoting or conducting the same; a majority to consti- tute a quorum for the transaction of business, and with power to appoint a marshal and such other assistants as may be found advisable; also - Resolved, That the Governor be, and is hereby authorized and requested to invite the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota to join in the afore- said celebration and in any courtesies to be extended to members of Congress or other invited guests in connection therewith ; also Resolved, That the sum of fifteen thousand dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated out of any money in the State Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to defray such expenses as shall be necessarily incurred in carrying into effect the provisions of this joint resolution, such expenses to be certified by said com- mission to the Board of State Auditors and allowed by them. The sums so allowed shall be paid from the State Treasury on the warrant of the Auditor General, and charged to the appro- priation account of said commission; provided, that in no event shall the State of Michigan be held responsible or be made liable for any sum in excess of the amount appropriated by this joint resolution; provided further, that the Auditor General shall incorporate in the State tax for the year nineteen hundred and five the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, which, when collected, shall be credited to the general fund to reimburse the same for the money hereby appropriated. This joint resolution is ordered to take immediate effect. NOTE–IT WILL BE NOTICED THAT TWO IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS DEvolved UPON THE Commission RELATING TO THE MONOLITH COLUMN AND TABLETS AND THE MEMORIAL VOLUME ARE YET TO BE COMPLETED. No INTIMATIONS AS TO PLANS OR PREPARATIONS THEREFOR WERE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED UP TO THE TIME OF THE CELEBRATION. DEVELOPMENTS IN THESE MATTERS WILL BE AWAITED WITH SPECIAL INTEREST. 54 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. time consumed in consultation, in traveling and in cor- respondence by the two active promoters was, in view of their large regular business engagements, especially oner. ous to say nothing of the heavy incidental expenses. The compiler has had opportunity to examine the mass of letters received by one of them on that subject in 1902-3-4-5, which is ample proof of the exacting demands upon their personal attention in this connection during that period. The power vested in the Governor was exercised by the appointment of Hon. Peter White, of Marquette, Mr. Charles Moore, of Detroit, and Hon. Horace M. Oren, of Sault Ste. Marie, as members of the State Semi- Centennial Commission, which was organized by electing Mr. White President, and appointing Mr. Moore Secre- tary and Treasurer, and Mr. Harvey Chief Marshal. Mr. Moore had been prominent as the private Secretary of the late United States Senator McMillan, and Mr. Oren as a former Attorney General of the State. That the two last mentioned owed their position to what is known as a “political pull” was generally understood, and that they acted in concert as the controlling power in the cele- bration arrangements was soon apparent. The only measure which the two original promoters joined in rec- ommending was “turned down” promptly when pre- sented In justice to all parties it should be stated that the political element in the commission guided the cele- bration affair from start to finish and very materially changed its conditions from those anticipated by its originators. The latter expected that the other lake States would have a prominent part assigned to them, which was left blank, and Canada would have been in a like position if the Chief Marshal had not individually at the eleventh hour extended an invitation to the Domin, ion Government which the “control” had vetoed. The Original main reliance for rendering the event a most imposing spectacular pageant was the co-operation of Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 55 the commercial marine in concentrating a fleet, including several 10,000 ton steamers, and forming a night pro- cession in passing through the canal and river approaches in one direction the first celebrating evening, and in the opposite direction the next, under a blaze of fireworks aboard and on shore. This could have been arranged on a scale of grandeur unequaled elsewhere on the Globe. That the shipping interests could readily and, no doubt, would enthusiastically have furnished this feature, where 102 steamers carrying 300,752 tons of freight actually passed through the canal in one day shortly before (see page 28), goes without saying. The commission, however, ignored this feature, and only a few Government vessels were engaged in a short circuit trip around the canals on both sides of the river for a brief morning hour or two. The sending out of ten thousand or more official invitations about the State before the program of pro- ceedings was published (doubtless relying on the major part not being accepted), without commensurate commis- sary capacity being provided, may have been “good poli- tics” but did not add to the dignity or attractiveness of the occasion 1 - Some caustic references to these features appeared in divers press notices of the events, of which but two will be quoted from in the accompanying notes.* *In an editorial, the Soo Times, of August 5th, remarked: “That poli- tics played no small part in the management of the affair is very evident on the Surface. * * * It is regretable that an united effort on the part of our citizens, regardless of politics, could not have been brought about early in the preparations for the event. * * * It is only just to our citizens generally and , those who were in charge of the celebration that an explanation of the whole affair be given the public. We are ready to hear the excuses.” The Iron Trade Review, published in Cleveland, in its issue of August 10th, said editorially, in part, as follows: “Impartially it cannot be said that the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the completion of the canal of Sault Ste. Marie to commerce was as it should have been. Frankly, the proper element was not present, and, moreover, inquiry fails to establish the fact that repre- sentative men of the great industries were even invited. The lowliest member of the Michigan legislature with all his uncles and his aunts had cards in abundance. The profusion of invitations to the various little functions in the hands of these political cohorts was quite mystifying to the small indus- trial group who were not favored with them, but who had nevertheless gener- ously contributed $5,000 in money to make the celebration a success. The pity of it is, however, that the State of Michigan should have made a local pow wow out of what was intended to be a great national celebration. The canals of Sault Ste. Marie belong to the nation. All this is said with no dis- credit to the Hon. Peter White, of Marquette, who was by no means respon- 56 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. • *- : - …..” ------- - - - - -------, -º- - , ; - - -, -si-e-...----, -, -, -----------. = , --, -, -, - Without making further criticisms on minor points it is a pleasure to the compiler as a spectator to pronounce the celebration as being successful to a degree which warranted the efforts to bring it about. Heaven aided the occasion by cloudless skies and per- fect weather. The civic procession and military display was witnessed by tens of thousands of spectators, under favorable conditions, and no accident to life or limb occurred to mar the festivities. The commission were very successful in securing the highest grade of speakers from among the most eminent public men, not only of the United States but of Canada, and whose orations, as hereinafter fully reported, were worthy of the applause they evoked at the time, and the attention yet to be received from students of history in after years. The expressions of cordiality towards Canada by the American orators were gracefully reciprocated by those of the Dominion. The importance of the occasion in promoting these expressions of international comity and good will, can hardly be overestimated in forefending the welfare of two vast countries having 5,500 miles of imaginary boundary line between them, which was thus uniquely and grandly promoted. The participation of the Canadian Government in the display of fireworks contemporaneously with those on sible for, and probably not conscious of, the political tinge that was given to the event. The iron and vessel interests of the Great Lakes would have been well represented at the celebration had the commission been properly organized and had the affair been properly managed; but it was impossible to obtain from any source whatever any definite announcement of program even up to within a day or two of the date of the celebration. This circumstance was very confusing at first, but it becomes more clear now. Evidently the majority of the commission did not especially care to have those interests present. Had one of the great vessel fleets and one of the great iron mining companies been represented upon this commission the efforts of the Hon. Peter White, so nobly begun, would have been brought to a conclusion of lasting benefit to the whole country. The continued development of the locks at Sault Ste. Marie and the continued deepening of the connecting waters of the Great Lakes are absolutely necessary, if industrial prosperity in this country is to continue uninterrupted. The whole industrial activity of the country rests mainly upon the iron trade of the Great Lakes. To acquaint the influ- ential interests of the country in all quarters with this fact was the great opportunity of Sault Ste. Marie.” - Initiatory Stages of Canal Jubilee. 57 the American side was a most graceful courtesy, which was warmly appreciated. The Mayor of the city on the Ontario side of the St. Mary's river proclaimed the celebration dates as legal holidays and attended meetings of joint committees from both cities to arrange the civic programs. The co-operation of the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is worthy of special mention as an important factor in rendering the celebration a successful event. Prominent among these were Hon. R. N. Adams, Representative of the District in the State Legislature, Hon. J. G. Stradley, Mayor, and Otto Fowle, Esq., Presi- dent of the First National Bank, whose “photos” are herewith appended. HON. R. N. ADAMS HON. J. G. STRADLEY * OTTO FOWLE, Esq. CHAPTER II. FIRST DAY OF CELEBRATION PROCEEDINGS. The second day of August, 1905, designated for the inauguration of the Jubilee Celebration, was an ideal one in which Heaven seemed “to smile in the sunshine and woo in the balmy breezes.” MORNING. According to the official program, a naval salute occurred at sunrise and a naval excursion commenced at nine o'clock a. m. which occupied the remainder of the forenoon, in which the Vice-President of the United Naval Excursion passing Westward through U. S. Canal. - 58 Semi-Centennial Celebration Proceedings. 59 States, the Governor of Michigan, and other invited offi- cials and citizens passed westward through the American canal (see photograph), crossed over to the Canadian side of the St. Mary's river and returned eastward through the Dominion canal to the starting point. AFTERNOON. The afternnon was devoted to a military parade under direction of the Chief Marshal. Aids. Chief Marshal Harvey. Head of Parade passing Chippewa County Court House Square. The Marshal was assisted by four aids, two of whom appear on their horses in the above view. - 60 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. The military column was led by a battalion of the Fifth Regiment of United States Infantry, stationed with garrison duties at Fort Brady on the heights, commanding the entrance to Lake Superior, marching under com- mand of Major R. N. Getty, attended by the regimental band. (See photo.) MILITARY PARADE. Marshal's Aids Major R. N. Getty. U. S. Reg. Band. The participation by soldiers of the United States Regular Army was most appropriate as representing the Federal Government which had assumed the ownership and entire control of the Canal. It will be remembered that in earlier years it was Federal soldiers which under orders from Washington prevented the building of an absurdly inferior canal under State authority. Semi-Centennial Celebration Proceedings. 61 The proximity of the extensive military post of Fort Brady, which since its removal to its present location has become one of the most important in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, proved an essential factor in rendering the Military display suitably imposing. - MILITARY PARADE. Battalion Fifth Regiment, U. S. Infantry, Marching on Portage Avenue near Canal. Next came the Third Regiment of National Guard of Michigan, under command of Colonel R. J. Bates, with regimental band; also the First Battalion Marines U. S. Navy, Commander H. Morrill and staff; also the First Battalion Michigan State Naval Brigade, Commander F. D. Standish and staff, with Volunteer (Calumet and Heckla) band marching as escort to Vice-President Fair- 62 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. banks, Governor Warner and other officials and invited guests in carriages. The military and naval forces numbered nearly two thousand in line with tens of thousands of spectators crowding the streets. The procession, after passing through several of the main streets of the city, including that next Vice-President Fairbanks responding to grectings. to the southern boundary of the canal area, marched to the United States park adjoining the river, formerly occupied as the original site of Fort Brady, where the Governor and staff with invited guests reviewed it from a pavilion erected for that purpose. On the boulevard along the river front the military made a grand appearance, passing out of formation at the eastern boundary of the park. Semi-Centennial Celebration Proceedings. 63 NOTE. From Sault News, August 1st, 1905. **MRS. HARVEY A. PIONEER.” The First Woman to Travel Over the Government Post Road, Earliest built to Lake Superior. “Among those who have arrived to witness the Semi-Centen- nial Canal Celebration is the first woman to reach Lake Superior shores over a public stage road. This is Mrs. Sarah Van Epps Harvey, wife of the State Marshal of the Semi-Centennial Celebration, who passed over the line of the State road from Green Bay near Escanaba to Lake Superior in 1861, 44 years ago. Her husband was engaged in opening the road at the request of the Congressional Sub-Committee on National Defences, of which Representative Arnold, of Chicago, was chairman. The attention of the committee was called to the fact that if hostilities broke out with Great Britain, as seemed possible after the Mason and Slidell affair, water access to the copper mines of Lake Superior might be cut off by the seizure of, or damage to the Sault canal. The committee called Mr. Har- vey before them and on his assurance that he could open the road in ninety days, with govern- ment assistance, it was decided to avoid the delay of endeavoring to º sº º º pass a special law, to cover the sººniº º case by recommending that a con- tract for conveying the United States mail over the route be let to him at once, at a price for which he could afford to open the road. The committee made a recommendation to the postmaster general to that effect and the contract was made at the rate of about $1,000 per month, and an Indian carrier took the first mail across the peninsula before the line was surveyed. Mr. Harvey put on working parties at various sections and had the line opened within the time promised, and the mail was conveyed by four-horse buckboard stages for the next two seasons to the entire satisfaction of the United States authorities. While the road was in progress, Mrs. Harvey, who had a winter residence in Chicago and a summer one near Marquette, decided to go that way, reaching the southern end by steamer from the city of Green Bay. She traversed the sixty miles on horse back which required three days of daylight and three nights of camping out to accomplish. In the Fall she returned the same way by stage. This record should entitle her to a special carriage in the coming Semi-Centennial procession.” 64 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. An exhibition of aboriginal oratory and Indian camp life was arranged by the Commission to take place near the park pavilion after the review was completed, but Owing to the surging of the crowd of spectators into the undefined exhibition area its success was impaired. EVENING. A reception by the Governor of Michigan, of officials, and invited guests, was held at the “pagoda” erected in the eastern end of the South park of the canal for that purpose and for the use of the speakers at the public exercises of the following day. This function concluded, the display of fireworks along the river front was next in order. This proved to be the most glorious event of its kind yet witnessed on this continent because of the joint par- ticipation therein of the greatest Republic and the greatest Empire the world has ever seen The heavens were kept ablaze for hours with pyrotech- nics in which the Dominion side far outshone the Michi- gan border This pleasing episode was the outcome of a call made by the State Marshal upon Premier Laurier at Ottawa the previous month and explaining the situation to him. Sir Wilfred at once most cordially adopted the suggestion of international co-operation in the celebration, and forth- with caused authority to be conferred upon Superintend- ent Boyd, of the Dominion Sault canal, to adopt measures to that end. The latter provided a program with over sixty set pieces, including one styled the Falls of Niagara, over five hundred feet in length, also a fiery statue of King Edward over twenty feet in height, also an illumination of the large buildings at or near the Canadian canal which for a mile or more resembled turreted outlines of a castellated fortress. Semi-Centennial Celebration Proceedings. 65 As an example of international comity and as a triumph of peace far more sublime than any pageants of war, the event was thus made superbly glorious. Nowhere else in the world could such vast public utilities upon opposite sides of a national boundary line, dedicated to commerce so fully and freely, be illuminated in one visual perspective 1 This feature of the Jubilee Celebration myas north many times the cost and labor of the nhole arrangements as promoting peace and good mill betnyeen the tryo great countries thus acting in harmony. The following correspondence in this connection will explain itself. THE LAKE SUPERIOR CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FIVE Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, August 7, 1905. RIGHT HON. SIR WILFRED LAURIER, Ottawa. My Dear Premier: I take pleasure in calling your attention to the enclosed editorial” published in the last weekly issue of the local paper as expressive of the gen- eral sentiments of international cordiality which prevailed here during the Sault Canal Semi-Centennial Celebration of the past week. - The sight of the grand illuminations of the Canada shore opposite here was, I can assure you from personal observation, a tonic to the cordiality of the tens of thou- sands of beholders on this side of the river. But far greater was the effect of the reports of that feature and of the most friendly speeches of Vice-Presi- dent Fairbanks, Solicitor General Lemieux and Hon. Mr. Danderand, which were reported in all the leading news papers of the United States and read by tens of millions of its citizens as also by Canadians the following day. I am extremely proud of being an intermediary agent to some extent in bringing the ideas personally expressed to you to such an auspicious realization, and trust that you will esteem the event to have been a pleasing echo of your controlling voice in its harmonious reverberations. I remain, Yours very respectfully, CHARLES T. HARVEY, State Marshal, Etc. *For full text of Ediitorial see note, page 67. 66 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. Sir WILFRED LAURIER. LETTER FROM PREMIER OF DOMINION OF CANADA. Quebec, 11th August, 1905. DEAR MR HARVEY: I thank you for your letter of the 7th instant. The newspapers had already acquainted me with the success of your celebration, but I am very glad to hear from you the confirmation of the report that Canada has shared not unworthily in the manifestations of the day. Believe me, dear Mr. Harvey, Yours very sincerely, Wilfred LAURIER. CHARLEs T. Harvey, Esq., Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, U. S. ---- --------> --------- --- --- - --- ºr---------- re-t-...-----------Avºrrºr---ºr--ºr-E---> *s-, -,-- * *** ****'.T. .” - - - - - - - - - - : ** -- +-----------------------------. == i -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - ** ~f~~~~ ---, --- r - - . - - - - - - CHAPTER III. SECOND DAY OF CELEBRATION. This was devoted to addresses delivered by the dis- tinguished orators and statesmen on the platform erected near the eastern entrance to the great canal locks, in the order following: The exercises were appropriately commenced by prayer, offered by Reverned Archdeacon Lord, Rector of St. James Church, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. (See next page.) - - - NOTE–EDITORIAL REFERRED TO ON PAGE 65. [The News, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., August 5th, 1905.] The jubilee of the Sault canal utilization had no more inter- esting features than the manifestation of cordial rejoicings by Our neighbors across the river and by representatives of the government of the great Dominion. The naval procession passed west through the American canal and returning eastward came through the Canadian locks to its lower level rendezvous. This was a significant incident, but it was followed by one still more impressive when in the evening the Canadian shore was ablaze with fireworks which out- shone those on our own grounds. The set pieces, especially that marked on the program as the “Falls of Niagara,” was grand, as was the display of electrical lines of light which looked like the outlines of long battlements rising in majestic proportions against the sky. All this was most inspiring as indicating sentiments of reci- procal friendship, but a climax came in the speech of Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, Solicitor General of Canada, who, in a most interesting address, largely reviewed the French occupancy of this section of the continent and closed with an apostrophe from Longfellow's poem entitled “The Building of the Ship.” A more apt quotation could hardly have been found in poetic phrase, which of course is idealistic rather than realistic, but as an expression of the hightest type of eloquence, is superb. >k >k >k >k + >k It is not too much to say that these evidences of international reciprocal good will would alone compensate for the efforts requisite to render the semi-centennial celebration the success which it proved to be, under most auspicious skies. - • **::: : *: 67 68 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. INvocation. “Our Heavenly Father, with profound humility, an humbleness of spirit born of gratitude, we ask Thy blessing upon what we shall do and say at this time. We realize today as never before how won- drously gracious and bountiful Thou hast been to us. As in the dim past Thou didst choose a peo- ple to inherit a goodly land, the gift of Thy bounty, so in these latter days Thou hast granted unto us, Thy people, a good land and large, a land of fields and vineyards and wondrous forest wealth; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills we may dig brass; a land of rivers of waters and fountains that break forth into great depths. We who are not worthy to gather up the crumbs under Thy table have been fed from the open windows of heaven with such an abundance of treasure as we are scarcely able to con- tain. For all this, our Father, we thank Thee. For the inspiration of Thy Holy Spirit that has guided and en- abled us to enter into intelligent and profitable possession of all these gifts we give Thee humble and heartfelt praise. Help us, we pray Thee, as year by year we enter into a larger measure of Thy gifts, as year by year we build our greater ships and develop the natural resources of our country. Oh, help us to ever remember that a man's life does not consist merely in the abundance of material things that he possesses, that man does not live by bread only but by the words that proceed from God ought he to nourish his immortal soul. Deliver us from empty pride and vain glory and help us to develop a per- fect realization of the great responsibility resting upon. us. And so, learning more and more of the mighty truth that we are stewards of Thine and that we are account- able for our stewardship to Thee and to the universe we shall grow and abound not only in power and riches but in honesty, purity and righteousness. Unto Thy most gracious care and protection we commit ourselves. Wilt Thou lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us and grant us wisdom, strength and peace now and always.” Amen. Rev. Arch-Deacon Lord. Second Day—Prayer by Arch Deacon Lord. 69 ADDRESS OF WELCOME. By HoN. CHAse S. Osborn. In behalf of the Mayor, the Honorable Frank Perry, whose absence on account of illness we all deeply re- gret, and in the name of the people of Sault Ste. Marie, I proclaim to all of the assembled visitors a heartfelt welcome. We are gathered in a spirit of mingled pride, hopefulness and thankfulness — pride in what has been achieved in the way of material growth, hopefulness that the Hon. C. S. Osborn. future will repeat in an enlarged way the record of the past, and thankfulness that we live in a - land of the most expansive liberty, where desire and ambition are the kindred of necessity and accomplishment. It is fitting that the Dominion of Canada participates in this occasion. Her interests and sympathies are insep- erable from ours in all of this momentous border growth. We are all happy in having here some of the sturdy pioneers who with mind and heart and arm pointed and forced the way in the days when it was harder to do things than it is now. These potential pioneers are par- ticularly and peculiarly well represented by the presence of the Honorable Charles T. Harvey, the master genius of the first State canal, and of the Honorable Peter White, who especially typifies the spirit of the great north country. The women of those early times, who *rºxxºr -- ºr--º-º-º: ... : : ----- - - - * * *** -- ºr-., -r-º-º-º- … --→ ~~~~~~~~x----------------~~~~~ is rººf.----> * - - ** *** - - re-º-º-º: ~, *ress-- ~ :- - - - - - - - - -, * *-*. º * * * * * * , . ... * . - 70 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. shared the burdens and dangers, and who encouraged father, husband, son and brother, are personified by that purest type of courageous pioneer womanhood, Mrs. Angeline Bingham Gilbert. This great work here is a monument to their efficient citizenship. The men who are here today in their great big, black, 500-foot, 10,000-ton business batteaux are inspired by the same eager ambition that fired the souls of the voyageurs centuries ago. Welcome all and come again to this “land in the sun bright deep where the golden gardens grow, where the winds of the north becalmed in sleep their conch shells never blow. So near to the track of the stars are we that oft on night’s pale beams, the distant sounds of their harmony come to our ears like dreams. The moon, too, brings its world so nigh that when the night-seer looks to that shadowless orb in the vernal sky, he can number its hills and brooks. “To God of all, our hearts and lyres, By day and night belong The breath we draw from His living fires We give Him back in song.” The tumbling waters on their way to the emerald ocean as they play among the rocks of St. Mary's Falls sing to you a Song of ten thousand welcomes. º NOTE–The interesting fact should be mentioned that the platform from which Vice-President Fairbanks, Governor Warner, Senator Burroughs and others made their addresses was within a few feet of the eastern entrance of the Canal and of the lock gates, but during these proceedings several of the “big freighters,” some having ten thousand tons of cargo, were lowered from the Lake Superior level and glided through the gates so noiselessly as not to interrupt the addresses or diminsh perceptibly the reach of the orator’s voices! THE GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. THE STATE OF MICHIGAN AND THE BUILDING OF THE ST. MARY'S CANAL. By HoN. FRED M. WARNER, Governor of the State. The great work, the completion of which we are now commemorating, is one of the connecting links between the governments of our Nation and our State. Fostered by both, the construction and improvement of the St. Mary's ship canal have borne no small part in main- taining the in- terest which the government at Washington has in our common- wealth. As we look upon con- ditions as they exist today, and | consider the wonderful devel- | opnent of our State and the commercial re- lations which have been established between Michigan and the entire world beyond our borders, we too often overlook the agencies which have brought about these results. In the consummation of great enterprises and in the enjoyment of the benefits resulting from them, the difficulties overcome and the courage and energy of the men who champion them are too often forgotten. This is especially true as to the construction of this canal. Hon. Fred. M. Warner. 71 72 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. How seldom do we now think of the discouragements with which its promoters were well nigh overcome, and the splendid faith and untiring perseverance of the men who, under most unfavorable circumstances, could still see hope of success and promise of achievement. It is because of this that the setting apart of an occa- sional day for the purpose of perpetuating in our memor- ies the great events in the State's development may wisely be encouraged, and it is to the credit of the last legislature that it made an appropriation for the proper participation by the State in this celebration. - The act of the legislature in making the appropriation was a fitting recognition of the importance of the canal in the development of the great material and industrial interests of Michigan. When, in the settlement of the difficulty between the States of Michigan and Ohio, that part of the State now embraced in what is known as the upper peninsula was practically forced on the State, the country was believed to be of little value, and it was with great reluctance that Michigan accepted the territory in lieu of the valuable tract ceded to Ohio. What a revela- tion there has been since that time to the people of Michi- gan and of the country as to the marvelous resources and untold wealth of the then despised upper peninsula | Here are located the greatest copper producing mines of the world. Here are to be found well-nigh exhaustless deposits of iron ore. Here, notwithstanding the carrying on of extensive lumbering operations for many years, still exist vast forests of valuable timber. And now this peninsula is astonishing the people below the straits by the rapid advancement of its not inconsiderable agricul- tural interests. * In the development of these great and still unmeasured resources, the St. Mary's ship canal has borne the leading part. It has been and is the gateway through which have poured the products not only of this peninsula but of the entire northwest—iron from the Mesaba range, wheat Address of Governor Warner. 73 from the fertile plains of the Dakotas and Manitoba— constituting a commerce greater than that which passes through the Suez canal. We of the lower peninsula, priding ourselves on the rapid development of all our resources, congratulate you of the upper peninsula that, largely through the building of this canal, you have been able to make equal progress in the development of your resources. We are interested in all things that pertain to your welfare as we know that you are interested in everything that pertains to ours. Let us not forget that this feeling of mutual interest is making of these two peninsulas one commonwealth, not only in name but in fact—a State, one of the greatest in the sisterhood of States. - It is surely not expected of me that I speak at length of the history of this great enterprise, or in detail of its effect upon the industries of the State, the Nation, and the World, for that privilege is properly left to one who is as much a part of this great north country as the very rocks themselves; one who has been an important factor in its every development, and who because of his good works is as well known to us below the straits as to you above. I can thus refer to no other than Michigan's hon- ored citizen, Peter White. Michigan deeply appreciates the interest which the national government, the people of our sister States, and our friends across the border, have taken in these com- memorative events, and I consider it especially fitting that the great English speaking nation of Europe should, through the representatives of the Canadian government, participate in this celebration, for it is to these two great English speaking nations, the one of the old world and the one of the new, working hand in hand, that the world must largely look for its standard of civilization through the centuries to come. It becomes my delightful duty to welcome you, one and all, to this spot which plays so important a part in the great business activities of the world. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAKE SUPERIOR REGION. By Hon. PETER WHITE, President of Lake Superior Canal Semi-Centennial Commission. In April, 1849, I was and had been for a couple of years, living at the island of Mackinac, then in many ways relatively a much - a depot of the . American Fºur Company there, as there was at the Sault. I do not know which of the two was relatively more important. So the business of Mackinac Island dealt very largely with the skins of wild animals. I had a position in a mercantile establishment, which gave me leisure in winter to go to school. Hon. Edward Kanter, afterward of Detroit, and a very well known man, was my employer, and I liked my place very much indeed. But with the coming of this particular spring there was a good deal of excitement in the air over an expedition overland to California, and another one which was being fitted out under Mr. Robert Graveraet, to go to the so-called “iron mountains” of Lake Superior. The copper excitement began some time earlier, and there had been as early as 1846 some explor- HON. PETER WHITE. A Regent of the University of Michingan. 74 Address of Hon. Peter White. 75 ation and mining not far from where Marquette now is for silver lead. But now the iron excitement was some- thing new. It had been long known by the Indians and others that there was copper in the Lake Superior country, and very accessible and very pure. Just why the miners delayed so long in going after it is hard to say. But somehow the Mexican war, the first foreign diffi- culty in many a long year, and the discovery of gold in California, seems to have operated to wake up adventur- ous spirits everywhere. - Eighteen hundred forty-nine was a great year for the American explorer. - The '49er of Lake Superior has often clasped hands with the '49er of California, and indeed the men of one of these districts often sought the other extreme of the country to continue their work. The late John H. For- ster, of Portage Lake, was a California pioneer of '49. Mr. Robert Graveraet, who captained the proposed expe- dition to the Lake Superior region, was a man of remark- able strength, energy and commanding character, and I was advised by prominent citizens at Mackinac, like Mr. Samuel K. Haring, collector of the port, that the iron mountain country was likely to afford a fine opening for an energetic young man. Mr. Haring had always been very friendly in his attitude toward me, and his advice influenced me a great deal. It required a good deal of faith, for Mr. Kanter was paying me $35 a month, with board, and the coveted school privilege, and I was to have only $12 a month and board, for a year, with the expe- dition. Nevertheless, I joined willingly. Our trip up the lake and river from Mackinac to the Sault was a tedious and difficult one. We were in the old steamer Tecumseh, a side wheeler, and a mere pigmy compared with the steamers which now ply the lakes. It took us eight days to make the trip, as the ice was Only just beginning to break up, and side wheelers always made poor work of ice. 76 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. A railroad in this country had never been thought of, indeed railroads were then in their infancy in the United States. f Railroads in America are only about as old as I am. There were then only about 1,600 people in the whole northern peninsula, perhaps a thousand if we leave out the settlements at Mackinac straits. I have no means of knowing how many Indians there were. Those Indians who came to Mackinac numbered about 10,000 each year, but they came from south of the straits as well as north, and from as far away as the islands in Green Bay. They were migratory in their habits, ranging far and wide in search of game, fish and furs. There were of course a few Indian trails, but none of them led to the iron mountains of Lake Superior. The water route, I might say, the ice-water route, was all there was for us. The trip on the St. Mary's river, with all its remark- able beauty, is, of course, entirely familiar to all present here at this celebration. But beautiful as the river now is, it has changed immensely both for the better and for the worse since I first saw it. It has changed for the bet- ter, since it seems that the world was created for man, and man has now subdued, changed and possessed this stream for his residence, his solace, his recreation and his COInnerCe. This was before the days of lights, dredges, buoys, ranges and channel improvements. I doubt if a draught of over 10 or 12 feet could have been successfully brought up to the foot of the rapids at that day. But the river has also changed for the worse, as its perfectly wooded banks were then absolutely unspoiled by the axe or devastating fire. The forest was unbroken, enormous, beautiful in the extreme. - The river was leaping with fish, and the woods full Address of Hon. Peter White. 77 of deer, bear and small game. The beaver were every- where. I do not remember all the stops we made, but the Sailor's Encampment was one of them. When we reached the Sault we found also a place very few here would recognize, though many old landmarks existed here not SO many years ago. - The rapids were the same as to the central fall, but the canals, and buildings have very much altered the appearance of things, and the Hay Lake cut, especially down by the little rapids, almost more than all. There were few wharves and almost no shipping. My recol- lection of the Canadian side is that only five or six small buildings made any show on the river. On the American side was old Fort Brady, by the water's edge, a few houses on the river bank below it, but the principal part of the town above it. There was one wide street starting from the fort grounds, and sev- eral very narrow little streets running out of it, as in all French towns. There may have been 500 people all told. Many were French, some were half-breeds, some were Americans, some were the resident Indians. As early as the first Jesuit explorers it was noted that the Sault Indians were not migratory like the others. Some stayed all the year through as fish could always be caught in the rapids, and it was a sort of neutral zone. - The houses were mostly small and low. I do not remember who the commander of the post was, unless it was Lieutenant Russell or Captain Clark. The gar- rison could hardly number 50 men besides officers. I remember that there was a Baptist mission station here then, presided over by a clergyman whom everyone called Father Bingham. I knew the family afterward quite well and nice people they were. One daughter was named Angeline. Afterward she became the wife of Hon. Thomas D. Gilbert. I think he was at one time mayor of Grand Rapids. I know he was a regent of the 78 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. university. His widow, an estimable lady, still lives in Grand Rapids. Capt. Sam Moody, one of our party, thought so much of Miss Bingham, that when he found a beautiful lake near Ishpeming, that he wanted to chris- ten, he called it Lake Angeline after her, and “thereby hangs a tale.” The ore under Lake Angeline proved so much more valuable than the water in it, that there is no lake there now. There were several stores at the Sault then, and we purchased here the outfit for our expedition. For our prospective voyage on Lake Superior we had a Mackinac boat between 35 and 40 feet long, which had to be hauled and poled up about a mile of rapids, near the shore. My recollection is that it took about three hours to get up past the swift water. Among those residing here then, with whom I was or became ac- quainted, was John Tallman Whiting, afterward of Detroit. Here he had charge of the warehouse and dock belonging to Sheldon McKnight, a warehouse and vessel man, who owned in his time many steamers, among which were the London, Baltimore, General Taylor, Illinois, Pewabic, Meteor and several more. Mr. Whiting was a most intelligent and agreeable man and was long my correspondent and friend. The agent of the American Fur Company at the Sault was an auto- crat named John R. Livingston, as Judge Abbot was at Mackinac. There were two hotels in those days at the Sault, the Van Anden and the Chippewa. Smith, who for many years kept the Chippewa, bought the Van Anden and kept it for many years. The Chippewa House, that some of you remember, was not the original Chippewa House. That building burned down. Then Van Anden, who kept the Van Anden House, desiring to remove to On- tonagon to keep a new hotel there called “The Bigelow,” sold out his hotel to Smith, the landlord of the old Chip- pewa, who immediately rechristened it the Chippewa. *** ***** .* Address by Hon. Peter White. 79 --- . . gºv. -----, -, * : ºr, . . . . . -- ºw' . . . . . -------, ---------------, --------> --- - When we say there was no canal, we ought to add that there was then on the Canadian side of the rapids a very small liliputian lock, where it may still be seen. It was said to belong to the American Fur Company. It does not remind one of the present canal locks very much, but then Peter Cooper's locomotive with a barrel for a water tank doesn't look much like a modern mogul, but it is the same thing nevertheless. ~ The number of real vessels, not counting craft like our own, then sailing the waters of Lake Superior, was very small, and none of them measured over 200 tons burden. As they had not been built on the big lake, you may wonder how they got over there. They were hauled over on wooden ways, very much as houses are now moved, with rollers and windlasses. The Julia Palmer, a side wheeler, and the Independence and Monticello, both propellers, came over the portage that way. The Napoleon was first a sail vessel, but meta- morphosed into a propeller. It was said that in a heavy sea she would dip water with her smoke pipe and thus put out the fires. The side wheelers, Sam Ward and Bal- timore, and propellers Manhattan, General Taylor, Peninsular and several more, were brought over the port- age in the same way. A Parisian Frenchman, once a passenger on the Baltimore, when she was making very slow progress up the lake against a heavy head wind, walked out on deck, just before dark at night, had a look at the pictured rocks and was much pleased with the view. In the morning, before breakfast, he came again out on deck and the panorama astonished him. He exclaimed, “Wat ees dis beautiful sight you have here?” He was told, “You are again looking at pictured rocks.” He exclaimed, “Wat a great countree' Before you go to bed you walk on de deck. You have a grand view de picture rock, den you go to bed, you sleep well all night—de steamer is go ahead all the time—you come out on de deck in de morning, you see de picture rock again. What big country you got and what big picture rock!” 80 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. No one told him that the steamer, finding that she could make no headway against the wind and the waves, had run back to Whitefish Point during the night, and that he was now looking at the same rock pictures he had seen the previous evening. Lake Superior was uncharted and only poorly lighted, and navigation was therefore quite as dangerous, or more so, for these steam craft of moderate power, as for our Mackinac boat. A merchant citizen of the Sault, named Peter B. Bar- beau, a very prominent man, an old settler, meeting a stranger from off a boat lying at the dock, the stranger said to him : “I take it that you live in this place?” “Yes, sir; I do.” “Well, then, I would like to ask you how this town got its curious name, Sault Ste. Mary.” “That, sir,” replied Barbeau, “is a corruption. The town was originally named after a lady called Susan Maria, and by mispronounciation it has become “Soo Ste. Mary.’” According to my recollection, I was back in the Sault twice after the first visit before the canal was opened. Once I came down by lake, taking a steamer passage to reach here. On the second occasion I came down with Hon. Abner Sherman on land office business. We wanted to enter some land at the United States land office which was then at the Sault. We walked all the way, and the journey was one of enormous difficulty and hardship, and a good deal of danger. It took nine days. I wish I had time to tell you incidents of the trip. The distance now from the Sault to Marquette by railroad in almost an air line is about 153 miles, but we couldn’t take any such direct route; we had to follow the shore all the way. - Fording the streams like the Au Train was very dan- gerous, and once came near costing me my life. Skirting the great Tahquamenon swamp was another heart-break- ing task. We would be in the water up to our waists for miles, but we lived through it nevertheless. Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. 81 Such were things before the canal was built. The different appearances then in the town, shore and vessels were not more marked than the difference between our dress then and now. We hardly ever wore coats, but hickory shirts in summer and flannel shirts in winter. Only occasionally we had blanket coats, with capote, but more usually if we were cold we put on one or more shirts. Most house-keepers of today would be greatly surprised at the thickness and beauty of the five point blankets, which was one of the annual treaty payments to the Indians, one to each adult. Such a blanket was nearly as stiff as a board and wonderfully warm. When pay time came, besides the blankets, enough money was distributed to make either $18.00 or $22.00 to every Indian man, woman and child. I do not remem- ber whether the Indians were ever paid at the Sault, but I have seen 10,000 or 12,000 paid at one time at Macki- nac, and the whole beach full of wigwams for miles. The inhabitants were very willing to have them with their attendant drawbacks, as it made trade. But all the north- west furs came down this way by flotilla from Fort Wil- liam. Before the canal came, the Lake Superior country was the land of romance, but otherwise closed except to the limited traffic we have mentioned. But the com- merce was both the key that opened it, and the result of the opening. Enterprising as were the great French explorers, no trade but the fur trade was important to their eyes. It was to their interest, as they saw it, to keep the country wild, a fur bearing country. The canoe and the bateaux were big enough for them. They never thought of displacing the Indians by large settlements. But when the lumbermen, the miner and the heavy freighter came, the canal became a necessity, but from our present standpoint its original projectors would have been satisfied with small things. How would a lock 100 feet long strike you now 2 Yet such was act- ually planned, indeed actually determined upon by some 82 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. persons in authority at a time not far from the achieve- ment of statehood. What surprise would now be felt to hear that the United States government ever opposed the canal ' Yet soldiers from Fort Brady actually chased away the first laborers employed by the State to dig the canal because they were trespassing, had entered without permission on a military reservation. The State and National authorities were at cross purposes for some time. In passing, here is an item worthy of note: In 1840 a bill was introduced into Congress in accordance with a me- morial from the Michigan legislature asking for an appro- priation of 100,000 acres of land to aid in building the canal, but Henry Clay, the famous orator and leading statesman, made a speech against the bill and to quote his own language “it is a work quite beyond the remotest settlement of the United States, if not in the moon,” and the measure was defeated. And who would be supposed more alive to the uses of a canal, and more intent to see that one should be built, once for all, and sufficient for all future demands than the vesselmen P. Yet the vesselmen would have been satisfied with a much smaller canal than the one actually built. I have in my possession a copy of a letter by Capt. Eber B. Ward, long acknowledged grand mogul of all vessel interests, the heaviest proprietor of lake shipping in his day. In his letter he protested most vigorously, but fortunately in vain, against building the canal locks over 260 feet long. The lock was actually made 350 feet long, but 260 would have allowed the passage of the longest vessel he then had, and he did not foresee the demand for anything bigger. But what really dictated his letter was the fear that if a lock 350 feet long were begun, it would never be finished. There was the vast land grant, of course, but Captain Ward had so little faith in the value of the granted lands that he estimated their selling value at only twenty-five cents an acre. He thought they would sell for enough to build a canal lock Address of Hon. Peter White. 83 260 feet long, not one of 350 feet. Captain Ward died, as it seemed to some of us, only a few yesterdays ago, and doubtless lived to change his mind. But with our present knowledge of the ores that have been dug, the timber cut and the crops shipped from Lake Superior districts, his fears were as erroneous as his land valuation. Two reflex influences are here to be noted. The canal made the ore trade and then the ore trade made the canal. & Without a canal, ore could not be shipped at all. With a small shallow canal the finished product of the smelter seemed a more reasonable freight than the ore. But still the ore trade began, and the tonnage of all sorts speedily outstripped the capacity of the canal. It was enlarged and enlarged again, so that a trade which employed at first vessels of two or three hundred tons burden is now rapidly tending to be monopolized by carriers of 8,000 to 10,000 tons capacity, each with a consort, so that one engine might pull to Cleveland, Ashtabula or Erie, 16,000 to 18,000 tons of ore. In 1855 it was estimated that 30,000 tons of freight passed the canal. In 1881 the ton- nage had grown to 1,567,000 tons. In 1886 the enlarged locks carried 4,527,000 tons. In 1901 the second enlarge- ment, open 230 days, carried over 25,000,000 tons, three times the commerce of the Suez canal, and six times that of Kiel. My thesis is this: The opening of the Sault canal has been of the largest benefit to the whole United States of any single happening in its commercial or indus- trial history. In widely reaching effect it is comparable with the declaration of independence because every State in the Union has benefited by it. A long water haul is so enormously cheaper than a rail haul, that the ability to ship large cargoes direct from Lake Superior ports, 1,200 to 1,500 miles, or even across the seas, has trans- formed the United States and changed her position among the nations. - 84 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. The grain of the northwest now finds an eastern or foreign market with surprising ease. Flour goes direct from Duluth to Liverpool. Many fields and millions of acres are now under plow in Dakota and the Canadian northwest, as the result of the canal. Bread is cheaper in Massachusetts than would be otherwise possible, and thus the canal helps the happi- ness of the laboring man. - The lumber of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and now of Oregon and Washington, has passed or is passing the canal. Without this transport it would be impossible that the American people could be so comfortably housed, or that American timber could have been sold abroad for our national wealth and supremacy. The copper of Mich- igan is the purest in the world. It is usable for results not attempted with the product of other mines of other regions. It is sold all over the world, after passing the canal. It carries the telegraph, the telephone, the electric railway everywhere. It is used in all the arts. The age of electricity is due to the canal. The iron of Michigan, the ores of unexampled purity have passed and are pass- ing the canal. Before this movement began the iron industry of America chiefly engaged with the lean Penn- Sylvania ores was having a terrible struggle for existence. The Lake Superior ores are rich enough and varied enough to mix with the Pennsylvania ores, and have saved the iron and steel industry of Pennsylvania, and so in America. The iron industry has the key of the commercial supremacy of the world. Before the canal we were dependent on the British Isles. Now we can undersell the world. The canal made Pittsburg the great city that it is today, it made cheap rails and possible railways, it made cheap tools, cheap wire, and has fenced the wood- less prairies; cheap nails and implements of all kinds. It has sent our rifles, shovels, hammers, reapers, bridges, Address of Hon. Peter White. 85 and rails all over the world. The American iron clad is the child of the canal. Kitchener went to Khartoum with the freight of the canal. No English company would agree to furnish the Albany bridge necessary for his advance in less than eighteen months. An American contractor set it up in three months. Carnegie builds libraries and rewards heroic virtue with the fruits of a business impossible without the canal. The coal of the south returns by the canal to temper our winters and to drive our engines. - Population is the child of the canal, industry another, comfort another, education and philanthropy twins of the canal, agriculture, manufactures, transportation, world intercourse, commercial supremacy, and the world’s acre- age the offering of the canal. The canal has reduced the price of steel rails from $150 a ton to $26, and occasion- ally even less. - King Iron used to reign from an English throne, now his throne is in America. t We are now the great creditor nation, and as such have the greatest possible influence in the peace of the world. On the words of a Bishop of the English church, I assert that the United States has now the greatest power for world peace of any nation, or that any nation ever had. Our power is largely the result of this canal. If any one knows of anything bigger in the history of civilization I should be glad to hear of it. What was the colossus of Rhodes? What is the great pyramid P. Where are the hanging gardens of Babylon P. The biggest thing on earth is known by its results, and the biggest thing is the Sault canal. But bigger than anything created is the Creator, and larger than anything conceived of is the mind that conceived it. Who that celebrates this mighty triumph can forget the men who dreamed it and the men who made it. Gov- 86 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. ernor Mason had it in his mind, but failed to bring it to paSS. A great thought is next in honor to a great deed. Let us not forget that here. We have Charles T. Harvey, the hero of the first lock, here with us today. General Weitzel, who built the first enlarged lock was the officer who took possession of captured Richmond. Poe, whose name adorns the largest lock, was famous on many a stricken field. Both wrought themselves as well as their names into these locks, and both were capable of more. If men, whose genius laid these locks, and those whose interests and ability urged on, expanded, and used them, were named together, it would prove that peace is greater than war, that commerce is the handmaid of peace, and if the men of the twentieth century outstrip those of the nineteenth, who wrought this wonder, the race of giants must return. - Let me give you a few figures, and only a few, to show how the production of pig iron increased in the United States after this canal came into being. For instance, in 1855 the total of pig iron in the United States was 700,159 gross tons. In 1864 it increased to 1,014,282; 1872, 2,548,963; 1879, 2,741,583 tons; 1880, 3,835,191 tons; 1886, 5,583,329 tons; 1899, 7,603,642 tons; 1893, 11,773,934 tons; 1901, 15,878,354 tons; 1902, 17,821,– 307; 1903, 18,009,262 tons. It is estimated, based upon the returns to this date, that the total production of pig iron in the United States for 1905 will exceed 22,000,000 gross tons. The total of pig iron in Great Britain in 1904 was 8,562,658 gross tons. It is an interesting commentary to be able to state as a fact that one single company in the United States, viz., the United States Steel Corporation, produced in the year 1904 a greater steel tonnage than was made in the whole of Great Britain. The total amount of steel produced by the United States Steel Corporation last year was 9,167,960 tons out Address of Hon. Peter White. 87 of a total in the United States of 14,422,101 tons. Great Britain’s total production was, in 1904, 5,134,101 tons on steel, a little over one-half as much as the United States Steel Corporation product and a little over one-third as much as the whole United States product. That shows the great advantage that this country has in the manufacture of iron and steel, since the entire steel making capacity of the United States Steel Corporation is exclusively from Lake Superior ores. Last year the United States produced more pig iron than Great Britain and Germany combined. There are plenty more very interesting figures for us to contemplate, but I fear I will tire you and so forbear. The increased mileage in railroads in the United States since 1855 is astounding and worthy of comment, but time forbids. But I cannot close without pointing out the fact that the freedom of the canal is almost greater in its influence than the canal. This great water way is free to the British flag as to our own, as are all the canals of the United States government. The Canadians themselves have been as generous in allowing us the free use of their canal on the other shore at all times and under all circumstances as we could possibly desire them to be. They have set us an example of liberality, of good will, that we must always profit by and be just as generous in return. This, then, as we hinted, is Lake Superior's declaration of inde- pendence. This vast land locked sea with all its tributaries is free, and its freedom means these infinite results. And we who have seen its development and have worked the forests and mines, which have chiefly made its commerce, may pause in wonder that so few and so feeble a people living under so cold a sky should have been permitted to share so largely in changing the seat of empire, and enlarging the happiness of the world. THE ST. MARY'S FALLS CANAL. A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WISE POLICY OF GOVERNMENT IN MAKING INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. By HoN. H. OLIN YoUNG, Member of Congress from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The following notes of an address were prepared and printed in lieu of oral delivery: The constitutional right of Congress to appropriate money for internal improvements, including the building of canals and roads and the improvement of water ways, was one of the vexed questions in the early days of the republic. It was denied in vigorous language by Presi- dents Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Polk and Pierce. This denial became one of the cardinal principles of the democratic party and was inserted in all its national platforms from 1840 to 1864, inclusive. The whig and republican parties, on the contrary, affirmed the right and advocated the policy of internal improvements. The first river and harbor bill passed Congress and became a law in 1823, but it had no fellow until 1870. In the meantime, however, appropriations for internal im- provements were frequently engrafted on regular appro- priation bills and became laws because the President could defeat them only by vetoing the whole bill, thus crippling the government. On August 3, 1846, and again on March 3, 1847, President Polk vetoed a river and harbor bill, and President Pierce did the same in the winter of 1853. It was during these latter years when the public mind was so divided upon this question that our senators and repre- sentatives in Congress succeeded in obtaining from the general government a grant of public lands to the State of Michigan, to be used by it in building the St. Mary's Falls ship canal. Governor Felch, who was then senator from Michigan, used to tell with much pride of the efforts made by himself and colleagues to obtain this appropria- tion, and how men who were bitterly opposed to the direct ---ar. 7 y.º." 88 Printed Address by Hon. H. Olin Young. 89 appropriation of money for internal improvements were prevailed upon to vote for this measure because, first, it was not a direct appropriation, and, second, because they believed the lands to be practically worthless. He always acknowledged indebtedness to Henry Clay for substantial aid in passing this bill, and rightly deemed its success one of his own chief claims to the gratitude of his State. Perhaps if our entire history were searched no better example could be found to illustrate the wise and broad statesmanship which established, fostered, and has main- tained the policy of internal improvements than the St. Mary's Falls ship canal—a policy which owes its incep- tion largely to the keen sagacity and ardent patriotism of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The statement of a few facts will make this clearer. When the old canal was finished in 1855 the upper peninsula of Michigan had a population of 10,142. It has now over 275,000. The population of the territory of Minnesota then numbered 6,077. It has now nearly 2,000,000. Pittsburg, then as now the center of the iron trade, was a city of less than 50,000 people. It is now more than seven times as great. - In 1855 the entire production of pig iron in this coun- try was but 700,159 tons. This year it will exceed 20,000,000 tons. In 1855 our production of steel was so small as to be unrecorded, and it was not until 1867 that it had grown to 19,643 tons. This year it will exceed 16,000,000 tons. In 1855 not one pound of iron ore was mined in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This year the product will crowd close to 30,000,000 tons. Even as late as 1870, $5.00 a ton freight was fre- quently paid on iron ore from Marquette to Lake Erie ports, and $3.00 a ton was considered a very low rate, The vessels were all small. One carrying 500 tons was considered a good boat, and one of 800 tons a large one. Now the majestic Wolvin sails through the locks almost weekly bearing within her bosom nearly 12,000 tons of 90 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. iron ore. No wonder that the freight rate has dropped to 75 cents and sometimes 60 cents a ton. This saving of the difference between $3.00 a ton and 75 cents a ton, or $2.25 a ton, on iron ore alone, estimating the average shipment at 20,000,000 tons (which is far below the true figure) would amount to the enormous sum of $45,000,000 a year, or three times the cost of the entire improvement. The saving on the entire tonnage passing through the canal cannot be much less than $80,000,000 annually at the present time, and our growing commerce will increase this amount each year. This saving has been brought principally by the substitution of large for small vessels, and this substitution has been rendered possible by the deepening of the channel and improvement of the locking facilities. - Without these improvements we should still be pay- ing approximately $3.00 a ton freight from Marquette to Cleveland, and a somewhat higher rate from Duluth to Cleveland. Nor is this a full measure of the saving. The competition of the lake transportation has reduced enormously the rates of railroad freight from the north- west to the seaboard and intermediate points. But the influence of the building of the canal upon the life of the nation cannot be measured in money alone. Every dollar saved in the cost of transportation has either added approximately a dollar to the income of the pro- ducer of wheat and iron ore in the northwest or saved approximately a dollar to the consumer of those com- modities. It has made it possible to build up the great mining industry of Lake Superior. It has made Pitts- burg the greatest producer of iron and steel in the world. It has made the Monongahela Valley, the greatest manu- facturing and railroad center in all the world. It has brought comfort and plenty to the homes of hundreds of. thousands of farmers and miners in the northwest, and cheaper living to millions in the manufacturing centers of the Eastern and Middle States. Finally, it has made Minnesota and the Dakotas the granary of the world and caused the United States to lead all the world as a pro- ducer of iron and steel. AFTERNOON. Hon. T. E. Burton, Chairman of the Com- mittee on Rivers and Harbors of the Unit- ed States House of Representatives, spoke upon The Im- portance of the Im- provement of Lake Channels. Congress- man Burton said: The people of the United States have reason to be proud of this canal. It is be- fitting that here upon the banks of this wat- erway, after the lapse of fifty years, the citizens of Michigan Hon. T. E. Burton. should join with those - of Canada and of other States of the Union, in celebrating this anniver- sary. In the whole range of commercial history, no public work undertaken by City, State or Nation has accomplished such remarkable results or conferred bene- fits so large in proportion to the cost. In forecasting its future the judgments of reliable observers have proven absolutely inadequate. The dreamer and the visionary have come nearest to the facts. It is difficult to tell which is the more impressive, the growth of its traffic or the magnitude of the industrial and commercial development which has followed it. In 1856, the first entire-year in which boats could pass between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, 33,817 tons of freight passed through. This amount has been increased a thousand fold. Instead of tiny sidewheel steamers and sailing boats, having an 91 92 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. average capacity of less than a hundred tons, we now behold the finest carriers on any inland sea, some of them carrying nearly 12,000 tons. Steamboats have supplanted sailboats, larger boats are constantly being substituted for smaller. Iron construction displaced wood and now steel is taking the place of iron. Instead of the primitive facilities, with which it required several days to unload three hundred tons of iron ore, now in four hours and ten minutes, nearly 12,000 tons has been unloaded. Instead of a partial supply for a few scattering furnaces, the major part of the iron ore smelted in the United States, passes through this river and with it a quantity of wheat equal to the whole average annual export in recent years. The quick succeeding changes can more fitly be described as revolutions than as the ordinary course of progress. The magnitude of this waterway with its 36,- 000,000 tons of freight in the maximum year of 1902 may be comprehended by a comparison of its traffic with that of other canals and waterways and with some of the lead- ing ports. In making comparison we can select as the most correct criterion the number of tons carried through. It may be conceded that the freight which passes here has an average less valuable than that of the canals men- tioned, but for the development of any country or the utilization of its resources, the cheap transportation of raw materials and of articles of smaller value is the most important object to be obtained. - We can also properly include the lock on the Canadian side, because if it should fail, the boats which utilize it would come here, and if one of these should be out of commission its traffic would go there. In brief, all three locks are parts of the same general improvement. Its greatest, its only competitor is the Suez canal which revo- lutionized the routes of commerce in the old world. Exact comparison is impossible, because statistics relating to the Suez canal give capacity of cargo or net tonnage rather than the amount of freight carried. Yet we are Address of Hon. T. E. Burton, M. c. 93 justified in saying that the capacity or net tonnage of boats passing here is almost precisely twice as great as that of those passing through the Suez, and the cargo carried is between two and three times as great. Further, in the Suez canal tolls are levied amounting in the last year to $23,000,000, while here any boat of any nation may pass on equal terms without discrimination or hin- drance. If we consider the Kiel canal, between the North Sea and the Baltic, which was opened in 1895 as if it were an event of world-wide importance, the total traffic there is less than one-seventh of that passing here. In comparison with the Manchester ship canal, constructed at more than six times as great a cost as that of these improvements on the American side, the tonnage carried through here is more than ten times as great. Equally impressive is a comparison of the tonnage of this river with that of certain ocean ports. The average annual cargoes passing through Saint Mary’s river are fast approaching the total amount of those received at or shipped from all of the ports of the United States in our trade with foreign countries. The tonnage carried is greater than that of all the sea-going commerce, both domestic and foreign, of the Empire of Germany, or of France, greater than the combined sea-going commerce of Russia, Austria and Italy. If we adopt as our basis of comparison, ton miles, that is, multiply the amount of freight by the number of miles carried, averaging here 843.5 miles, the Saint Mary’s river and the Detroit river stand in a class by themselves and upon each there is a greater traffic than that of all the other rivers and canals of the United States. Our railway system is the most elaborate in the world, exceeding in mileage that of all other countries and com- prising over 200,000 miles constructed and equipped at a cost of $13,500,000,000, yet on the same basis of ton miles the traffic here is one-seventh as great as upon all the railways of the United States. In this same connec- 94 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. tion it will be instructive to compare the cost with that of railway freight charges. The average charge per ton per mile on freight carried here is but a trifle in excess of one-tenth as much as upon railways. The freight charge on railways per ton mile being .78 of a cent, while that upon the lake channels, of which this river is a part, is but .81 of a mill. Comparison can be challenged with equal confidence in commercial and industrial devel- opment. This waterway is the most essential link in a waterway 1,000 miles in length affording cheap trans- portation for the grain of a greater interior region and giving an impetus and an increased reward for agricul- tural production nowhere surpassed. It is probable that in the future, the development of this great producing region will be much greater than in the past. The supremacy of the United States in the manufacture of iron and steel acquired within the last decade would be impossible without this canal. The bringing together of the ores of Minnesota and Wisconsin and the coal of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia gives an assured advantage in the manufacture of these staple articles which more and more are becoming the world’s structural material and will enable the United States to permanently distance all rivals. It is to be noted that this improve- ment has enjoyed its greatest increase during the last twenty years and especially in the last decade. Those who study the development of American commerce will always give full credit to the State of Michigan for having initiated this great enterprise in the face of opposition and even of ridicule. The people of the State in the construc- tion of the first lock opened fifty years ago did the best they could with the limited resources at their disposal and with the imperfect foresight of that time; but the great development of commerce in this region, though from the first increasing rapidly in percentage, was postponed thirty years. It was not until after 1885 that these improvements became a colossal factor in the industrial Address of Hon. T. E. Burton, M. C. 95 growth of the country, From 1869, the year of the open- ing of the Suez canal, until 1885, the increase in the traffic of the Suez was greater than here. The freight carried there was greater until several years after 1885. At about this time events gave to this canal its more recent importance. Among them was the completion of the Weitzel lock in 1881, the deepening of other channels of the Great Lakes, the discovery of the iron ore fields of Minnesota. It should also be considered that after any great improvements there is almost always a period of inertia during which its full benefits are neither realized nor utilized. The most remarkable development of recent years has been in the shipments of iron ore, the total quan- tity of this commodity carried down was but 1,235,000 tons in 1885. In 1895 the quantity had reached 8,000,000, in 1900 16,000,000, in 1902, the banner year, 24,000,000. It is not a daring estimate to foretell that within ten years the annual quantity will be between forty and forty-five millions of tons. Shipments of lumber will no doubt decrease. Copper and miscellaneous freight may not show any marked increase but there is an unlimited field for development in shipments of iron ore and in a less degree of coal and of grain. I am not one of those pessimists who believe that the iron ore supply in the country adjacent to Lake Superior will be exhausted in a few decades. I cannot avoid the conviction that the hills and valleys near to the lakes have been barely scratched as yet; that other mines await the prospector, further afield perhaps, but nevertheless abund- ant in supply for generations yet to come, so that as the world more and more demands the products of iron and steel, the purchaser must look more and more to the regions tributary to this canal and the waterways of the Great Lakes. No such development as has been attained here could be accomplished by natural advantages alone. It is not fertile fields nor rich mines, nor deep channels, which make a country great, either from an industrial 96 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. --, -º-º-º-º- ºv- ... - … -- * * : * ~ * : *****pºr -º , -ºxºr-g -- s—w. +z_, -º-º: —resur-r---L-- ~s----, sr. … = 4 •, -- - . * , + . . . ... 3- - * $ 3 or from a political standpoint. There must be strong and stalwart men of the progressive type ready to grasp the opportunities of each year and always alert to keep in the lead. Men as well as resources make a State rich and prosperous, and in that which has been gained, credit must be given to the energetic men who have planned and managed these great enterprises—to the thousands of miners, to the sailors on the ships, and to all who have toiled to accomplish what we see today. In our complex and progressive civilization, all of those who go to make up our varied population bear their share and are neces- sary to secure the best results. I cannot omit to express my congratulations to the old men here today who were the pioneers in this great devel- opment; to Peter White, the explorer and discoverer of untold possibilities in the trackless waste of the Upper Peninsula; to Mr. Harvey, the builder of the first canal, fortunately they are with us, after more than fifty years, to see the realization of their labors and sacrifices. The years have rolled swiftly by, but events fraught with con- sequences of overshadowing importance have intervened in even more rapid succession. We may add our tribute of honor to the many who, with like energy and hope, bore the heat and burden of the day, but who have been taken from us. Foremost among them stands General Poe, the engineer of the latest lock, without whose com- prehensive foresight of the future demands of lake traffic this great procession of passing ships would hardly have been possible. This magnificent lock is his fittest mon- 11ment. Where are the young men who will take the place of those whose work we celebrate? No conquering army listening to the inspiring notes of martial music and gaz- ing upon fluttering standards behind, which they must conquer or die, were ever more alive or ready to respond to the cry of “Onward March” than are the young men of today. They are ready for all emergencies; to them Address of Hon. T. E. Burton, M. C. 97 -º-º-º- ºr------assººr - - --ºr-ºrs" : - - - - - - - *- : *r 2'------------- - †† -..." & we ºr . * ~ * <---------. it may be said with more impressiveness than ever, “To be living is sublime.” Will their merits and the benefits of their achievements compare with those of the men who are gone or who are nearing the twilight hour? This occasion is in a peculiar sense a celebration of international enterprise. The connecting waters of the Great Lakes lie between the United States and the Domin- ion of Canada, countries peopled by those of the same race, who speak the same language and who in an excep- tional sense look forward to the same destiny. The mariner does not stop to consider whether the course of his boat lies through channels of Canada or of the United States, the boundary between us is a mere line upon the map. Our interests, our hopes and our achieve- ments more and more, year by year, are one, and it is appropriate that we should today, on both sides of the boundary line, repeat the sentiment expressed in the last speech of President McKinley: “Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not conflict; and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war.” The progress of civilization, the enjoyments of the comforts and conveniences of life, the highest standard of manhood will be best promoted by a growing senti- ment for peace and good will among the peoples of the earth. Here on this border line between the United States and Canada may we erect twin pillars which will be the beginnings of the splendid temple of peace. We may thus attain what one of our great legislative leaders has termed a development of resources great beyond the comprehension of any mortal and the diffusion among all of riches to which the glories of the Arabian Nights are but the glitter of the pawn shop. And yet more important, we shall have part in that development of individual opportunity, of liberty and of high moral standards, which now and always will place the English speaking races in the forefront of the world's civilization. - THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN COMMERCE. By Hon. J. C. Burrows, Senior United States Senator from Michigan. One would need to be pos- sessed of the spirit of proph- ecy in a remark- able degree to speak with any accuracy as to the “Future of American. Com- merce.” If do- mestic commerce alone is intend- ed to be em- braced in this sentiment, we could speak of its future with reasonable as- surance, for the future of our domestic trade is reasonably assured. With free and unrestricted intercourse between the States, our mar- velous industrial development, the inexhaustible supply of raw material and the enterprise and energy of our people, with wholesome laws promotive of commercial development, it is not difficult to divine the future of our domestic trade. Its marvelous past proclaims the cer- tainty of its future. It is an astounding fact that our domestic commerce on land and sea aggregates twenty- two billions of dollars annually and exceeds in magnitude the foreign commerce of all nations of the earth. It is not difficult, therefore, to divine, that with the increasing and steady development of our resources and the improve- ment of our rivers and harbors under the generous and HON. J. C. BURRows, U. S. S. 98. Address of U. S. Senator Burrows. 99 patriotic administration of the distinguished gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Burton, the magnitude of our domestic commerce is only limited by the extent of our resources and the energy of our people. So far, therefore, as the future of our domestic commerce is concerned, it is not open to question or doubt. The future of our foreign commerce is more prob- lematical and its development is a matter of keenest solic- itude. This is pre-eminently a business age and the nations of the earth are struggling as never before for the mastery in foreign trade. With the absorbent capac- ity of our domestic market taking ninety-two per cent. of all our manufactures, yet we produce more than we can consume, and a foreign market must therefore be found somewhere for the surplus products of our shops. With 600,000 manufacturing establishments employing 7,000,- 000 of workmen, producing an annual output of $15,000,- 000,000, we have become the greatest manufacturing nation on the face of the globe, and as a result, after supplying the needs of our people, we have a surplus of $1,200,000,000 of manufactured goods which must be disposed of somewhere in the world’s market. To this market we must look for relief. I expect the future will bring to us a greater measure of the world’s trade, which absorbs annually $4,000,000,000 worth of manufactured goods while the United States furnishes only $500,000,- 000, or twelve and one-half per cent. of this demand. I look to see our share in the world’s markets greatly aug- mented. I expect the future will give us a larger market in Asia, South America and Africa. I expect the future will bring to us a larger trade with the people of South America, standing at our very door, who last year took $380,000,000 worth of foreign products and only $35,000,- 000 of which came from the United States. While she purchased from England $120,000,000; of Germany, $54,000,000; of France, $35,000,000; Spain, $8,000,000, and even of distant Italy, $34,000,000; yet the United 100 Jubilee Annals of the Sault canal. States furnishing but thirteen per cent. of this enormous foreign trade. Asia and Oceanica absorbed $700,000,000 of dollars worth of manufactured goods, of which the United States furnished but $65,000,000, while Africa, with her $300,000,000 of imported manufactures, drew from the United States only $13,000,000. In the matter of cotton goods it is astounding to know that South America as a whole, in 1904, took $63,000,000 worth of cotton fabrics and only $3,500,000, or ten per cent., from the United States, although the United States is the greatest producer of cotton of any nation on the globe. While our trade with these countries is so restricted and we furnish such a small part of their imported manu- factures, yet the prospects of enlarged commerce with these nations was never more flattering than today. More than that, our outlying possessions furnish a new field for commercial exploit. Six years ago our exports to Porto Rico were only $2,000,000, while last year they were $12,000,000. Our exports to Hawaii have grown from $4,000,000 in 1897 to $11,000,000 in 1903 and our exports to the Philippines from $94,000 in 1897 to $4,000,000 in 1903. - There is another hopeful sign for the future of this country in the matter of our foreign trade and that is in the aroused public sentiment and interest in favor of building up our merchant marine. It is a reproach to this nation that while our entire foreign commerce in 1903 aggregated in value $2,400,000,000, only $214,000,- 000, or nine per cent. of that commerce was carried in American ships. We paid for freighting American com- merce, exports and imports, last year, $140,000,000, and of this sum only $12,000,000 was paid to American ship owners. The $30,000,000 of dollars paid for passenger traffic across the seas went chiefly into the pockets of foreigners. It is a humiliating fact that the flag of our trade is seldom seen in foreign ports. The Hon. John Barrett, an American minister, testi- Address of U. S. Senator Burrows. 101 fied before the shipping commission, recently, that in the last ten years he made three trips around the world and had therefore ample opportunity to judge of the condi- tion of our foreign merchant marine. During this period he was also Minister representing the United States at the Argentine Republic and in Siam. The foreign trade of the Argentine Republic last year was $360,000,000, of which the United States received only $24,000,000, and he states that there are seven great ship lines to European countries besides large freighters carrying this immense commerce, while not a single American line enters the Port of Buenos Ayres. In his last journey around the world, he says, passing from San Francisco to Japan, China, India the Mediterannean and Europe, he did not see in the course of his journey a single mer- chantman flying the American flag. While Minister at Siam for a period of four years, he declares that not one American merchantman entered the Port of Bankok. Today a half dozen great lines of fast steamers are ply- ing between Europe and Eastern Asia and only one line between our western coast and the Orient. The trade of Europe with Asia today is six or seven times greater than it is with the United States. This is ascribable in my judgment to a large extent to the want of shipping facilities with these countries. Recently we had a protracted controversy whether the flag follows the constitution or the constitution follows the flag, but there is one thing about which there is no contention and that is that trade always follows the flag. I have great confidence, therefore, in the future of Amer- ican commerce. As I said before, our domestic commerce is secure. Our foreign trade will certainly be augmented. At the last session of Congress, a commission of ten persons was appointed charged with the duty of making inquiry into the instrumentality to be employed in build- ing up our merchant marine. The creation of the depart- ment of Commerce, charged especially with the promo- 102 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. tion of our trade, and the appropriation of $30,000 to employ agents to visit the South American countries and ascertain their interests, are all hopeful signs of a revival of American shipping and increasing foreign trade. Public sentiment is thoroughly aroused upon this subject. I do not propose to discuss the methods by which our merchant marine may be rehabilitated, but that it will be accomplished I have not the slightest doubt. The importance of this matter is already recognized. McKinley said upon this subject, “Foreign ships should carry the least and not the greatest part of the American trade. The remarkable growth of our steel industry, the progress of shipbuilding for the domestic trade and our steadily maintained expenditures for the navy have created an opportunity to place the United States in the first rank of commercial maritime powers.” President Roosevelt recently declared: “Shipping lines for our commerce to the principal countries with which we have dealings would be a political as well as commercial bene- fit. From every standpoint it is unwise for the United States to rely upon the ships of competing nations for the distribution of our goods. It should be advantageous to carry American goods in American built ships.” The trade of the future lies across the Pacific. The prows of merchantmen of all nations are turned toward the Orient. The waters of the Pacific cover one-third of the surface of the globe, and one-half the population of the earth find their natural outlet over its majestic expanse. Our occupancy of the Philippines at the very threshold of the open door to Asiatic trade places the United States in the advance. With the restoration of our merchant marine, the continued improvement of our rivers and harbors, the completion of the Isthmian canal, the time is not far distant when the United States will resume its lawful place on the sea and unfurl its flag of commerce in every port of trade on the face of the globe. ADDRESS OF HON. RAOUL. DANDERAND, Speaker of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada. Ladies and Gentle men : This commem- oration allows the United States the op- portunity of ex- amining the dis- tance travelled and the strides made by the na- | tion as a whole and by its West- ern States in particular. Nations on this continent have such a short record comparatively, that they have not long to pon- HON. RAOUL. DANDERAND. der as to what part of their existence has been most profitable and most successful. Can a nation boast of having attained its age of major- ity before it is one century old? The United States have not yet completed their first half of their second century. They are just out of their teens. One could easily see fifty years ago that the founda- tions had been laid for the making of a strong nation, but no one could then foresee that fifty years later this infant nation would enter the mundial political concert, claiming justly therein one of the predominant places. Whatever his imagination, whatever his enthusiasm for this land of supreme freedom and of the bountiful, no one could have predicted that in less than fifty years 103 104 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. this country would be peopled to overflowing and would be invading with its products all the markets of the world. In 1900 you were eighty millions. What tale will the next census tell? Still the Europeans keep pouring in yearly by hundreds of thousands. In their search for good arable lands some of them even cross the imaginary line which divides us. They meet on our plains other Europeans, who came direct through our own doors, immigrants who have found out that Canada is not a . distant land far away towards the north pole, that our metropolis is but twelve hours distant from yours, and, on their way to New York, that they can stop at our front door thirty-six hours before their ship could bring them to the Hudson. Canada is now beginning to fill up. We believe that, we stand today where you stood forty years ago. We feel that the wave of prosperity which has covered your lands is extending its area and is beating on our shores. We hope that during the next fifty years Canada will develop strongly and healthily. We will not forget that very often, in these regions, the United States, during the last century, have led the way in the development of western commerce. We know what you have done for the betterment of navigation on the lakes and how help- ful you have been to our mariners. You linked the upper lakes at this spot forty years before we followed suit. Our requirements were not then as pressing as yours. We are sanguine of being able to show as large a ton- nage as your present one before very many years go by, through the rapid development of our agricultural west, of our rich mines and of our industries. We hope to be able, before another half century is completed, to recipro- cate in kind by offering you a direct outlet to the sea, through a twenty-foot waterway via Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers, thus saving you the annoyance of twice breaking bulk before reaching a European port. When *-, *z, * ºr -º • $º. Address by Hon. R. Danderand. 105 Canada will have executed the necessary works on that water route, your steamers may take their cargoes at Duluth and bring them in a straight line to Liverpool. We must do that in the interest of half a continent lying west of the lakes which needs a short, a direct and easy water route to the Atlantic. We must do it to repay our American cousins for the numerous pioneer works they have in the past executed on the lakes to our great advantage. The United States have reached their complete mater- ial development. Within a few decades Canada will be as fully equipped. When both sides of our Great Lakes are equally populated, when towns and cities dot our shores, when millions of men plow our northwestern prairies, what a sight will our grand-children behold when they are gathered here to celebrate the centennial celebra- tion of the joining of these two lakes | But material development cannot be the sole end of a nation. When this stage has been reached the nation must continue its march towards a higher civilization. To be One hundred millions is not synonymous to being glor- ious and envied. Nations past and present can show a larger population without commanding admiration. Smaller ones have shed considerable lustre in the history of the world through their predominance in sciences and arts and their greater refinement. It is little to be mater- ially great if one is not morally so. One need not be a prophet to predict for Northern America a prodigious future. Will we not be 150,000,000 people before this century is over? It behooves the statesmen of the day to set before their people a high standard of public morals so as to lift them to a higher plane. I commend and applaud the manly and elevating utterances of your president, Theodore Roosevelt, whose lofty ideals make for the betterment of humanity. - There is to my mind one ideal which should be our 106 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. one ideal, distinguishing specially North America from the rest of the world. Most of our fathers and ancestors have sought this land to free themselves from the various burdens that made them poor or miserable in their native country. The greatest curse from which they fled has been European militarism. Europe can justly boast of a higher culture in arts and sciences, of a greater accumulation of art treasures, of a larger class of men of wealth and leisure devoting themselves exclusively to refined arts and intellectual pursuits. These advantages undoubtedly make towards a higher civilization, but real progress in true civilization must be judged by a different standard. Since the Divine Ruler appeared on this earth to preach peace and good will among men, since He has laid down in a single phrase the guiding rule which resumes the whole Christian doctrine—Do unto others as you would have others do unto you—it must be admitted that a greater sense of justice has governed the action of men individually. Men's conscience is no more oppressed, and equality before the law is now universally proclaimed in the Chris- tian world. More justice reigns among men. This is the only sure sign that humanity has attained greater civil- ization. Can this be said of nations in their relations between them? Decidedly not. Europe is still a military camp, where millions of men are in daily training to better kill and slaughter their fellow beings and neighbors. Taxes keep on increasing to maintain enormous armaments, till life has become a burden to a large proportion of the toilers who yearly flee to this country by hundreds of thousands. In Europe war is an element which must constantly be reckoned with. That contingency is in the trend of mind of every thinking individual. In defence of such a system the argument is advanced that one must protect himself against the attacks of a strong enemy, but every one of those nations will occa- sionally, when an easy chance presents itself for aggran- disement, declare war upon the weaker and will crush him mercilessly. Address by Hon. R. Danderand. 107 In this twentieth century Europe, as in the fifteenth century, knows but one measure of justice governing the relations of nations—the law of might. European nations, as corporate beings, are still as barbarous as 500 years ago. One will find across the Atlantic men who will commend war as a splendid sport which develops manly qualities and the highest among them—self sacrifice. It should be easy to cultivate such a virtue through less brutal and less sanguinary methods. A Canadian writer was lately affirming that the cardi- nal doctrine of North American politics should be the maintenance of peace on this continent. Within the next fifty years, I repeat, we will be 150,000,000 of people, under two flags, it is true, the honored Star Spangled Banner and the Union Jack, under which we enjoy com- plete autonomy, but, although separated as to allegiance, let us have but one aim, but one supreme ideal, the con- stant application of the golden rule in our national acts; let us teach Europe greater humanitarian principles. A distinguished statesman from abroad was lately studying our body politic and analyzing our mentality. He expressed his very great surprise that the eventuality of war never entered our mind. He was, of course, from Europe. Blessed be the country which can be in that state of mind. All our efforts should tend toward remain- ing so. Let us preach arbitration, day in and day out, as the solution of all our difficulties. The United States lately went to war, but it was for the purpose of putting an end to war and to bring order, freedom and peace to a neighbor. This is truly and nobly American—North American I should say. A colossal monument is about to be erected in the State of New York in honor of peace. I express the hope that it will be so placed as to be seen at the same time as the Statue of Liberty, so that those two monuments may proclaim at once to the world that this northern part of America guarantees forever to its inhabitants the two greatest blessings that can be given to mankind— peace and liberty. ADDRESS OF HON. RODOLPHE LEMIEUX, Solicitor-General of Canada. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle- men: I need not say how proud 1 feel to be the guest of the American government on this, the semi-centennial celebration of the construction of the Sault Ste. Marie canal, the great connecting link be- tween the waters of Lake Superior and Lake Huron. In the name of the Canadian govern- ment, which it is my happy privilege to represent offici- ally with my dis- tinguished friend, the speaker of the Senate, let me offer my sincere thanks to the mem- bers of the com- mittee, who have so successfully or- ganized this demonstration, and the American citizens who have extended to me such a hearty welcome. Sir, if ever there was an occasion when both Ameri- cans and Canadians should unite in the celebration of an event calculated to bring, nay, to assure peace and har- 108 HON. Rodol, PHE LEMIEUx. Address of Hon. R. Lemieux. 109 mony between the two countries, this indeed was the most fitting, the most appropriate. The great Republic and the Dominion of Canada must and will, I trust forever, in their respective sphere of influence, look for no other rivalry on this broad continent than that which is the direct outcome of the arts of peace. Here are two countries existing side by side, with the same boundary for 4,000 miles, each of them possessing about 3,000,000 square miles of territory, with railways binding them together, with watercourses of a gigantic magnitude inviting communication, with geographical conditions knitting them closely together, with a similarity of races, laws, religion, and, to a certain degree, of popular institutions. Can it be doubted that with the good will of both and with a fair policy in mat- ters concerning trade relations, there is not in store for them a future of such brightness as will overshadow the records of all other nations, past or present? One of the great factors in the future development of both countries will be the immense resources—I should say the inexhaustible riches—in the great western land. What was practically a lone land only a few years ago, what some of the old men in the last generation knew only as a solitude, has become the granary of the world, the new field, the new promised land where millions of people have settled permanently and where the hum of industry and commerce has replaced the incessant bloody conflicts between Indian tribes. Sir, it has been said that there is no more potent factor of civilization than com- merce. If it be true, then I say that fifty years ago, when the American government decided to build this canal in order to stimulate the interchange of trade between the west and the east, it rendered the whole continent a most valuable service. For many years, in fact until recently, we in Canada shared with you the advantages accruing from the canal, but as we emerged from boyhood to man- hood we decided to get for our own territory what you 110 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. have obtained for yours. This duality is not a sign of hostility, it is, I am pleased to say, a sign of friendly rivalry. It has, for the present at least, brought to completion our great canal system. I need not dwell at any length on its importance. Let it be said, however, in view of the results already attained, that it is of such a compre- hensive character that it has, and will as heretofore, enable Canada to compete successfully for the transit trade of the great western country and the development of cheap routes of communication with the principal markets of the world. It has stimulated the commercial development of the whole Dominion and bound all sections together in the bonds of mutual amity and interest. * We, in Canada, believe that the expense of such im- provements is insignificant compared with the direct bene- fits commerce has derived from it. We believe also that the supremacy of the carrying trade of the great west will be, in the near future, between New York, Montreal and Quebec. Nature has given those cities the advantage of position and route, and, speaking more especially for Montreal and Quebec, I can safely predict for them a foremost position amongst commercial communities. When a vessel of thirteen or fourteen feet draught can load at Fort William and proceed through the Great Lakes to Montreal or Quebec without breaking bulk, and return laden with goods, transportation will be brought down to its cheapest terms. - The French had, long before the cession of Canada to England, understood the necessity of using in the interest of trade the large water stretches. Small locks for bat- teaux had even been constructed by them at the Cascades, the Coteau, the Long Sault, and, if I mistake not, on the Canadian side of the Sault Ste. Marie Falls. As far back as 1804 these were reconstructed at larger size and in improved positions by the royal engineers, as military works. While furs were the only exports, the batteaux Address of Hon. R. Lemieux. 111 were suited to the trade in both directions, but when agri- cultural export commenced, grain was first sent down, and that before 1800, on the rafts, and in scows which were broken up and sold in Montreal. It was the agitation of the Erie and Champlain canals which early drew the attention of the Canadians to the competition with which they were threatened. It was, so to say, a renewal of that strife for the commerce of civilization which had existed for the fur trade between the English colonies and Montreal and Quebec before 1759. In this, as in many other things, our enterprising neighbors have set up the example of activity, energy and commercial genius. It was in 1817 that the canal bill passed at Albany. In the month of November, 1817, the projects of con- necting Lakes Erie and Ontario by the Welland canal first appeared in print. In 1818 a company was incorpor- ated to construct the Lachine canal, and another in 1819 for the construction of the Chambly canal. Thus, move- ments were set on foot to compass the objects aimed at by the State of New York before the completion of her canals had demonstrated their success. But what a change has taken place since those eventful days through the construction of the canals. The old voyageurs, on their way from Montreal to Lake Superior, went up the Ottawa and across to Georgian Bay, portag- ing their boats when necessary. What a marvelous devel- opment this canal system has given to the western trade! In the early years of the eighteenth century, not to speak of the time of the French domination, the cost of carriage by every conveyance then in use was simply enormous. In his early history of inland navigation Mr. Castell Hop- kins makes a very interesting comparison between the pioneer methods of carrying products with our days of swift transportation. - A bushel of Indian corn cost, by the time it reached 112 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. Grand Portage, about thirty miles above Fort William, twenty shillings sterling, and Sir Alexander MacKenzie tells us it was the cheapest article of provision the North- west Company could feed its men with, in the first year of that century. For the same sum, ten bushels of corn can now be purchased in England, after having been car- ried a thousand miles in the interior of America and across the Atlantic. Before the Rideau and St. Lawrence canals were built, the carriage of a 24-pound cannon between Montreal and Kingston cost between £150 and £200. In those days eighteen bushels of wheat were required to pay for a barrel of salt, and one bushel of wheat for a yard of COtton. Sir, one cannot stand on this spot without recalling to his memory the adventurous exploits of those Frenchmen who, it is conceded by every one conversant with history, were the pioneers of the great western land. The first civilized men who pierced the interior of the continent were French adventurers, missionaries and traders from old Canada, while the country was in possession of France. The exploits of these men, who, without the slightest knowledge of the territory, penetrated among numerous savage tribes, remains of thrilling interest. Finally they passed from the St. Lawrence through the great lakes of Huron and Superior, and by the innumerable intricacies of streams, lakes and portages to Lake Winnipeg. Then they ascended the river Saskatchewan to about 103 degrees meridian, where they planted their most distant trading post until 1731, when [la Verendrye and his sons advanced further in the prairies than any of their pre- decessors. e Let me briefly refer to some of the names which would alone immortalize the memory of France on this vast continent. - It is Champlain, the founder of Quebec, who discov- ered Lake Champlain in 1609, the Ottawa river in 1613, sº---~ ºw.: **** :-----ºf- x- • * : * * * > - - , " .. : * . . . ~~~~~i,~rº-ººrººz Tºrº " - . + °. - " " ". . - * . . . . " Address of Hon. R. Lemieur. 113 Lake Ontario and Lake Nipissing in 1615, and Lake Huron in the same year. It is Jean Nicolet who, in 1634, discovered Lake Michigan. It is Chaumonot and Bre- beuf, who discovered Lake Erie in 1640, whilst Lake Superior was first visited by some unknown “coureurs des bois” in 1659. It was on June 17, 1673, that Joliette and Marquette first sighted the upper waters of the Mississippi, when they paddled down the river past the mouths of the Illi- nois, the Missouri and the Ohio. Nicolas Perrot was the first European to stand upon the site of Chicago, and the whole Great Lake region was first formally annexed to France by the Intendent Talon. Who will ever forget the names of Cavelier de La Salle, de la Verendrye, Albanel and Hennepin? . I noticed with great pleasure that our friends across the border, practical and matter of fact as they are, have remembered the heroic struggles of those pioneers. Cities, towns and villages bear the names of the French discov- erers, whilst under the dome of the capitol at Washington the statue of that great Jesuit missionary, Father Mar- quette, stands before the world. The great historian, Parkman, who has so vividly depicted the struggles of France and Great Britain for the supremacy of North America, has also published chapters of the most intense interest on the early days of French domination over the Great Lakes. I have just quoted the name of Intendent Talon, one of the most remarkable men of the French regime. His name must forever be associated with the Sault Ste. Marie, because it is under his guidance and orders, that on this very spot, where we stand today, the proclamation by which the King of France took possession of the whole western land was read. He was probably the most efficient intendent that the French kings ever sent to America. He dreamt of a great French Empire on the continent of America. In the words of Parkman : “He meant to occupy the 114 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. interior of the continent, control the rivers, which were its only highways, and hold it for France against every other nation. On the east, England was to be hemmed within a narrow strip of seaboard; while on the south, Talon aimed at securing a port on the Gulf of Mexico, to keep the Spaniards in check, and dispute with them the pos- session of the vast regions which they claimed as their own.” Such was, sir, the dream of Jean Talon, and for the realization of such a dream, what were his instruments? A few Jesuit missionaries, some adventurous officers, coureurs des bois, fur traders, hunters and explorers. In 1670 he ordered Daumont de Saint-Lusson to search for copper mines on Lake Superior and at the same time to take formal possession of the whole interior for the king. - - I wish I could relate the long and eventful journey of Saint-Lusson and his companion, Nicholas Perrot, the celebrated voyageur, from LaChine to Sault Ste. Marie; how in their frail embarkations they reached the coveted goal, after having invited all the Indian tribes roving around the lakes to attend the great ceremony of June 14, 1671. On that date, here at Sault Ste. Marie, at the foot of the rapids, were present Saint-Lusson, Nicholas Perrot, four Jesuits, Claude Dablon, Gabriel Druilletes, Claude Allouez and Louis Andre, and fourteen tribes with their chiefs. On the top of the hill had been erected a large cross and, besides, a post of cedar had been planted bear- ing the royal arms. Father Dablon first blessed the cross while the Frenchmen sang Vexilla Regis; and then Saint- Lusson advanced, and holding his sword in one hand, and raising with the other a sod of earth, proclaimed in a loud voice: “In the name of the most high, mighty, and redoubtable monarch, Louis XIV of that name, most Christian king of France and Navarre, I take possession of this place Saint Marie du Saut, as also of Lakes Huron Adress of Hon. R. Lemieux. 115 --------------,---------------> ºw---------zºw- ºr T-3. and Superior, the island of Manitoulin, and all countries, rivers, lakes, and streams contiguous and adjacent there- unto, both those which have been discovered and those which may be discovered afterwards, in all their length and breadth, bounded on the one side by the seas of the north and of the west, and on the other by the south sea; declaring to the nations thereof that from this time forth they are vassals of his majesty, bound to obey his laws and follow his customs; promising them on his part all succor and protection against the incursions and invas- ions of their enemies; declaring to all other potentates, princes, sovereigns, states and republics, to them and their subjects, that they can not and are not to seize or settle upon any part of the aforesaid countries, save only under the good pleasure of his most Christian Majesty, and of him who will govern in his behalf; and this on pain of incurring his resentment and the efforts of his arms. Vive le Roi!” Nearly two centuries and a half have elapsed since the envoy of Talon took possession of Sault Ste. Marie and nearly all the interior of this continent, in the name of Louis XIV. Although France has left her print deep in the sands of time and history, yet her dream of controlling the destinies of America did not materialize. Her civil- ization, her literature, her language, her religion shall forever be known and the presence of three million French Canadians, scattered from one end of the continent to the other, is the living demonstration of what France can accomplish as a colonizing power. Sir, in the struggle with nature, in the stress of com- mercial activity, the average man is too apt to live almost wholly in the present and to forget the debt he owes to the past. In the celebration of the event which has brought us together today, I thought that I should recall the proud deeds of the French pioneers. In September, 1759, when Wolfe and Montcalm fell on the plains of Abraham, the whole North American con- tinent became British. The thirteen colonies soon, however, revolted and pro- claimed their independence, thus giving birth to the American Republic. ------- ºr--> x-a-a-, --~~, ; * *** * * --------ºr-ºw 116 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. The Dominion of Canada, although enjoying as much constitutional freedom as the United States, still remains a British possession. Our allegiance to Great Britain and her beloved King Edward VII, is the more sincere because it is based on gratitude. The mother country has long ago given us a constitution under which civil and religious liberty have grown and developed. The Canadian citizen is happy under the British flag. We do not look for annexation, we do not wish it. We believe that the American continent is broad enough to contain two commonwealths, the American Republic and the Dominion of Canada. We wish to live in friendship and harmony side by side with our great and colossal neighbor. Her enormous wealth has not excited our envy, but it has given rise to a feeling of emulation. We wish to imitate your example and follow in your footsteps. Canada is entering upon a new era. Our resources are vast, in fact, inexhaustible. We can support a popu- lation of 100,000,000 souls. We have room in our Cana- dian west for 50,000,000. Last year, Manitoba fur- nished 50,000,000 bushels of No. 1 hard wheat, from 2,000,000 acres of land. There are 200,000,000 more, and just as good, that have not been ploughed. - I need not speak of our minerals, iron, coal, petroleum, gold and silver. If there is an authority here to speak of Our Canadian resources, it is that young and energetic American born citizen, Mr. Clergue, who, on the other side of the river, is revolutionizing our industries. Sir, I believe that this is an occasion when one can advocate better trade relations between the two countries, arrangements on a fairer and more equitable basis which would ultimately be advantageous. A little after England had abrogated the corn laws, a reciprocity treaty, known as the Elgin treaty, was nego- tiated between the two countries. It went into effect in 1854, and remained in operation till 1866. Under that treaty the trade between the two countries quadrupled in twelve years. That treaty was abrogated because it was said Canada had sympathized with the south during the civil war, when as a matter of history 40,000 Canadians Address of Hon. R. Lemieux. 117 had served in the Union army. Vain efforts have since been made to renew a treaty and our trade has found new channels. Notwithstanding your high tariff wall, Canada has attained quite a prominent position, as regards trade, amongst the nations. Last year our aggregate trade amounted to: Exports, $213,521,000; imports, $259,211,– 800; total, $472,732,800, and there are signs to show that we have not yet reached the high water mark. But, sir, without suggesting in the least any particular trade policy, one must not forget that you are our next neighbor, that we are one of your best customers and that the interchange of commerce between Canada and the United States should and must be put on such a basis as only befits two friendly nations. In conclusion, let me say that if we have an unbounded faith in our Dominion, we also look with pride to the mighty achievements of the land of Washington, Jeffer- son, Lincoln and Roosevelt. We can not ignore your extraordinary ascendency amongst the nations of the world and I am only echoing the sentiments of six mil- lion Canadians in repeating the words of Longfellow, when, in his beautiful poem, “The Building of the Ship,” comparing his native land to a vessel tossed upon the waves, he concludes with this most pathetic invocation: “Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! Sail on, O Union, strong and great! Humanity with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate; We know what Master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge and what a heat Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale! In spite of rock and tempest's roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, Our tears, Our faith triumphant o’er our fears. Are all with thee, are all with thee!” ADDRESS BY THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. HON. CHARLES WARREN FAIRBANKS. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: We cordially welcome our friends from Canada to share in this cele- bration. The event we commemorate is of mutual interest to the people of the two countries. Here, side by side, are three great locks, two constructed by the United States and the other by the Dominion of Canada. Through them passes interchangeably the commerce of the two countries. Here they will stand in close fellowship for centuries to come, discharging their important functions in the transportation of commerce. We trust that they 118 Address of Hon. C. W. Fairbanks, V.-P., U. S. 119 will always be symbolical of the relations and neighborly regard of the two people through whose veins flows the blood of a common ancestry. We owe allegiance to different institutions. Above us are different flags, emblems of the mightiest powers upon this earth. We have no sense of rivalry except in these ways which make for a higher and better civilization. There are no fortifications along our common frontier; no battleships upon the waters which divide us. These are not needed now, and we trust that in God’s Providence they shall never be required. We are bound to each other by strong social ties and sentiments of mutual respect. Competition in trade is a vitalizing factor. It is not born of unfriendliness. It has its inspiration in that self- interest which has been the life of trade from the begin- ning until now. One of our wisest Americans, William McKinley, whose good name is the precious heritage of the human race, said at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo : “Though commercial competitors we are, com- mercial enemies we must not be.” The national policies of the United States and Canada may not be in accord. If they be not, it will be due to no unfriendliness of pur- pose, but to that sense of duty which each primarily owes to its own. We look upon our commercial development since this canal was dedicated to commerce with the utmost satis- faction. All sections of the country have gone forward, expanding in commercial strength, but nowhere is there to be found more remarkable growth than we witness in the territory which is tributary to the Sault Ste. Marie canal. The tonnage passing through this canal has risen from an average of 12,000 tons per annum in the first decade, to 25,000,000 of tons per annum in the ten years ending in 1904. Last year more than sixteen thousand vessels passed through these locks, carrying more than 31,000,000 tons of freight, valued at over $340,000,000. The maximum has not yet been reached. Chicago, Milwaukee, Duluth, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, and other cities, which sit in majesty and power upon the shores of the Great Lakes, are rapidly increasing in population and in commercial importance. The great agricultural regions 120 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. are sending their vast surplus to feed millions in the east and beyond the Atlantic. The commerce of the United States has increased beyond the dreams of the most optimistic of a half cen- tury ago. Our foreign commerce has, with rapidity, attained a vast volume. It is insignificant, however, in amount and value when compared with our internal com- merce. Railways are taxed to their utmost capacity, and our ships upon inland water routes are loaded to the limit of their carrying power, bearing the products of a pro- gressive and great people. Old methods of interchange are found inadequate to meet the current needs. They are constantly improved and enlarged. New instruments of inter-communication are created. The capacity of all these is quickly taxed. New transportation facilities create new traffic. The wants of the people quickly expand to meet them. - The canal is identified with the period of our most rapid industrial development. The ever-increasing pro- cession of ships through it tells the story of our expand- ing production, growing trade and increasing industrial importance. - The scepter of commercial power is speedily passing into American control. If we are but true to the vast opportunities which lie at our hands, the United States will become the acknowledged leader in the commerce of the world. The conquest will be achieved by the men of trade and not by the men of war. It will come by a sort of irresistible law of commercial gravity. It will come because of our increased productive capacity; because of our superior ability to supply the needs of others; because of the illimitable resources of our farms, mines and factor- ies; because of multiplied methods and enlarged facilities of cheap transportation from the centers of production down to the seabóard. We take pride in our commerce because it tends to lift the country to a higher and better level. It tends to equalize conditions. It enlarges the opportunities of labor and capital and gives our people more homes and fills them with more of the comforts of life. It brings communities and trade centers together in common interest. A higher civilization follows in its pathway. Address of Hon. C. W. Fairbanks, V.-P., U. S. 121 While we are commercial people, we are not subserv- ient to commercialism. We seek to expand commerce as a means, not as an end. We seek its conquest that we may minister to those high aspirations which are the birthright of the Anglo-Saxon race. It is a well-recognized maxim of trade that commerce will follow the lines of least resistance. The Great Lakes afford cheap transportation for the vast commerce tribu- tary thereto. The control by the government of the Sault Ste. Marie canal, its enlargement and improvement, has resulted in stimulating traffic. It insures just and reason- able transportation charges over a vast area, and will become, as the density of our population increases, and as trade expands, of incalculable importance in the future. The United States has been liberal in advancing the interests of commerce. She has been generous in the improvement of rivers and harbors to the end that they should be adequate to meet our advancing national needs. She has appropriated liberally for canals. The Sault Ste. Marie canal is not the only evidence of this fact. Her most important work in promoting the expansion of our commerce is upon the Isthmus of Panama. The enter- prise there is of vast magnitude—one which has defeated all efforts hitherto. It is undertaken upon broad lines, for it will welcome impartially the commerce of the world. What others have been many years in endeavoring to accomplish, we shall not do in a day. Much money, time and patience will be required to complete the work. But it will be built, for the United States has put its powerful hand to the task. It is a gratifying fact that the enormous commerce of the United States upon the Great Lakes is carried in American ships. The vessels which pass through this canal, carrying our products, bear the flag of the United States. They were built in our ship yards and are manned by American seamen. When we come to commerce upon the high seas we largely give over its carriage to ships built abroad and sailed by alien owners. A large part of the commodities which pass through this canal to the Atlantic seaboard for trans-shipment to foreign countries is transferred from these American-owned and American- 122 Jubilee Annals of the Sault Canal. operated ships to vessels of foreign ownership and foreign register. This would seem to be incompatible with a wise national policy. - - The United States makes for peace. Through the timely intercession of President Roosevelt one of the bloodiest wars in history is about to close. The commis- sioners of the belligerent powers will assemble in a few days under the protection of the American flag, to delib- erate with each other. We trust that their great mission may be successful; that they may be able to restore peace and disband the great armies confronting each other in the Orient. We are assembled under happy auspices. All our people are engaged to the utmost in promoting the mani- fold arts of peace. They are busy in trade and commerce, science and education, agriculture and manufacture. They are active in charity and philanthropy, seeking to make the day in which we live the most luminous in the history of mankind. CONCLUDING—REMARKS. Here ends “PART SECOND” containing the annals of the Sault Canal Semi-Centennial Celebration of 1905, which marks not only the development of the greatest and most important mechanical water-way in the world but also the most unique and satisfactory interchange of international courtesies, based upon interchangeable industrial and commercial facilities, that has yet occurred in the history of mankind. When the possibility of a rupture was forced upon the attention of the two nations during what was known as the Venezuela incident, in 1894-5, the market price of leading stocks in the New York and London exchanges shrank over five hundred millions of dollars within thirty days. If “a word to the wise is sufficient” in such case, other similar influences as the Sault Canal Celebration will be eagerly promoted by patriots in the future. PART THIRD. INTRODUCTORY. The following sketches of “semi-centennial” incidents came under the personal observation of an active partici- pant, who, at this late date, can certify as to their correct- ness, and which owe their preservation in the present form to the offer of the undersigned to edit the same, with the exception of the first (and also the third in the series, bearing the title “The Widow of Michael Phelan.”) This was written at the urgent solicitation of the editor of the Magazine of Western History, in 1889, when the writer was spending his summer vacation in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. More contributions of the kind were wanted, but the author did not respond as desired. The editor of the Marine Review was in correspondence with Mr. Harvey for nearly two years before the first of this series was obtained. His friends have heard him narrate incidents of a trip made by him along the south coast of Lake Superior in a small boat in December, 1855, which he has been urged to have recorded in print but has never complied. In a recent published letter to the governor of Michigan, when presenting a unique his- torical document to the State, he refers to that journey as one when on three several occasions his life “was not worth a few minutess purchase.” He has, however, prom- ised that if this compilation reaches a second edition he will furnish for it a more full account than the one referred to.” In some of the sketches he is styled the agent, for brevity’s sake, instead of his official title of general agent, and also for a short time before his appointment to that office. *Note—This promise has been subsequently fulfilled and the result added as Part Fourth in the Second or Enlarged Edition. 123 The recognition which the congress of the United States and the legislature of Michigan have accorded to the Sault canal in providing for a semi-centennial cele- bration of its inauguration has afforded an argument for the publication of local “reminiscences” which has proved potent to the extent covered by these pages, and which the compilers trust will add to the zest of that occasion, as well as form a valuable addition to the history of the local- ity for reference in after years. It will be noticed that this volume is published in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, and in this connection it may interest readers to know that the author of these remi- niscences was born next door to the colonial residence of General Henry Champion, prominent in Revolutionary days and reputed to be in his time the wealthiest citizen of the State of Connecticut. At his house the expedi- tion of his brother-in-law, Moses Cleveland, was fitted out and expenses provided for, to survey the mouth of the Cuyahoga river on Lake Erie, whose monument now stands in the central square of Cleveland and to whom it owes its name. The author of these sketches remembers the general as having taken him on a horseback ride when a boy about seven years old. These two lives cover a period of over 150 years and reach backward to days when no Anglo- Saxon was living within the present limits of the “Forest City” with its nearly half million of inhabitants! Of similar interest is a quotation from the volume (University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1890) entitled “THE STORY OF A CLEVELAND SCHOOL, FROM 1848 to 1881,” by L. T. Guilford, the honored educator for whom “Guilford Hall,” among the buildings of the Western Reserve University is named. - In it she includes an address read to her pupils, en- titled “A TRIP TO THE UPPER LAKES IN 1852,” in which the following sentences occur: . “It was a sunset of a summer evening twilight, little clouds were just vanishing and tiny stars were peeping out to see 1 24 where they had gone, when a steamer glided out of Cleve- land harbor. On its deck were gathered little groups watch- ing mostly in silence the receding shores. * * * * * A third morning found us at the entrance of the St. Mary's river, its surface as smooth as polished silver, only wrinkled by the steamer waves sweeping away in graceful curves to the shore. * * * * But now the boat is near the shore (at Garden river, Indian “reserve”) and on the banks are a number of birch-bark wigwams, looking like so many big bowls turned bottom upwards. Each has a canoe in front fastened to a couple of forked sticks. A woman and three children, their heads thatched with tangled black hair, are sitting side by side on a log. ‘That,” said a voice, must be the ‘family seat.” The speaker is a large framed blond haired Vermonter of twenty-three, full of quips and cranks and boyish Yankee cuteness (within a year he was superintending the construction of the first canal around the rapids). On and on, hour after hour, till in the distance is seen the foam of the Falls: we have reached Sault Ste. Marie. Then there was a wandering about the old white-washed fort and a trip on the horse railroad built to carry freight around the tumbling slide of water, and at the end of it our only sight of Lake Superior. How we longed to sail over its mighty expanse! But the boat could go no farther. It was most exciting to watch the little canoes with their dusky guides down that tossing dangerous declivity of the Sault and curious to study the crowd of stolid aborigines lounging about.” - Thus the veil is lifted from receding years and scenes of a half century ago are presented by a facile hand. But what a contrast to the present in scenery and personalities. The main current of the former foaming rapids is now turned aside into canals for marine and manufacturing purposes. The aborigines have as a distinctive feature disappeared forever. The blond haired Vermonter, “full of quips and cranks and boyish Yankee cuteness,” is now the white haired engineer appointed by the State to be the marshal of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Canal Completion and its unrivaled utilities. S. V. E. HARVEY. A. E. H. VOORHIS. 125 CHARLES THOMPSON HARVEY. 1854. (Frºm Daugerotype.) CHAPTER I. PIONEER SAULT CANAL.” By CHARLEs T. HARVEY, C. E. The semi-centennial anniversary to occur next year of the opening of the first canal transit to and from Lake Superior, and the proposal of the Marine Review to make its history a special topic adds peculiar force to the request that the writer contribute such facts as came under his personal observation at the time of its inception and construction. The record of the past half century places it not only far in the lead as to its commercial utilization, but also as without a rival in the economy and rapidity of its intro- duction into the world's economies, and is without a par- allel instance of public spirit and honorable intent on the part of its original constructors who built it under con- tract with the State of Michigan. It seems well to review its history from three standpoints and concentrate atten- tion upon the main features of its original promoting, providing, and engineering departments. The earliest promoting measure dates back to 1837, and the progress of the same for the next fifteen years are briefly stated in a folder recently published by the Citizens’ Association of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., from which the following extracts were made: “The first official action on record with regard to the canal on the American side of the outlet of Lake Superior was that of the Governor of Michigan in his message to the first legislature convened in 1837 (the State having *Reprint by permission from Marine Review, August 4, 1904. 127 128 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. been admitted into the union the previous year), wherein he advocated the building of the canal by the State, with the result that a law was passed at that session providing for a survey of the same. “The engineer in charge reported to the governor recommending dimensions for the canal to be 75 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and for two locks of same depth, each with 9-feet lift, 32 feet wide and 100 feet long, and esti- mating the total cost at $112,544. In 1839 a law was passed authorizing certain State commissioners to con- tract for the canal of the size mentioned, and work was commenced during the spring of that year. But as the canal traversed a United States military reservation, and the federal authorities had not approved of the undertak- ing, the officer in command, acting under orders from Washington, marched a detachment of soldiers on to the ground, ejected the contractors and caused all further canal work to cease. - “The legislature of Michigan at its next session passed a resolution protesting against the ejectment, and demanding reparation from congress, but without result. In 1840 a bill was introduced into congress in accordance with a memorial from the Michigan legislature asking for an appropriation of 100,000 acres of land, but Henry Clay, the famous orator and leading statesman, made a speech against it as, to quote his words, ‘a work beyond the ºremotest settlement in the United States, if not in the moon,' and the measure was defeated. “In 1843 the Michigan legislature by resolution invoked the aid of the legislatures of New York, Penn- sylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin in jointly promot- ing favorable action by congress for the canal, but with- out avail. Similar proceedings followed in 1844-8-9, but proved futile. Finally as the result of the strenuous efforts by prominent citizens in the Great Lakes region, stimulated by the profitable development of mining enter- prises on the south shore of Lake Superior, congress Pioneer Sault Canal. 129 passed an act on August 21, 1852, granting 750,000 acres of land to the State of Michigan to aid in building the canal.” At the last date mentioned the writer was at the Amer- ican Sault as an invalid seeking restoration to health. At the age of twenty-one, in 1850, he entered the service of Messrs. E. & T. Fairbanks & Co., the scale manufacturers of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and in 1851-2 was made their gen- eral western agent in charge of establishing agencies for the sale of their weighing machines in the large western cities. In the winter of 1851–2 he was the victim of a most severe attack of typhoid fever but was fortunately able to reach his parental home in Connecticut in its earlier stages. When able to leave his room after months of confinement his principals most considerately proposed to him to try the recuperative powers of the Lake Superior climate and incidentally examine and report upon the min- ing resources of that region in which they had some finan- cial interests. - Gladly accepting the plan, he was convalescing as a boarder at the Baptist mission at the Sault, when word reached there of the passage of the canal grant by con- gress. This led him to examine the locality where it must be built with special attention. As soon as his health per- mitted he proceeded to the iron and copper districts and spent a couple of months in leisurely examining their development, and meanwhile regaining health and strength most satisfactorily. He saw the first, and then only opening of a Lake Superior iron mine on the Jackson Co.'s location, in Mar- quette county; also saw the process of cutting up the 500- ton mass of native copper at the Minnesota mine in Ontonogon county, the largest yet found in the world. Returning to the Sault in October he wrote to the Messrs. Fairbanks of his observations in the mining dis- trict of the upper peninsula, and his views of the effect 130 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. of the building of the canal as bound to render available the immense latent wealth in minerals there and of the probability that lands of great value could be selected as a part of the national subsidy with remarks upon the probable cost of building that waterway—the lack of pub- lic knowledge of and interest in the undertaking, and concluded by asking their permission to devote himself to . promoting the enterprise at least So far as to obtain suit- able action by the Michigan legislature, which would meet the following January and on whom congress had conferred full control in the premises. The reply came in due course that the firm approved his ideas, and with the proviso that he should first establish an agency for them in Cincinnati, they granted a furlough from further atten- tion to their business the coming winter and authorized him to draw on them for the expenses of the new venture. In pursuance of this arrangement he immediately pro- ceeded to Ohio and completed matters as his principals de- sired, then went to Central New York and secured the services of one of the most experienced engineers on the Erie canal, L. L. Nichols of Utica—returned with him to the Sault on the steamer Northerner, Capt. B. G. Sweet, late in November, and organized a surveying party. While Nichols made a survey of the canal site he made a trip down the St. Marys river to explore for a suitable quarry to furnish stone for the locks. From information thus in part obtained the limestone quarry was located on Drummond's island from which a large portion of the masonry materials was subsequently procured. With the Survey data obtained, passage was taken on the last steamer from the Sault that season. When the legislature convened at Lansing the first week in January, 1853, its duration was limited by the State constitution then in force, to forty sessional days, which did not leave much time for lengthy deliberations. It soon became apparent that the writer was the only per- Son in attendance who was fully posted as to the survey Pioneer Sault Canal. 131 data and had personal knowledge of the general features of the case. The latest survey made by State engineers in 1839 for a canal 75 feet wide and 10 feet deep with locks 100 feet long and 32 feet wide had become obsolete. The United States had made no survey, and hence the private one made within the preceding sixty days was the only reliable information available. When the committee appointed to take charge of the subject, composed mostly of farmers, were ready to proceed with the initiatory “bill” and the writer had been invited to explain the situation to them, an executive session was held, at the conclusion of which the chairman informed the writer that as he seemed to be the only person who fully understood the subject the committee requested him to draft a suitable bill for their adoption. . He had already established con- fidential relations with the late James F. Joy, then the legal counsel of the Michigan Central Railway, and with the late John W. Brooks, then its managing director, and after consultations with them drafted a bill which the com- mittee reported and the legislature passed precisely as thus originated. - The size of the locks was generally expected to be 250 feet long by 60 feet wide, and a law specifying those dimensions would have been readily adopted, but the writ- er's conviction was that the commerce of Lake Superior was destined to require as large steamers as were used On the lower lakes, and accordingly specified in the bill the minimum lockage area to be 350 by 70 feet. When the bill was reported Capt. Eben B. Ward of Detroit, then the largest individual steamer owner on the lakes, caused the following letter to be sent to the members of the leg- islature and published in the newspapers: Detroit, Jan. 29, 1853. “Hon. Wm. A. Burt, member H. of R., Lansing, Mich.: “Dear Sir:-The deep anxiety I feel in common with the rest of the community for the early completion of the Sault Ste. Marie canal induces me to write to you on the subject. I fear the defeat of our long cherished hopes. Tºrº, ºr. 132 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. The legislature, in their anxiety to prevent undue specu- lation by those who would be disposed to contract to do the work are in great danger of going to the opposite extreme, and make such requirements as will deter com- petent men from taking the contract for the land. The size proposed by the senate bill, 350 by 70 feet locks, is entirely too large for the locks. The crooked, narrow, shallow and rocky channels in the St. Mary’s river will forever deter the largest class of steamers from navigat- ing these waters. Aside from the impediments in the two Lake Georges” there are several places where the channel is very narrow, with but 11 feet of water clear of rocks, and the channels too crooked for the large class of steam- ers to pass in safety. This I regard as a conclusive argu- ment against making the locks so large as is contemplated. “I do not believe there is the least necessity for making the locks over 260 feet in the clear and 60 feet wide, as no vessel of larger dimensions that could pass such locks can be used there with safety without an expenditure of a very large sum of money in excavating rock at various points along the river, a work that is not likely to be undertaken during the present century. The value of wild lands may be estimated by ascertaining the amount actually realized by the State for the large grants that have heretofore been made for purposes of improvement when no taxes were collected until the lands were sold to settlers, I think it will be difficult to find a value of 25 cents per acre for all such grants made to this State. A well organized company might make the lands worth 75 cents per acre, provided they were not taxed while held by the company. I have no doubt that the small sized canal required by the act making the grant of land would cost $525,000, or 70 cents per acre. Add 8 cents per acre for interest during the construction of the work and 15 cents per acre for selection and location brings it to 93 cents per acre, a price at which any quantity can now be located without any risk of loss and with much greater chances of making desirable selections. If the legislature will appoint a committee who shall act with the governor to make the best contract for the State they can, holding them responsible for a faithful discharge of their duties, I feel confident we shall succeed in securing *These names refer to expansions of the St. Mary’s river, shown on dia- grams page 180. Pioneer Sault Canal. 133 the great object of our wishes. But if the bill should materially restrict the governor in his powers I think we have good reason to fear that the most vital interests of the State will be delayed for years to come. “Hoping for a favorable issue to this absorbing ques- tion, I remain, Truly yours, “E. B. WARD.” A joint meeting of the special committees of both houses was hastily called and the writer interrogated. He gave his reasons for proposing the larger dimensions, and assured the committee that his principals and their associ- ates would make a bid based on the same. This saved a reduction being made and the original bill was passed, but the incident and the letter should certainly be pre- served in the canal records as a way mark or milestone from which to estimate the development of after years in that connection. One provision in the bill required the State to award the contract for the full amount of the lands donated by congress, but to the bidder presenting the best financial ability, and as the State constitution forbade any special charters to corporations, bids might be received from or assigned to companies chartered by other States. When advised of the passage of the law, the Messrs. Fairbanks invited well-known capitalists in New York and New England to join with them in making the nec- essary bid, which was formally tendered and accepted by the State commissioners. The first name in the list of bidders was that of Joseph P. Fairbanks, one of the firm first mentioned, his associates being J. W. Brooks, Eras- tus Corning, August Belmont, H. Dwight, Jr., and Thomas Dwyer. Immediately upon this being done the writer, who will now designate himself as the promoter, secured from the governor an appointment as special agent for the State to select the lands to be donated within its border by con- gress in aid of the canal, engaged a steamer to take him to the St. Mary’s river, then closed by ice, and dispatched * i ==--------...s.. . » • * **-> . . . | ... ." - - • *. - : * > . - * ~~~~ -- rºº Trºº - - ... “s 3 sº Fºr-r-º-º-º:-- *w-a----&-i-r-z ---, -, -, - ºw -- ~ : . -----> --> *-x--—ºrs-----,--- 3: ---> --~~ … -- - - --------- - - - - -------------------- . , --, &zº a... "." "::.. **** …~" . * - - - - ***. .* **, *. . . . ºs.'. 134 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. a special messenger on snow-shoes to the United States land office for the Upper Peninsula at the Sault and authorized a deputy there to withdraw lands from sale in certain localities which he designated; returning he went to Washington and secured from the United States land commissioner confirmation of his power so to do, which was afterward litigated but sustained by the courts. The knowledge upon which he had acted he had gained during his touring among the mines during the previous summer, and the 140,000 acres more or less which he thus secured for his principals realized millions upon millions of dollars to them in later years. It will be enough to state that among them was the location after- wards developed into the Calumet and Hecla copper mine. All this was done of his own motion and individual judg- ment, as not one of his principals had any knowledge of the lands or their value, but his prompt action forestalled the selection of many of the lands by speculators who were waiting for navigation to open to apply for them at the land office later in the season. The promoter's next move was to proceed to Albany, N. Y., and secure a charter for the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Co. from the legislature of the state of New York, to which the individual bidders could assign their con- tracts. This accomplished in an unusually short time, his principals came together in the building at the corner of William and Wall street, then as now occupied by the Bank of the State of New York, and organized under the charter. At the meeting the promoter was appointed the general agent of the company, with unlimited executive powers, and a substantial stock interest assigned to him for his promoting achievements up to that time. Thus far as to promoting features; now as to the general business management. The St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Co. was organized as before mentioned by the election of directors and officers as follows: President, Erastus Corning, Albany, N.Y.; vice presi- Pioneer Sault Canal. 135 dent, John W. Brooks, Detroit, Mich. ; Erastus Fair- banks, St. Johnsbury, Vt. ; John M. Forbes, Boston, Mass.; John F. Seymour, Utica, N. Y.; Benjamin Tib- bitts, Albany, N. Y., board of directors; Charles T. Har- vey, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., general agent. The sum of $50,000 was ordered placed forthwith to the credit of the general agent in bank at Detroit. He was authorized to draw on the treasurer for further funds as needed and requested to commence and take the over- sight of the construction work until an engineer and a superintendent of construction were appointed, as was then expected would shortly be done. The general agent then addressed the board and stated that in that remote locality a commissary department was a prime necessity to secure and retain reliable labor, was of double import- ance as a preventive or regulator of strikes, which were specially to be guarded against under such isolated con- ditions as would exist at the work, and he proposed to proceed on those lines from the start. To this policy the directors’ assent was given and the general agent pro- ceeded to make Detroit his temporary headquarters. There he engaged C. W. Chapel as foreman of excava- tion work, purchased horses, tools and supplies, and secur- ing from the United States Indian agent the rental of the “Agency” premises for his own residence at the Sault, Loading the steamer Illinois with the supplies and about 400 men, he arrived at the Falls on June 1 and on the 4th had the men housed and ready for work. He formally broke ground on that day by wheeling out the first barrow of earth from the “cut” and then regular operations com- menced. A commissary department in charge of Norman Day as steward was organized. Shanties were built near the work to house fifty men in each, with a man and wife as caretaker and cook. The number of shanties gradually increased to about fifty, and at one time some 500 em- ployes of higher grade found board and lodgings about the town. A hospital was placed on one of the islands 136 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. near the rapids, a salaried doctor for the force was appointed, and the expenses provided for by a charge of 25 cents per month per capita. The practical working of this system was illustrated in the case of a carpenter from Illinois who was a victim of malaria. He worked for a few days, paid his 25 cents, soon after collapsed and was sent to the hospital. He developed a slow fever, was invalided for the winter sea- son of six months, had the attention of trained nurses night and day, the best of food, and when sufficiently recovered to travel received $25.00 to pay his fare to his home. - “Who would believe it?” he exclaimed on leaving, “that there was a corporation on earth which would pro- vide for a sick man like this.”. All cases of injury by broken bones, etc., were also thus provided for, but the crucial test came when the chol- era became epidemic there in 1854. But three cases ended fatally of those sent to the hospital, while over 100 died among those living about the town. Every public work of like magnitude in the country was obliged to suspend building operations because of the cholera scourge that season, except the Sault canal, which was not interrupted materially. The savings effected by the commissary system largely contributed to the ultimate result of the work being the most economically prosecuted of any of like importance on record. The carefully registered returns in the stew- ard's office proved that the average cost of boarding and lodging the men was 19 cents per diem. Strikes were prevalent and laborers scarce through- out the country. Emissaries from railway contractors swarmed about the village seeking to entice the workmen to engage elsewhere. It was found necessary to send foremen to New York to hire men aboard emigrant ships and bring them in gangs, also paying their fare. Wealthy citizens and some farmers in the upper peninsula now liv- Pioneer Sault Canal. - 137 ing can be named who thus found their way to that district. . But one serious strike occurred and that was concluded within twenty-four hours. While the strikers were march- ing about town, a long procession of a thousand or more in line, the provisions were removed from the shanties, and when dinner time came and the men returned with good appetites, they were informed by the caretakers that orders had come from the office that no regular meals were to be served on “general training days.” Fasting was the only alternative, and before bedtime a committee of the strikers called on the agent to say for the men that if he would provide rations for the next day the men would unconditionally return to work the next morning. The proposition was duly accepted and the work promptly resumed. To mention one interesting item out of many illus- trating the practical working of the commissary system, it can be stated that when the list of supplies to be pro- vided for the winter season, where for six months none could be imported, it was decided to order several thou- sand bushels of white beans as a reserve for emergencies. The price was then unusually low and the order was filled. When the work was completed a thousand or more bush- els of the beans remained left as a surplus—they had not deteriorated in quality but the market price had more than doubled and they were re-shipped to the port from which they came at about $1 per bushel profit. |ENGINEERING—FEATURES OF THE CANAL. When the canal work was undertaken it was stipulated in the contract that the State should appoint a corps of engineers to inspect and approve of the work as it pro- gressed, and the chief of the corps appointed in due course was Col. Augustus Canfield of the United States corps of topographical engineers, a son-in-law of ex-Governor Cass, afterward Secretary of State. He was a martinet in military etiquette, did not possess an originating mind, but 138 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. ---, --, -, . . . . . ~~~~~ : - - - - - - r - - - , . . . . . ~...~~~~ cºrrºr---, relied on precedents. He had charge of preparing the plans, and as all small lock gates were then worked by men pushing with their backs against long projecting gate arms, his plans were upon that system. The prism of the canal in rock sections was to be of stipulated width, but if beyond that, the banks were left untrimmed, with jagged edges, with liability of injury to vessels sliding against them, that was deemed the vessel captain’s risk, and the contractors were not required in the written agreement to trim up the sides. The colonel came early to the location, and assuming to direct as well as inspect the work on the arrival of the working force in charge of the company's general agent, he treated the latter as though he was of inferior rank and subject to his command. When the assumption was personally applied the result was the agent's demand for an apology on the spot or an undigni- fied alternative. The apology was forthcoming on time and the affront never repeated, but the relations between the two officials were not of the most cordial character ever afterwards. The colonel had designed pumping machinery and a system of excavation by means of Swinging derricks which were introduced at the outset. The agent watched their operation for a time and concluded that the system was not sufficiently labor saving. He made a trial of another method coincidentally, keeping accurate tab on the two. He then sent a report to the head office at Al- bany proving that every cubic yard of excavation cost nearly double by the colonel’s operation and asked for instructions. The reply came back advising him to adopt the cheaper method. He then took full control and the workmen, knowing where their pay came from, changed to the agent's plan. The colonel was furious and an- nounced that he had demanded of the directors that their young, inexperienced superintendent should not interfere in engineering affairs in which he was a novice, but must devote himself solely to the outside business affairs. Pioneer Sault Canal. 139 The communication went forward, but the facts were known in advance at headquarters, and the directors were too shrewd business men to choose paying double cost for actual work in order to humor notions of precedence and etiquette. The reply came back that the vice president, who was an engineer of national reputation, would visit the work with authority to decide on plans of procedure, but until he made report their agent must direct all the operations for which they were financially responsible. When the vice president paid the visit and endorsed the agent’s methods the colonel took a long vacation, but by consent retained exclusive charge of preparing the lock chamber floors. The fastenings for these proved a dismal failure and a plan of the agent’s for the same purpose was substituted with entire success. - The colonel had planned to make his mark in building the coffer dam at the west end of the canal to restrain Lake Superior while full depth in the prism was being excavated. Its site was prepared early in the year with the understanding that he was to have sole charge of its installation, and his corps of assistants were detailed to assist in its progress. Before it was completed the colonel died in Detroit, but his assistants continued the work. Special material was hauled from a long distance to ren- der it waterproof and no expense spared to perfect the plan. Work on the canal progressed until its use became necessary. Then it was tested, but failed to stand the ultimate pressure and collapsed. It was repaired under direction of Major Glenn, the colonel’s first assistant, but again on trial it was wrecked. For the third time the same result occurred and a fearful disaster in having Lake Superior pour through the unfinished canal and locks was barely averted. The situation was becoming critical by delay of the work late in the season. The directors be- came alarmed and the president called on them to meet him at the Sault. A conference with the government engineers was held when the latter said that in pursuance 140 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. of previous agreement they had been in exclusive charge of the dam, but were ready to confess that it was beyond their ability to make it equal to the trial tests, the difficulty being that the water under pressure forced channels under the uneven base and lifted the frame. They had heard that the agent had remarked that he could solve the problem, but declined to act while it was in their control; they therefore requested the board to induce him to assume charge of it, and they would hope for his success. The board immediately acted on the suggestion and in a private session found him quite wil- ling to undertake the case when duly assigned to him. An official order to that effect was passed and he was then asked how long it would require to make it ready. He replied about one week, and at an expense of but a few hundred dollars. As the government engineers had been engaged upon it for many months, involving an expense estimated at about $50,000, these predictions seemed quite incredible, but the intensely interested directors decided to remain for that time and watch the new methods. The agent immediately caused the frame of the dam to be repaired and refilled as before—then having bought the spare mainsails of several large vessels then unloading stone for the locks he had the same nailed on the top of the dam and their breadth carried up stream and weighted down in place by a few scow loads of gravel. Within three days full pressure was applied, but the dam re- mained firm and tight as a bottle. Work was then resumed with the agent in sole charge as chief engineer, with the government engineer corps most cordial ap- proval. The directors departed, feeling well repaid for their time and attention at the scene of operations. The colonel’s official surveys were found to contain two serious errors: one was that he had established the depth of the canal to be 12 feet, as the law required, when the water of Lake Superior was a foot higher than usual, and subse- quent observations proved that it would when opened Pioneer Sault Canal. 141 only afford 11 feet of vessel clearance. This discovery was made during the season of 1854 and, although the contractors might legally claim that the official data must be their acquittance, the directors decided to have the intended depth actually realized, and accordingly the bot- tom from the locks to the lake was lowered 12 inches at great extra cost, as two-thirds of the distance was rock and the use of hand instead of power drills was required in the tedious scraping off of the 12 inches in depth over about 25,000 square yards of surface. At the same time the rough rock sides of the canal were faced with smooth walls, not called for by contract, on the slope required by the specifications, but which experience proved should have been made perpendicular, which has since been done. The permission to use cheaply built lock gates was waived and a much more expensive plan voluntarily adopted with a hand windlass power which remained in successful use for a third of a century, whereas the cheaper official plans were vastly inferior, if not impracticable. But the most serious error was not ascertained until navigation in 1854-5 had closed; then it was discovered that a reef beyond the coffer dam at the pier entrance to Lake Superior above the falls was solid rock in place, instead of sand as indicated on the government chart. A dredge had been provided to remove the supposed sand but as to the rock it was utterly powerless. The ledge tapered from 1 inch to 3 feet in thickness and covered an area of 100 feet wide by 300 feet long, or over 30,000 square yards. Unless this was removed the State author- ities could not accept the work, and if the canal was not finished by May 19, the next spring, the time specified in the contract, the latter could be attacked as invalidated and the selection of lands then made, including over 600,- 000 acres of selected pine lands in the lower peninsula, in addition to those reserved for mineral values in the Lake Superior district, might be adjudged illegal and thrown open to public entry. When, therefore, the agent- 142 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. engineer reported the discovery of the rock ledge to the president and directors at Albany by the slow overland mails, which required several weeks in transit, a meeting of the board was called, and the agent's letter asking for instructions was anxiously discussed. The Michigan leg. islature was about to convene and it was decided to apply to it for an extension of time, but the situation had become widely known, the disappointed land speculators saw a chance to recover lost ground, political influences were brought to bear, until it became evident that such exten- sion could not be obtained. Then the president called the most eminent engineers of the country to meet the direc- tors in consultation at Albany, including the Hon. W. J. McAlpine and Hon. John T. Clark, both having been the State Engineers of New York and the former having had the honor of selection by the Australian government to advise as to the improving of the great River Danube sea entrance. The conclusion of the engineers was that a new coffer dam would be necessary, requiring the next season for construction operations and a heavy outlay of capital. Later letters came from the agent asking what the direc- tors had decided upon and closing with the remark that in the absence of specific instructions he might proceed to experiment as to ways and means for removing the ledge. To this the vice president as one of the consulting en- gineers replied, stating the gist of the professional dis- cussions and referring to the agent's suggestion of experimenting himself, informed him that the board urged his doing so and had appropriated $30,000 to cover his expenses if required, and if he failed no censure would 1esult. At this juncture all overland mail communica- tions were suspended by the spring thaws and freshets. The directors heard nothing more from the Sault and decided to go there by the first steamer. The season being a late one that steamer did not pass through the St. Mary’s river until May 10. Besides the president and Pioneer Sault Canal. 143 directors the two engineers first named were retained to accompany them to advise as to the coffer dam, it was expected must needs be built. A desperate legal contest relating to the land entries was anticipated and the market value of the Construction Co.'s stock had fallen to 50 per cent. below par. Leaving the directors and engineers on board the steamer nearing the Sault a narrative of the agent- engineer's proceedings for the previous few months will be first presented. After weeks of study on the problem he decided in January to build what he styled a “steam punch.” No machine shop existed within 400 miles and only snow shoe trail led away from the location. The machine must be made there in an ordinary blacksmith's and carpenter’s shop. To make the desired forging a bar cf 4 inch square steel was tapered to a tempered point 1 inch square; then rings were made of increasing sizes and welded around the bar and fused together until a solid mass was shaped 2 feet or more long, swelling from the inch square point to 16 inches in diameter at the upper end. A large freight steamer happened to be at the river dock for winter quarters which had wrought iron blades to its propeller wheel. The stern of the steamer was raised out of water and two of those blades removed. One was welded to the butt end of the 16-inch diameter punch, forming a “thimble” flange to it. The other blade was used to make a “thimble” which fitted inside of the other and into this the end of a stick of white oak timber about 30 feet long and 14 inches square was fitted. Then key holes were cut and a heavy wedge key inserted which passed through both thimbles and held the massive metal punch firmly attached to the timber shaft. To give more gravity to the same, tram car axles were bolted in grooves cut on its four sides until the aggregate weight of the punch equalled some three tons. The shaft was then fitted with guides into the frame of a tall spile driver on a scow and connected by rope and 144 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. pulley with the drum of a portable steam engine suitably placed on the scow, the “drop” was about 15 feet, includ- ing the required water channel depth of 12 feet. A gauge was marked on the timber shaft and to sink the same to the water level the “punch” must go a foot below the re- quired bottom level. Reels were placed in the scow working ropes whose ends were attached to the opposite piers—a turn on the reels moved the scow 18 inches side ways so that in the space the Solid punch must sink to nearly its own diameter in the rock to bring the mark on the shaft to the water level. - But the time of trial of the machine did not arrive without serious mishaps. The first was peculiar; the agent was a strict sabbatarian and no unnecessary Sun- day work was allowed, or pay authorized therefor. When the agent's plans for the punch were made manifest the skilled workmen employed, knowing its importance, took great interest in its being perfected and expedited. They decided that its great prospective utility warranted Sun- day labor upon it, and they concluded to club together and work upon the punch forging the next Sunday with- out pay and surprise the agent by completing it earlier than he expected. After working all day and late into the night they adjourned to the regular morning hour, but by some unknown means the shop caught fire in the night and little more than the unfinished punch remained. A more penitent set of men were seldom seen. The most serious loss was that all forge bellows on the works were there destroyed. To get a suitable fire to manipulate the forging all had been placed in a battery to produce a suf- ficient blast and must be duplicated or the plan abandoned. A team and driver were at once selected to take the cash- ier with funds to buy large bellows wherever the same could be found, and as the nearest settlements likely to have them were at the saw mills scattered along the Can- adian shores of Georgian Bay, there the messengers went Pioneer Sault Canal. 145 and after traversing hundreds of miles on the ice returned in about ten days with six or more bellows of suitable size; soon thereafter the punch was completed. It was rigged into place, but on the first drop the side of a boulder in the channel was struck a glancing blow which broke the timber shaft short off at the socket and the punch had to be fished out of the channel bottom' Boulders were then grappled for and the few found re- moved. When the punch commenced regular work three crews working 8 hours each kept it operating without cessation night and day except Sundays, rain or shine, for several weeks. It gradually advanced from the thin edge at the lake entrance to the thicker portions nearer the coffer dam. The canal prism meanwhile being finished the agent opened the dam sluice gates and let Lake Su- perior flow in on the 10th of April, and the dredge, which was a horse-power antiquated affair, the first of the “Osgood pattern” used on the Great Lakes, was em- ployed in removing the same. Then it was ordered to get behind the punch and test its results. The agent- engineer sat on the pier opposite and waited develop- ments. Several times the scoop came up empty, and his heart almost stood still; he then directed the operator to draw the scoop back to the utmost limit and put on extra holding power. The old dredge creaked and twisted as though it would go to pieces, but when the scoop came up it was full to the brim with broken stone. Then the agent sprang to his feet, swung his hat and gave three cheers. The problem was solved. After the dredge had broken a “face” across the channel the work was as easy as if the ledge were sand. Not a piece of rock came up as large as a man’s hand. The punch had pulverized the ledge quite below the required depth. By the 10th of May the channel was complete except some trimming along its edges. Reverting to the directors then on the approaching steamer, they formed a solemn looking group on the for- 146 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. ward upper deck as the steamer neared the dock on which they saw the agent waiting to receive them. Soon greet- ings were exchanged and eager inquiry made as to the state of the canal work. “Oh,” replied the agent, “that is now completed, only a few finishing touches are needed.” “Surely you do not include the rock ledge,” said Presi- dent Corning. “Oh, yes, that is all out.” “You should not joke on so serious a subject,” was the response. - “Oh,” said the agent, “you are all evidently incredu- lous, come and see for yourselves.” Carriages were called and the directors and engineers rode along the filled canal to the Lake Superior entrance. The dreaded ledge furnished the material for a stone hil- lock some thirty feet high next to the west pier. The party gathered near the punch and saw it strike blows of thirty or more tons to the square inch on rock 12 feet below the surface with the utmost precision. Vice President Brooks turned and grasped the agent by both hands and ex- claimed: “My good fellow, there is not an engineer in the world but would be proud to point to such an achieve- ment as this.” “We join in that opinion,” responded Engineers McAlpine and Clark, who stood in the front rank of the profession, and found their abilities not required, as expected. The party returning to the village and thence to the “Agency” where they were to be quartered, acted like a party of boys enjoying jokes and laughter. But the hap- piest person of all was Director Erastus Fairbanks, the senior parner of the famous scale manufacturing firm, who was later on governor of Vermont during the civil war. He first sanctioned the promoter's plan, invited the others to join in the undertaking, and when the directors Pioneer Sault Canal. 147 met for the first time and held an executive session, in which the appointment of the general agent was discussed. “Who knows about his financial reliability” was the inquiry generally made. “My firm is willing to be his surety for $100,000,” replied Director Fairbanks. “That is sufficient,” said they all. The appointment was made and half that sum at once placed at the official’s disposal, and his drafts for over $1,000,000, including land department expenses, were paid during the construction period. - It was decided to send a special messenger at once to the governor to invite him to meet the directors and accept the work. He responded promptly and after inspection signed the official certificate, which was filed at Lansing on the 21st day of the month, and the canal control and care then passed to the State and subsequently to the Nation. IN REVIEW. The claim that this was the most honorably performed contract for its magnitude ever entered into with a State or National government is sustained by the following facts: 1st. The contractors could have obtained the same compensation by bidding for locks one-third smaller than they deemed the public interest required and as proved to be the case. . Second. They could legally have followed the gov- ernment engineer's specifications and saved 1 foot in depth along the canal. Third. They could have built the lock gates upon the contract plans and saved a large percentage of expense, but delivered a very inferior work. tº Fourth. They added a slope wall on both sides of th canal where none was required. At a moderate estimate they increased the cost to themselves over 25 per cent, and thereby doubled the practical value of the canal to the State and the public for the next third of a century. 148 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. The following extracts from an address by Gen. O. M. Poe, the eminent engineer, who built the immense lock 100 by 800 feet now occupying the site of the original double locks, as published in the Sault Association folder, furnished remarkable evidence in the case: “On the whole, however, the canal was a remarkable work for its time and purpose. The construction of the locks especially bore evidence of a master’s hand in their design and execution, and it is no reflection upon the ability of the engineer in charge that experience developed the objectionable features enumerated above. These locks are now being torn out to make room for a new one, and every step in their destruction reveals the excellence of the workmanship, the honest character of the materials employed, and the faithful compliance with the conditions of the contract under which they were built, not merely in its letter but in its spirit. All honor then to every man connected with their design and construction. They were long in advance of their day, and if commerce had not outgrown their dimensions they would have done good service for a century. “I must confess to a feeling of great regret that it has become necessary to destroy these first locks. Inani- mate though they were, they seemed to appeal to every sentiment of respect. They had never failed to respond to any demand within their capacity; they had contributed, in a higher degree than any other one factor, to the devel- opment of the country to the westward of them, and hav- ing done such good work are now to be obliterated in the inferest of that very commerce they did so much to establish. The man who, knowing their history, can see them go without compunction is made of other stuff than I am, and, if an engineer, has no genuine love for his profession nor pride in the achievement of those who suc- cessfully apply its teachings to the best examples of his art.” The claim that the work was the most economically and rapidly built of any equally important on record, is presumably proven by comparison with the Canadian canal on the opposite side of the river. That is of the same length and size of prism, but is 9 feet deeper—or as 21 to 12. Its lock area 900 by 60 or 54,000 square feet, Pioneer Sault Canal. 149 the State canal being 700 by 70 or 49,000 feet (double lifts). Allowing for the increased depths of 9-20ths that proportion should represent an increase in cost of $500,- 000, or a total of $1,500,000. It was commenced in 1888 and opened for traffic in 1895, eight years. The State canal commenced in 1853, finished in 1855, two years; actual time 22 1-3 months. The cost of the Canadian canal, by official reports was $4,093,025.60, despite the radical improvements in work, machinery and means of access between 1853–85, or four times and more greater than its American neighbor herein referred to. On page 150 is a photographic reproduction of the framed Vote of Thanks of the Directors of the Canal Con- structing Corporation to their General Agent and Acting Chief Engineer engrossed on parchment with the original signatures and likenesses in order as follows: President Corning. Director Brooks, V. P. Director Fairbanks. Director Forbes. Director Pruyn (Sec'y and Treas.) General Agent Harvey. Director Seymour. sitſilimºſillºsing allºuſly º º ſtºmºtºrs ºn Jº is sº tº -- - tº £5t. 99arpg 3Falls ºbip Canal Company At a Meeting of the Directors in Elibang, 3 une 15th, 1855, Resolved, That inasmuch as the completion of the Canal has rendered the office of General Agent of the Company, heretofore filled by Charles T. Harvey, unnecessary; that the same be abolished from and after the thirteenth day of June instant. Resolved, That the minner in which Mr. Harvey has discharged the duties of the office of General ligent, meets with the approval of this Board; and that we have entire confidence in his integrity, fidelity and ability, and that his energy and courage in the discharge of the duties of his position under great difficulties, and at one period in the midst of disease, entitle him to our thanks. Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolution be communicated to Mr. Harvey. Attest - Erastus Corning, President. John W. L. Pruyn, Secretary. CHAPTER II. NOTABLE MINOR INCIDENTS. . A PRELIMINARY “DUCKING.” Scores of interesting incidents might be written as occurring in the early canal annals, but space forbids. As example, however, the following will be briefly stated: When the promoter explored the banks of the St. Mary's river in quest of lock building stone in November, 1852, he hired a boat and crew of Philetus Church, the Indian trader on Sugar island. He crossed Lake George to look at the rock exposures at the Neebish rapids, and in step- ping out of the boat on to the icy rocks, slipped and took a plunge into the deep and swift current. The boatmen were active in fishing him out and no loss of life occurred, but the ride back across the 8 miles of lake to “Churches” was a chilly one for him. Yet the warmth of his ardor for the new project did not get cold ! A SLEIGH WALIK. The agent-engineer used a mouse-colored pony to carry him about town and along the works, which had remarkable intelligence. It would stand for hours wher- ever left without hitching, but having been hit a few times by small stones when heavy blasts were fired, he would judge of the danger by the sound; for a loud near-by blast, it would give a spring, and start away at a rate that threatened destruction to the buggy, but at about a safe distance it would stop and remain stationary until its master appeared. Wishing to arrange for some dimension timber at Pendill’s saw mills, near the mouth of the Taquamenon : . 151 152 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. river on White Fish Bay, 20 miles distant, the bay being covered with thick smooth ice, very glary at the time, the agent took the pony with sleigh after supper and started alone for the mill, expecting a three hours’ drive. When about five miles out the pony cast off one of his fore shoes and soon after the other; and then could not stand up, much less travel. The agent found that by putting his arm around the pony’s neck it could stand and walk very slowly, and was very careful not to tread on its master’s toes. In this position they covered the other 15 miles, arriving at the mills towards morning, where shoes could be obtained. A case where in union there was “gol" LAKE LEVEL AFFECTED BY STORM. Referring to the coffer dam before mentioned. The vice president, Mr. Brooks, remained at the Sault after the other directors had departed, and was with the agent when a furious storm swept down from Lake Superior, and raised the waters above the falls some 4 feet. The waves swept over the dredge and sunk it with eight horses on board, some being drowned. When that ex- citement had subsided the two officials realized that the dam was in danger and on going to it were amazed to find that instead of its being 2 feet above water a volume of 2 feet deep was pouring over it. Creaking and twist- ing, the vessel mainsails still held it steady, but a few more inches pressure would evidently prove too much, and then a catastrophe would follow of vast proportions. The agent stuck his pocket knife blade to mark the height of water on the side abutment and there they sat silent and anxious beyond expression. The thrill of noticing by lan- tern light that the water within an hour had receded an inch and soon after, the storm abating, it ceased flowing over the dam, was like seeing the fuse light expire before reaching a dynamite bomb. Both had a sound sleep after- ward | Notable Minor Incidents. 153 gºrºzºrºzºr-º-º-, --~~~ - , , -- . ...- - - , - … , * * : . - - --- *re--ºf -2. - 'wº. . . . . - - A CONSTRUCTION RELIC. The metal portion of the steam punch, which wrought salvation to the canal undertaking in 1854-5, is preserved and will doubtless be on exhibition at the Semi-Centennial celebration at the Sault in 1905. Its use saved the con- tractors probably $250,000 outlay in meeting the emergency before mentioned. - A PRACTICAL TEST OF MENTAL CAPACITY. Near the lower level or eastern dock, then in process of construction and while its timber deck beams were being placed in position by a gang of carpenters, a couple of young shovel-men concluded that it would be safe to shirk their work one summer day and enjoy a quiet “siesta” behind a pile of lumber where no one would be likely to see them. - The chief engineer, while inspecting the work in that vicinity, came upon them before they could grasp their shovels and appear to be at work. “Boys,” said he, “your work don’t seem to agree with you, perhaps you had better be changed to some kind requiring more mental rather than bodily capacity.” Bringing them to the dock he told them to take a rope and keep one of the timber ends from falling into the water when cut off by the car- penters as not long enough to reach the next pier twenty feet distant. * Left to their own methods, the men fastened one end of the rope to the overhanging timber butt and standing on the edge of the pier it did not quite reach, they leaned backwards keeping the rope quite taut. When the car- penters’ cross-cut saw severed the timber at the “lap” on the opposite pier, its heavy fall into the water six feet below with a sudden jerk caused the men at the other end of the rope to make a parabolical or eccentric curve in the air and dive head first into the river. On coming to the surface of the twenty feet or more depth of water they were towed to the shore by the carpenters with the boat hooks. On gaining their breath in an upright posi- 154 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. tion, the chief engineer told them that their wetting was caused by a lack of mental capacity, and after such a decisive test he would advise them to change their clothes and resume shoveling work as best suited to their devel- oped abilities. They lost no time in following his advice and were never caught “napping” again! - If the carpenters had not imitated the engineer in maintaining serious faces when they foresaw what would happen when their rapid cross-cutting saw had removed all hindrances to the shovellers’ special job the test as to “mental capacity” might not have been as convincing to the latter, as it proved 1 ABORIGINAL REGARD FOR ANCESTRAL GRAVES. In the near vicinity of the St. Mary’s River Falls on the American side there had been from time immemorial an Indian burying ground where wooden crosses marked the graves of most recent date. The neighboring tribes of Indians had for the first half of the century been under the direct care of the United States government, which by a treaty negotiated by the late Governor Cass had bound itself to pay them certain annuities and also to provide them with teachers and mechanics, especially blacksmiths to repair their tools and keep their fire arms in order for hunting purposes. In the earlier years they came in large numbers to the “Agency” at the Sault to receive their annual dues which custom was in evidence when the canal was commenced. Its surveyed line passed through the burying ground and as excavations on the eastern section progressed num- erous human skeletons and bones were exposed but no effort was made to collect or reinter them elsewhere. During this period rumors reached the Sault that upper lake tribes were much agitated by the word com- ing to them that the local graves of their forefathers were being desecrated and an indignant demonstration was to be made when the next “payment” brought them together there. Notable Minor Incidents. 155 About that time an Indian, evidently a chief, appeared, who, on landing from his canoe on the Lake Superior shore, arrayed himself in Indian garb from head to foot. A head-dress of eagle feathers, buckskin moccasins and leggings, a breech cloth and girdle with scalping knives galore, while a Queen Anne style of long barrelled shot gun was especially displayed, and his gestures towards it were construed by nervous observers to convey threats of using it with warlike effect. As he moved along the line of the canal work and motioned to those he met he was pointed to the agent whom he found near the company’s office. Many words and gestures were made to the latter but of course not understood. A messenger was sent to the well-known Johnson half-breed family to furnish an interpreter. Before his arrival the higher grade workmen gathered about and discussed the probabilities of a general Indian rising of which the newcomer was deemed a forerunner— with fighting and scalping to follow if he was not con- ciliated. They formed a circle about the Indian and the agent- engineer when the interpreter arrived. The latter told the Indian to rehearse his speech, which he did, then amid breathless silence the interpreter translated it thus: “He says that he understands that you are the govern- ment blacksmith and he has brought his gun, which he wants to have put in good order.” The throng of onlookers seemed generally to recollect business leading them elsewhere, and soon the Indian, interpreter and agent were left alone in further confer- ence, which resulted in the interpreter guiding the visitor to the government gunsmith where his errand happily terminated. The agent in relating the story said, that it was the nearest an expression of interest in ancestral mementoes by the Indians that he had ever seen exº~~~ : ... = * -- - - - - * ... - - CHAPTER III. THE RESIDENTIAL “AGENCY.” During the agent's stay at the Sault as an invalid in the summer of 1852, he boarded at a large two story wood house of a faded yellow color, known in the village as the “Baptist Mission.” Originally provided as a mission station and school of that denomination for the benefit of the native Indians, its intended beneficiaries had dwindled in number until but a few attended the Sabbath services in the school room where one of the notable Johnson family of “half breeds” officiated as interpreter of the discourses delivered in English, and a scant half dozen Indian girls received day. school instruction. The aged missionary, known as Father Bingham, with his wife and two attractive daugh- ters formed the family to which a summer boarder or two was occasionally added, and which afforded a home-like congenial resting place for at least one health seeker at that time. About a mile eastward on the main street of the set- tlement, was a spacious two-story residence with two large single-story annexes or wings of colonial mansion style, shaded by a grove of magnificent elm trees, and standing on a twenty acre lot extending from the road to the banks of the St. Mary’s river, the premises being known as the “Agency.” This name originated from the circumstance that the United States government erected and owned the mansion, to provide a residence for the eminent historian, Henry R. Schoolcroft, who was ap- pointed as the Indian agent for that region early in the “thirties,” and whose researches relating to the history, manners and traditions of North American Indians were 156 The Residential “Agency.” 157 published by order of congress as of national importance. He lived there for a number of years in a style comport- ing with his important official position, but after his retire- ment his successors resided elsewhere and only occupied the buildings during the time of the annual payment of the Indian “annuities.” INDIAN AGENCY PAYMENTS. When “payment” time arrived that year (1852), the narrator was one of the spectators at the proceedings. One of the wings of the mansion afforded ample office room, where at the large table in the center sat the United States Indian agent with his secretary and cashier, and a box of gold coin beside them. The next chair was occu- pied by Peter B. Barbeau, the veteran Sault Indian trader, who was one of Astor’s employees in earlier days. An Indian would be admitted, and advance to the table, the secretary would find his name on the registry and the amount due to him, the pay roll would then be signed by him, usually with a cross, the agent would initial it as correct—the cashier then passed out the amount in coin on to the table, but before the Indian could grasp it, Bar- beau would utter a few words in the Indian tongue and with a sweep of his hand slide the gold into a bag at his side, the Indian would then retire and another appear to go through the same form but with occasional exceptions of those living or educated at “missions,” or otherwise who did not have dealings with the trader. Whether the coin going into his bag went to the credit of the Indian for goods previously delivered, or to be obtained, did not appear in evidence then, but it was a fact that some of the aboriginals had with their squaws and children paddled their canoes for over 300 miles along the south coast of Lake Superior for the meager satisfaction of seeing the gleam of the pile of coin assigned to them by the govern- ment as it slid from the agent’s table into the trader's bag! The scene, which annually occurred there previously for a score or two of years, was then seen for the last time. 158 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. RESIDENTIAL RE-OCCUPATION. The recollection of the beautiful lawn, the elm-trees- grove and the comfortable residence on the agency premises was in the narrator’s mind, when, in the follow- ing spring, he became general agent of the Canal Con- struction Corporation. He lost no time then in coming to terms with the official having possession, and obtained a lease of the property, with approval of the Interior De- partment at Washington representing the government ownership. He then secured the services of a steward from New England whose wife could act as hostess as well as house- keeper, in good form. It proved a most excellent arrange- ment, and contributed not a little to the success of the main undertaking, with its safeguards of home life for the agent's health and comfort during the strain of his managing and engineering cares. It enabled him to pro- vide excellent quarters for the company inspecting direc- tors or shareholders, and extend courteous hospitality to distinguished visitors from time to time. The features of the beautiful location on the banks of the crystal wat- ered. St. Mary's river, with the foaming rapids in sight where the Indians could be seen all through the summer engaged in capturing the famous white fish in scoop nets, which within an hour might be served on the agency table. Under such conditions no marine food in the world surpassed that noble fish in delicious flavor. Game was also plenty, such as deer, partridges and wild pigeons. These attractions soon brought distinguished and cul- tivated guests—Hon. -Erastus Corning, first president of the New York Central Railway, Hon. Erastus Fairbanks, afterward governor of Vermont, with the other directors of the constructing company, came expecting to “rough it” as in most frontier towns of those days—but stayed weeks instead of days, and later on, brought the ladies of their families to enjoy life there also. - President Fillmore soon after leaving the White The Residential “Agency.” 159 House was, with his daughter, a guest at the “Agency,” and looked on while the agent and Miss Fillmore tried “shooting the rapids” in a canoe. The governor of Michigan, a victim of chronic dys- pepsia, came with his wife as a transient tourist, accepted an invitation to the agency for a day or two, but on test- ing its cuisine extended his sojourn for several weeks. Similar experience with the local chief factor of the Hud- son Bay Company is related in another place. During those seasons of 1853-5 the “Agency” had the air of a very select fashionable watering place. Many amusing reminiscences could be given in that connection, but only a specimen or two will be quoted— as follows: GLORY BASED ON “DOUGH-NUTS.” The governor of the state found that Mrs. Porter, the housekeeper, made a style of cake called “dough-nuts” which he could eat with a special relish without subse- quent digestive distress, and between that food and white fish diet he was in a sort of stomachic heaven! As a result, a pan of “dough-nuts” did not last long and care was taken to keep a supply on hand. When the last evening of his stay arrived a brilliant party of ladies and gentlemen were gathered in the parlor to bid him farewell. He was informed that a presentation was to be made to him as the head of the State, and must be made in a manner suited to the dignity of the occasion. Accord- ingly he stood in the center of the room while one of the gentlemen chosen as orator addressed him in rather grandiloquent style. Referring to the state of Michigan as a keystone in the arch of the mundane sphere where on the craggy heights of its great lake shores the eagle— emblem of liberty—might be seen at rest combing its pinion feathers with its beak while occasionally gazing into the face of the mid-day sun with unblinking eye, and feeling at ease because the “ship of State” was sailing on 160 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. the vast seas in sight below, with a fresh breeze of pros- perity, and with the statesman here present at the helm I That as a token of esteem to him officially and personally the accompanying jewel casket was presented, etc., etc. The governor responded with appropriate pathos, not for himself only, but for the people who were the sover- eigns in the two fair peninsulas forming the State, etc., etc. The ribbons about the pasteboard casket were then untied and out rolled a “dough-nut,” with a note from the house- keeper stating that it was the last one in the “Agency,” or the casket would have been larger AN ASSUREDLY SAFE “GLOBE TROTTER.” The European and American newspapers in those days had frequent notices of Madame Phiefer, an Austrian woman of noble birth and independent means, who had achieved notoriety by travelling in mysterious parts of the earth unattended. She had, it was stated, visited the country of the wild Arabs of the desert, had joined cara- vans under the guidance of Bedouin chiefs where Europ- ean women had never been seen. Her book of travels had been published and widely read—when the announce- ment was made that she had started for America to cross the plains and “write up” the Indians and wilds of that continent. Gradually she drew nearer, until a Detroit paper her- alded her arrival in that city and that she was to visit the Sault en route. When the steamer arrived, the agent with a view of inviting her to the “Agency” stepped on board and asked the purser to point her out. One look at her meager figure, features, and leathery complexion explained to him why she would be safe anywhere! While he hesitated, she was engaged in negotiating with the hotel runners and disputing as to prices, with accent, fluency, and ges- tures which confirmed the agent's first impression that she would not be a fascinating guest. A Frenchman agreed The Residential “Agency.” 161, Fºxwºr: xxz rºs - ń. tº:-- ºr º-wºº rºy-- *z, *:-. $º ºx! sº ºr . . . . ; • * * * ::= ºr ~ * > . . . ~ * , ºry: * ~ **; ºr: . . . .” - - - - - . - errº-rºrs: *; gº ºr ºf +--- *** x. * - s wº- ºr *~~rºse.” < *.*.*... • ‘’s “... r. 2: ; -º-º-º-º: . - y --- - - - * * * - - - - - º: to her terms of less than usual rates and she went with him to his “hotel.” When her book of travels in America appeared a year or two afterwards, she mentioned the Sault as one of the worst places she was ever in, that the room assigned at the hotel there had no window in it. She found the wigwams of the plains far more picturesque and desirable! A TRANSIENT BOARDER. One day when there happened to be no visitors at the agency, the wife of a United States senator arrived on a steamer to look about the Sault for a day or two. She enquired for the best boarding place to stop at. The pur- ser, or a wag on the dock, told her to go to the “Agency” and pointed out its carriage which happened to be there. She accosted the driver, bid him take her trunk, and arriving at the “Agency” looked over the rooms with the housekeeper, chose the best one and was ensconced in it when the agent returned home at night. He took in the situation and arranged to appear as a steady boarder only. The senatoress required considerable waiting on, but on the whole was satisfied with the accommodations, com- mended the table, pitied the housekeeper for not having more boarders, but might get some friends to come there later on. Soon she wanted to pay her bill. The steward- ess made various excuses for not having it ready—but finally explained the situation, with the remark that while - the Canal Company which ran the establishment did not allow pay to be taken, the amusement to the household in hearing her criticisms and suggestions how things Ought to be done, was a full equivalent! The visitor saw the joke, and with a hearty laugh at the “contretemps” was transferred to the south bound steamer. SENTIMENT VERSUS FACT. Time has wrought a marvellous metamorphosis at the agency grounds. Where the beautiful slope to the river Once was, is now the site of an immense water power 162 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. building with a great “fore bay” and canal leading to it. The residence building, quite overshadowed, has been in use for offices, but will soon make way for other “im- provements.” - Little remains of the former conditions on those prem- ises to verify previous local tradition or reminiscences. The accompanying view of the “Agency” premises was taken from a boat in the river just prior to com- mencement of the building of the “power house” before mentioned which now occupies the river front for over a quarter of a mile. Bushes had encroached upon the original beautiful lawn and the elms in the grove seemed to have been reduced in number. The building in the rear was erected by the agent in 1853 for stabling purposes. . View of “Agency” from Channel of the St. Mary’s River, 1898. º *:::: CHAPTER IV. MICHAEL PHELAN’s widow.” A NARRATIVE OF FACTS. The summer of 1853 witnessed the commencement of the work of building the ship canal which was to open up the waters of the greatest of lakes to the commercial marine of its sister lakes in the basin drained by the river St. Lawrence, and make possible the vast commerce which has since been developed upon and through those mighty waters. Then the straggling village of “Sault Ste. Marie,” situated near the base of the falls of the St. Mary's river (which, with about eighteen feet of descent within one lineal mile, compelled land carriage of per- sons and property around them), was nearly as remote from the outer world as a settlement upon the shores of Hudson bay would be at the present time. A few spans of horses hauling cars upon a tramway around the falls, then sufficed to transfer all the commerce of the Lake Superior region The Federal government having in 1852 made a grant of land to the State of Michigan in trust, wherewith to secure the means for building a canal around those falls, that State sublet the work of constructing it, for the right to the lands, to a corporation composed of Eastern State capitalists, who appointed the writer of this narrative as their executive under the title of general agent, to organ- ize a force of workmen and enter upon the undertaking. His headquarters were first temporarily located at Detroit, as the nearest city in direct communication, where *Reprinted from Magazine of Western History, February, 1889. Then pub- lished in Cleveland, Ohio --~~~~ar - ... 164 Michael Phelan’s Widow. 165 he enlisted and accompanied a force of some four hundred men as the first detachment, and loaded one of the large lake steamers with them and a due quota of supplies and provisions, tools, machinery, horses, lumber, etc., for transportation to the locality of the work, as the sparsely settled region about the falls could not be relied upon for such resources to any appreciable extent. A commissariat was organized on the passage, and as soon as the landing was made, horses were hitched up into teams, the lumber hauled to the canal reservation, and in forty-eight hours the men were housed in impro- vised buildings and regular meals provided for them. The system adopted was to assign fifty men to one house, or “shanty,” calculated to furnish eating and sleep- ing space in the main structure, while a wing furnished room for a kitchen and the private apartments of the fam- ily who acted as stewards for that separate building. Each was numbered, and all were under the charge of a general steward, who had the care of the general supplies and kept accurate accounts with each “shanty,” showing the aggregate per diem number of men boarded in compar- ison with the quantity of provisions consumed. Those stewards who furnished the best return as to economy and efficiency were paid accordingly, while those who were wasteful or slovenly were weeded out. To this was added later a hospital and infirmary annex, where workmen meeting with accidents, or having serious sick- ness, were sent to receive attention from salaried physi- cians and trained nurses free of charge, as the result of a small monthly per capita payment from those earning wages. These sanitary regulations were so efficient that the cholera epidemic which swept over the country in 1854 and stopped every other public work of magnitude, while showing its presence also at the “Sault,” did not cause a panic nor suspend the work for a single day. On June 4, 1853, the third day after landing, the workmen were organized into working gangs of thirty, 166 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. each under selected foremen, and formed in ranks, while the general agent, “breaking ground” by loading the first barrow with excavated material and wheeling it out to the “dump,” set an example which was received with a cheer by the men, and generally followed, to continue for nearly two years, up to the time when the men were again gath- ered in a group to see the same individual, on the 10th of April, 1855, open the sluice-gate to the outer coffer dam on the Lake Superior level and let its water flow into the finished canal prism, doubtless never to be entirel excluded so long as the world endures. * The building of what was at that time the greatest canal in the world, so far as commercial importance or lock dimensions were concerned,” in such a remarkably short period of time, was only possible by employing all the men that could work to advantage, and as a matter of fact the force was rapidly increased after the first five hundred were fairly at work, until between two and three thousand were busily employed and the line of the work seemed to swarm like a bee-hive. The number of board- ing buildings increased correspondingly, until between forty and fifty were under the supervision of the corpor- ate management. - >k >k >k >k >k Thus far by way of introduction to the tale indicated by the caption, and to the subsequent use of the first personal pronoun therein by the writer. >k >k >k >k >k It was in a sultry afternoon in the month of August, 1853, that I was engaged at writing in my private inner *The statement that the traffic through the Sault Ste. Marie canal for September exceeded that of the Suez canal by 30,000 tons would probably be challenged by those not familiar with the immense development of the lake shipping interests, but statistics furnished by General O. M. Poe prove this to be a fact. In addition to this, the past month records a larger business through the canal than heretofore known in history. To those interested in the improvement of the great water-ways it must be a reminder that the lock- age system now in use in the canal is rapidly becoming inadequate to accommodate the marvelous trade of Lake Superior. The passages through i. “. in :* : ; toº :* º &: 309; Iº. and unregistered craft, e e aggregate of regi nnage was 581,689, and freight tonnage 553,811, all of which was passed through the new locks, 505 out of the 720 hours of the month being occupied in passing it through.-N. Y. Times, Oct. 7, 1885. - --------twºszrvivºr--ºr, Michael Phelan’s Widow. 167 room on the first floor of the construction company’s gen- eral office building, improvised near the banks of the ship canal at the “Soo” (as that point was generally desig- nated). The entrance was at my back, and as a clerk was usually in the outer office to announce visitors before hand, I supposed myself to be alone, and was absorbed with my desk work. The sensation that someone was breathing behind me led me to wheel in my revolving chair, and no doubt to look as I felt, greatly surprised to find four unannounced individuals near me who had ap- parently been standing for some time with bated breath, awaiting my movements to secure my attention, which their entrance had not before arrested. The group was composed of a woman and three girls, all neatly dressed, with faces endowed with a glow of health, ruddy as roses, combined with respectful and quiet demeanor rare to see at that time in that location. The eldest girl was about twelve, the next about eight, and the youngest probably four years of age. The mother, evidently such from family resemblance, was apparently some thirty years old, rather undersized, and not specially noticeable except for her head-gear, which was a wonder to behold. I had seen pictures of such as having adorned high dames of the Queen Anne period, when an attempt was made to compress most of the beauties of a vegetable garden into the trimming of a high-crowned hat, but now I saw a specimen upon a living model, making an appear- ance indescribably grotesque. My eyes were drawn espec- ially to one ornament which seemed to be intended to represent a blood beet of the brightest hue, the root lying obliquely along the rim of the structure, while the stem, branching into many upright leaves, towered above the head, counterbalanced by a carrot or some other rank growth of millinery on the other side. . I surmised at a glance that the “topnotty” affair had been bestowed by some wealthy lady (for it was evidently a costly adjunct to female attire) upon one who was not ... ----------, --~~~~~~... --> ------------------ver-rrºr--ºr, - - - - . - * 168 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. posted as to the caprices of fickle “Dame Fashion,” and believed that what was good once, was always good, if in good preservation. But before I had reduced my thoughts to speech suited to the occasion, the woman dropped an old style low “courtesy,” her knees almost touching the floor, and broke the silence with that cheerily accentuated voice which marks a native of the Emerald Isle, and with the words, “Perraps, sorr, you do not know who I am?” “No,” said I, “there is no doubt about that.” “Sure, I am the widow of Mister Michael Phelan; but, perraps, sorr, you have not heard of him before ?” “No, I would hardly be able to identify him with cer- tainty,” I replied. “And it is a pity,” said she, “because he was a most worthy man, as good a husband as ever lived, and a good father to these little girls, pace to his mimery.” Just there and then a genuine tear of affection glistened in the wid- ow’s eye and she proceeded, “And he started to come to Ameriky with us on a vessel bound to Quebec. But we had a stormy long passage, during which he sickened and died, and despite all I could say or do, the captain had his body dropped overboard in the wide ocean, and I had to come along without him. We landed in Quebec and thence came to Montreal, where I tried to make a living by keeping boarders, but did not succeed as well as I could wish, and when I heard that a great public work was commencing here, and before it was done a great deal of money would be paid out for boarding of the men, I determined to come here, and by enquiry have found the way, but, on arrival, find that the company employing the men boards them itself, and that as you are the head man, I must come to you or I will have come in vain and won’t know what to do for myself and these little ones. What I want is a chance to keep one of your boarding-houses.” “My good woman,” I replied, “I control only those Michael Phelan’s Widow. 169 where fifty rough men are housed together and a family is paid to cook for them, of which the husband is the main element to keep order. You, Surely, as an unpro- tected woman and the mother of these nice girls, would not wish to go into such quarters as that?” “Oh,” said she, “if you will give me a chance with my own countrymen, they will not harm me or mine, I am sure; and you need not pay me wages till you see how well I can merit them, and I will meanwhile be earning the bread which we will honestly eat of your stores, and that is what I need to do without delay.” “But,” said I, “these children will require more or less of your time and attention, and for you to care for them and attend to providing food and clean berths for fifty men, is simply impossible. Even if you were willing to undertake it, I would not consent to have you, out of respect for your sex in general, and for your welfare and that of these bright children in particular.” “Oh,” said the widow, “these children can and will work and help instead of hinder me, as you will see if you only give us a chance.” But I shook my head more and more decidedly, and as the widow saw the tide turning against her with in- creasing force, a bright thought lit up her face, and she made motions to bring forth something stowed away in the bosom of her dress, exclaiming, “If you had only known Mr. Phelan, and what a good character he had, and how highly he was respected by the great men in his own counthry, you would not deny the croy of his widow for honest work wherewith to feed herself and his chil- dren | Did you ever hear of Lord John Russell, now in the government in the ould counthry?” My reply was: “Certainly, he is one of England's foremost statesmen of this day; but did he know your husband?” - - “Ye may be sure of it,” the widow continued, “as I have a certificate from his lordship, recommending Mr. 170 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. Phelan on account of his good character, that I keep near me all the while, that I may niver lose it. Would ye like to see it?” “Oh, yes,” I replied, “the signature of such a noted man as Lord Russell is well worth examining as a matter of curiosity.” - In due time the widow drew forth her guarded treas- ure in the shape of a package having many wraps, from which, when unfolded, dropped a sheet of letter-paper with a printed heading, which she picked up and handed me as reverently as one would pass a prayer-book to a worshiper in church. - Glancing my eye over it, I found it to read substan- tially as follows: Estates of Lord J. Russell, To Michael Phelan:- You are hereby notified to vacate the earth-walled thatched tenement now occupied by yourself and family near the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . road, within thirty days from date of receipt hereof, as it is to be torn down and re- moved, by order of his lordship. Attest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Agent for said Estates. Dumb with amazement, I glanced from the paper to the widow, but her honest, serious look of satisfaction in possessing this evidence of her husband’s good character was genuine; I had seen too much of the world not to have detected any counterfeiting of such faith as that, and I instantly divined that she could not read, and hence some one had imposed upon her as to the nature and con- tents of the document. There, also, stood the ruddy- cheeked girls looking up into my face as to a superior being whose lips could make or mar their happiness. The situation being revealed as by a flash of light, my Michael Phelan’s Widow. - 171 heart refused to let my lips be the medium of undeceiv- ing the widow as to the purport of her paper, and of causing her faith in its talismanic powers to be dashed like a fragile vase into a thousand pieces at my feet, never to be restored to its present symmetry and esteem; so, apparently reading the document through again and again, with most intense and deliberate attention, my thoughts were meanwhile busy in deciding how to act. They followed the track of this brave, confiding, little woman, leaving her hovel in Ireland (it might be before dispossessing measures had been taken), which, however humble, was to her a home warmed by affection in local and personal attachments; coming across the stormy Atlantic only to see it relentlessly requiring the sacrifice of her husband for entombment in its dark caverns, with only the dirge and requiem of its wild, deep-toned waves; pressing on to Quebec and Montreal and thence a thou- sand miles or more to this remote place, and now only asking for opportunities for honest and faithful employ- ment at my hands; how could I refuse at least a trial as a reward for such faith and perseverance? 'Twas a moment described by the great dramatist, when “one touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” I beheld before me, not an ignorant immigrant, to be laughed at and thrust aside, as coming on a fool's errand, but a heroine, endowed with a priceless faith which could remove mountains, whose guileless, earnest appearance showed that as a daughter, wife and mother she had d her best;-and who could do more? - My heart had its own way, and then my lips were no longer glued together. “Mrs. Phelan,” said I, as I handed back the document, with the air of one most profoundly impressed, “that cer- tificate settles the matter; as the widow of Michael Phe- lan, you shall have a chance to provide for yourself and these children of his, if in my power to arrange it with promptness and decency.” 172 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. Pen nor pencil can never depict the glowing of the light in the eyes of that mother, as she dropped another profound “courtesy,” looked triumphantly in the faces of her three little girls and carefully restored her talismanic certificate to its wrappings and place near her heart. The general steward was summoned, and, learning from him that one of the steward families was just leav- ing and its successor not then installed, and that a very trusty single man was so far convalescent at the hospital that he could be detailed to keep order and render the widow any needed assistance, I directed that carpenters be summoned and a room in the main building be par- titioned off for him forthwith, and the widow be at once installed in the family apartments, as solely for her own 11SC. Enquiring for her baggage, behold all her worldly possessions were just outside my office door, in the shape of a few bundles! These she and the children gathered up, and, following the messenger, were directly installed in their new abode. The new arrival created a stir in the colony of adjacent buildings, with the query how a widow who only landed from Montreal in the morning could get the coveted steward position before night. Whether the widow ascribed it to Lord John Russell's influence to those who enquired of her, I knew not, but I was very careful not to mention the facts about her precious docu- ment to anyone. Even the general steward treated her more deferentially, from the evident endorsement which she had received at the manager’s office, not knowing how it was obtained. Not a little of her success was due, how- ever, to her own shrewdness in slipping by all intermed- iaries and stating her errand only where the final decision was to be made. Some days later, in passing near her domicile, a glimpse of the widow brought her to mind, and led me to enter her building and inspect her care of it. Its order and neatness were most commendable. The daughter of Michael Phelan’s Widow. 173 twelve years was doing an adult’s share of the kitchen service; the girl of eight was, in the men's absence, at work attending to cleaning their quarters, after having made the table ready hours in advance, while the little “tot” of four was seated on a barrel to bring her to the right height by a table at which she was scouring the knives and other table articles with bath-brick, until they shown like silver, and with the steady action of a veteran who thought of nothing but the business in hand. It was the custom of the steward's department to let the men choose their quarters and change about to suit themselves, so long as the regular quota in each was not exceeded, and they applied for a transfer order at his desk. Soon he was flooded with applications for change to the widow’s boarding-house, and, upon inquiry, was informed that it was the most quiet and orderly of any, while the meals in variety and cooking were what Delmonico's was to ordinary eating establishments. The requisitions for supplies for that “number” con- tained some items not on the ordinary list, but were honored after due consideration. Soon rumors of a new style of hash served up once a week at the widow’s floated about the location, and even foremen called for transient meal tickets to try it, and envied were the men who held vested rights as regular inmates there. The end of the month, with its tabulated statements, came round, when the figures indicated that the most economical and satisfactory results were from the widow’s house. The second month confirmed such conclusion, when her rate of payment rose to the head of the list and continued there to the end of the work, netting her a very nice monthly income. She confidentially explained to the steward that the result was due largely to that famous hash, which, by being sweetened with maple sugar and flavored with spices, enabled her to use the last scrap of every kind of food material on her premises without cloy- ing the men's appetites. 174 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. She did not call for her monthly pay until the cashier entered a complaint against her that he could not close his monthly accounts according to rule. Word from me to call at the office brought her there in Sunday attire, including her before described full dress hat. When the rule was explained that she must regularly draw her money, she complied, but only to bring it to me, to request me to personally care for it during her term of employ- nent. An amusing scene took place weekly. The widow was a regular attendant Sundays at the “mission” church some distance away, when she might be seen wending her way thitherward with her overshadowing perennial hat only equaled in tinge of red by her own cheeks and those of her three girls walking demurely by her side. At a respectful distance behind her would follow a platoon of a score, more or less, of men, dressed in the height of canal fashions and all animated by evident intentions not to be far from her when inside the church, while the crowds outside the edifice formed in ranks to let her pass through, with special marks of consideration. Not a breath was heard against her, but maintaining respect from all, woe would have betided the man who had been reported to the fifty brawny Irish men in her “number,” as molesting her in any way. One day after the widow’s reputation had become quite established, she, with her head-gear in position, called on me in the same room as before, to confide to me that she had been asked to marry by not a few of the men, and of them all she thought most favorably of Pat- rick Flynn, who had been selected as care-taker for her in the first instance, but, after pondering well on the subject when she had almost said yes, the memory of her dear departed husband, with his good character so well certified to, came over her, and she had told Patrick, like all her suitors, once and for always, that she would never be known otherwise than as the widow of Michael Phelan Michael Phelan’s Widow. 175 Again came the tears as a tribute to his memory, with the remark that in case I heard she was to be married I would know to the contrary in advance. The widow dropped in very quietly at my office at a later date, and when energetic measures were taken which nipped in the bud an impending strike, many were the surmises where I had obtained the information upon which to act. Its value to my principals, under circum- stances too intricate to be detailed here, could hardly be overestimated. But the time arrived when the last gang of workmen were finally paid off, and a settlement of the widow’s account showed over $600 to her credit. When handing it to her, I said, “No doubt you will take this snug sum and return to Montreal and open a nice boarding-house?” “Oh, no,” said she, “when this canal is opened, busi- ness must go to the other end of the lake, and I am going with it to a place they call Superior City and have en- gaged my passage by the next boat!” All that I had to say about the risks and hardships involved was wasted, and before the canal was officially opened by the State, the widow who could not read her passage ticket was pushing on five hundred miles farther to anticipate its commercial effectſ Two or more years passed, when I paid a tourist's visit to the then “booming” settlement of Superior City, and was walking with a friend along its wooden side- walks, when I was startled by having my own name called by someone behind me, and on turning about, saw the widow of Michael Phelan in a calico wrapper on her knees, with her hands raised above that wonderful bon- net, asking for “Heaven's blessings upon the best friend she ever had in Americal” Begging her to rise and not compromise me in a Strange place, because on-lookers would think that she was pleading with me, rather than with Heaven, she explained that she was the owner of the corner lot on the `iº, :: *:::::::::: agrº-ºº: 3- --- ~~~~~ - - - - - - - - ---------------------------------fºr- := x -j-i- ” $ “ . . . - - - - 176 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. opposite side of the street, upon which she had erected a store building and was realizing a handsome rental from a part of it, while occupying the remainer for keeping boarders, and having seen me go by, was afraid that be- fore she could don her best dress as she used to do at the “Soo,” I would have passed out of sight. Patrick Flynn had followed her from the “Soo” and was installed as care-taker of her property, but she had not, and would not, prove forgetful of the memory of Michael Phelan, or less proud of the good character which he bore in the “ould counthry.” Declining the request of the widow to look over her title-deeds and give my opinion upon their legality, on the score that the steamer on which I was making the round trip was just leaving, I left the widow in the midst of her corner lots. Not long after this I read in a leading New York paper, of an official decision as announced at Washington, confirming the right of Mrs. Michael Phelan of Super- ior City, Wisconsin, to preempt a quarter section of land, her right to do so without naturalization papers having been stoutly contested, but on appeal, her title to valuable property near the city had been sustained at the Interior Department. Time passed along a few more years, when I was a passenger between two of the ports in Lake Superior upon the then peerless steamer North Star, with the veteran Captain B. G. Sweet in command. While passing along the main deck, a comely, ruddy-faced young woman ac- costed me and introduced herself as the eldest daughter of the Widow Phelan. “Indeed,” said I, “and where is your mother?” “Oh,” said she, “mother is down here on the main deck against my protest, who wanted to have her take a couple of state-rooms and let us travel in the cabin like other people, for we can afford it, and I wish you would get mother to do so.” “All right,” said I, “we will see what can be done.” Michael Phelan’s Widow. 177 Then the widow was interviewed by surprise and without her ornamental head-dress on, but I presumed that it was in one of the several sizeable trunks, which evidently belonged to her. Her shrewdness was again evidenced by the fact that while paying only deck passage and saving probably three-fourths of the cost of cabin rates, she had pre-empted a space behind the huge boiler smoke-pipes and fenced it off with her trunks and other articles of the cargo, so that within the barrier herself and daughters were quite retired and had warm quarters, while the cabin passengers were shivering in smaller and colder places upon the unheated upper deck on a chill autumnal day. Entering into conversation as to her leaving the west, she informed me that she saw signs of a decline in the land speculation which had prevailed (and which shortly afterward entirely collapsed and continued thus for a decade or more), and had, in anticipation of lower prices, sold out with a view of leaving that region perma- nently. “Well,” said I, “how much money do you bring away with you?” But the widow was slow to divulge, and at last her eldest daughter spoke up and said, “Mr. Harvey, to prove that we ought to have taken cabin pas- sage, I will tell you. Mother has thirty-six hundred dol- lars in gold in these trunks, beside enough more in bank- bills to provide for all our traveling expenses for a long journey, and yet she will keep us on the main deck, where poor immigrants ride, and now, as the kind friend she has taught us to remember, will you not insist upon our having state-rooms?” “Oh, yes,” said I, “that is reason- able enough, but your mother has a mind of her own, which she has certainly used to good advantage since I have known her, and I have learned to deem it better than my own, as to her own affairs.” “But now, Widow Phelan,” I continued, “you will certainly consider that I ought to know where you are proposing to go?” “To a place they call Australia,” she replied. 178 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. “But do you know how far off it is and how to get there?” was the next query. - “No,” replied she, “but I am told that at a city called New York, where I am now going, I can get passage.” “Pray, what led you to think of that distant land?” I queried. - - “Well,” said the widow, “I have been informed that the governor of Australia is an intimate friend of Lord John Russell and therefore a friend of my husband's, and one who will appreciate the certificate I have of the good character of Michael Phelan as you did, and who will treat his widow well on his account!” Then the scene in my office came vividly to mind and again I was speech- less about that document, which I doubted not was then, as before, near the widow’s heart. The steamer's whistle announced landing at the port of my departure, and ended my personal knowledge of the widow of Michael Phelan. But the Phelan history, if continued, might reveal her, later on, as a Melbourne real estate millionaire, and her daughters as among the aris- tocracy, driving in their own or their husband's car- riages.* All these issues may have hinged, as did those narrated, upon my keeping my face straight and my heart warm when the power of that talismanic certificate was tried upon myself on that August day away back in 1853. CHARLEs T. HARVEY. *That this supposition is not unexampled may be proven by recalling to mind that not long after the date of these occurrences, a widow located at one of the mines in Colorado, who provided domestic conveniences for the miners, married one of her customers, who developed into a “bonanza king” and she into a leader of the fashionable world of Paris. The little girl of the '60's, playing about her domicile, has, during the ’80’s, married the Prince de , the scion and heir of the oldest and most aristocratic noble family of the Eternal city, and the movements of the “bonanza” family, or any of its members, attract the attention of society and the press of both continents at the present time. EDITORIAL NOTES, February, 1889. There is one resident of Cleveland, at least, who can vouch for the truth of Widow Phelan’s expressive gratitude, as related on page 175 of this issue. It will not be the betrayal of Mr. Harvey’s confidence to relate that the friend who accompanied him in that walk through Superior City was none other than William J. Gordon, Esq., (for whom Gordon Park was so named) then interested in the mining developments of the Lake Superior region. If Mr. Gordon does not recall that circumstance of his trip, he probably will wº-sº sº ºr - ºr, - - - - - - - -- *, *, *: ; :-… --> = x --> **::::::::::::::::::: - - - , , CHAPTER V. A PIONEER INDIAN MISSIONARY. LOCAL SURROUNDINGS. After a plunge into the chilly waters of the St. Mary's river on the bleak November day of 1852, as mentioned on page 151, the writer was rowed by his boat's crew eight miles across Lake George (as the expansion of the river was called) to the trading station of P. S. Church on Sugar Island, 12 miles below the Sault (see diagram on next page). “Church's Landing” was then the only point where steamboats stopped along the river, the north channel being the one then solely in use until the southern channel through Hay Lake was opened after many mil- lions of expenditure by the United States government, and the north passage is now quite out of the main line of navigation. Philetus S. Church was an enterprising trader who had been a country merchant in Central New York, but removed there with his wife and two sons, a few years earlier, and had built up a “raspberry jam” export busi- that of starting from Marquette on the steamer North Star, one Sunday morn- ing, en route to the west end of Lake Superior, and that Mr. Harvey declined to accompany him because of conscientious principles against setting forth upon a journey on the Sabbath. With a laugh at Mr. Harvey’s expense, Mr. Gordon steamed away. When fifty miles out a break in the machinery caused the steamer to put back; and on Monday morning again made the start, with Mr. Harvey also aboard. Mr. Gordon admitted that in this case the laugh was on the other side. - Mr. Harvey, now of New York city, not only had an interesting experience in connection with the St. Mary’s ship canal, but has also passed through Some of a more recent nature. His labor in connection with the elevated railway system of New York city is a matter of record; and he is now the possessor of the full-sized model in wood of an elevated railway structure, which he took to Albany in 1867 and set up in the loft of Erastus Corning’s hardware store on State street, Albany. At that time most of the legislators, upon his invitation, went to see it before voting upon the first law ever enacted authorizing the erection of such a structure. The legislature of New York is even now endeavoring to discover the full extent to which the people are under obligations to him for his labors and achievements in that direction. 179 180 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. ness by employing as berry pickers the Indians on the Canada side known as the Garden river tribe, and by also dealing in timber, lumber, and vessel knees became sº ggian *ission Chapet - * * S. §§ onary? Howse Se - * f ^, * * \ \ g * t \ * f \ - * Atº Abwººf - 2’ * & A w s f \ º \ Af * - A § f S- A & * *~ / _* £4%a 3coxºº. f* / - ; 4. ,” in A ſli Ö 2* .--ºn” e TS : 2 § ‘A $ //- S; N ſt t * * * * º * * *; 6 ** §: ." § cºme ºf ? t * .*', * * ** tº . '* tº º Sººn *.* º, R ** 5\ * ** "ºx 4,v. §, '." *. : º : \ºposew ster- Q-sºº, t w". * , * * * **** ". . * 's *~3° ** Reproduction of U. S. Top. Survey. Scale 1–40,000. Section of St Mary’s River. wealthy (one of his sons being in late years a leading merchant at the Sault). He was a man of sterling prin- ciples and maintained strict temperance rules in dealing with the natives. His residence near his warehouse and A Pioneer Indian Missionary. . 181 store was a most satisfactory refuge on that Saturday night where wet clothes could be dried, appetizing meals obtained and good beds enjoyed. While sitting by his evening fireside the writer noticed a window light gleaming on the Canadian side of the river—which was there quite narrow—and on enquiry was informed by the trader that it was at the house of Rev. George MacDougall, a Methodist missionary to the Indians, who had erected a dwelling house and chapel among their lodges and wigwams, and was the source of a marvelous reformation among them. The trader and his good wife grew eloquent in his praise. They said that he was of Canadian birth at a Colonists’ settlement near Owen Sound, on Georgian Bay, followed the occu- pation of farming for a time, then became the owner of a small vessel in the fishery industry, afterwards estab- lished a country store, became a man of family, and a prosperous merchant. When thus situated he became interested in religious concerns and impressed with a con- viction that it was his duty to become a missionary to Indians with whom he had been much in contact as a lad and had learned their language and customs. Acting upon this conviction he had sold his store, removed with his family to Toronto, and maintained them and himself while he entered a Methodist theological seminary there and for two or more years sought to qualify himself as a preacher. This done he had been assigned to the Garden river tribe and came among them in 1850–1. He found them pagans and utterly debauched from the effects of liquor sold to them by the Sault traders. He had already overthrown that demon as the dominant influence, had instituted industrious habits, had estab: lished a school, organized a church, and among the con- verts was the old chief, who had been previously crippled by falling into a fire in his lodge when drunk and having his hands permanently mutilated, who was now a devout believer and leading an exemplary life. The trader went 182 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. on to say, that, owing to the difficulties of communication, as there was no post office on the Canada side within a hundred miles, and letters had to come by, round-about routes through the States, the missionary had been in severe straits for money and food. The trader had helped him with provisions but yet he had not money enough to pay the postage on his letters accumulating at the United States Sault post office. The use of international postage stamps was then unknown. Postage was charged accord- ing to distance, about 5 cents for each hundred miles payable on delivery. The rate from Toronto would con- sequently range from 25 to 50 cents on each letter ac- cording to weight and route. The trader's statement led the writer to go to the post office on his reaching the Sault, apply for the MacDougall mail on which a dollar or two postage was due, which he paid and sent by the returning boat’s crew to Mr. Church to see delivered to the stranger missionary with the hope that the delayed remittance might be found enclosed therein. A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. The next season (1853) the writer returned to the Sault in charge of the canal construction forces, and was 'ere long introduced to the missionary. The acquaintance became quite intimate as the writer learned to esteem him as a most worthy missionary, an expert business man, and a pulpit orator of remarkable power. The construction company’s steam tug was often used to pay a visit to the Garden river mission and to occasion- ally attend the church service and Sunday school. Often, visitors at the agency were glad to join in those excur- sions, which included such eminent men as President Corning (the first of the N. Y. C. Ry.), Director Fair- banks (subsequently governor of Vermont), and other notables who left substantial gifts to evidence their ap- proval of what they saw under such primitive conditions. Some of the prayer meetings were attended when the old A Pioneer Indian Missionary. * 183 chief mentioned on page 155 was heard in prayer in the “Objibwa tongue,” the tones of his voice were thrilling in pathos and gave full proof of his sincerity in addressing the Great Unseen Spirit as his adopted Saviour and life long guide. A BUSINESS TRANSACTION. The canal work called for millions of feet of lumber and timber, and in searching for that most accessible it was found that a considerable portion could be obtained near the Garden river. The missionary’s business train- ing then came into service. He conducted the negotiation when the writer met the chiefs and made them an offer for their standing timber which they gladly accepted. The largest log house on the location was owned by a junior Indian chief named Ogista, who asked the missionary to let him make the bargain for use of the same. He proposed that the 40 wood choppers should occupy the house except one corner reserved for himself and family to be partitioned off with blankets, and with the privilege of their going to the company's flour and pork barrels and other provis- ions with an agreement that when those ran low he would supply deficiencies by fishing in the river and turning in his “catch” to the common stores! The missionary and agent kept grave faces while mutually amused. The agent explained that in such a case he would have to obtain consent from his principals at the east which would take too long, but was prepared to hire the premises exclu- sively at once. To this the chief finally assented. When the timber was paid for to the tribe, much satisfaction was expressed and a letter of thanks to the writer was pre- pared in the native language and the hieroglyphic signa- ture of the chiefs attached in figures of bears, wolves, beavers, birds, etc., etc. This interesting document was lost when the writer's residence was burned at Tarry- town, New York, years afterwards. --------- 184 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. PULPIT ABILITIES DEVELOPED. *"The erection of the first Protestant church at the Sault took place in 1853-4 and the missionary was invited to occupy the pulpit as often as he could. When he ad- dressed a white congregation in his own native language it was easy to discover that he was a natural orator of rare ability, and could have commanded a large salary if willing to cater to that end. But his consecration to his chosen work was constant as it was sincere. When com- ing to the Sault, as he did frequently during the winter season, he knew that he was always welcome at the “Agency,” especially when he brought his good wife and flock of children to enjoy a few days of “outing.” Later on his eldest daughter was taken on a tour to some of the Lake Superior villages that she might see life out- side of Indian surroundings. In 1855 the writer's resi- dence at the Sault came to an end and his intercourse with the missionary gradually faded out until an interval of some 15 years occurred with no word from him. REVIVED INTERCOURSE. Along in the “seventies” the writer with his wife took a trip to Saratoga Springs and on taking seats at the hotel dinner table found themselves face to face with ex- Judge and Mrs. Gould, of Owosso, Michigan, who had been guests at the “Agency” in its palmy days. Reminiscences were exchanged and enquiries made as to the missionary at Garden river whom they remembered with much interest. When the writer replied to them that he had lost all clues to that person and did not know whether he was living or not since he had removed from his former location, a gentleman sitting next at the table Said, “I can supply information respecting him to date. I am the secretary of the Canadian Methodist Missionary Society, which considers him its greatest ornament. He is stationed at Edmonton, in the North West territories, and is superintendent of missions to the Indians over the 186 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. vast plains between Manitoba and the Rocky Mountains. If you will write him a letter in my care I will see it forwarded to him.” This was done and a few weeks later came a reply covering many pages. It gave an account of his leaving Garden river for the northwest, crossing Wisconsin by rail to the Mississippi river, going north as far as he could by steamer on that river, then “portaging” across to the Red river of the North—navigating that on a flat boat to Port Garry, now the city of Winnipeg—- then starting in ox carts with his family on a journey of 1200 miles to Edmonton his then location, and ending with a warm invitation to visit him and see the surround- ing country which he predicted would be reached by civi- lization in the future with a grand development in store for it. From that time on, occasional letters were ex- changed. And in one he sent his photograph with the autograph signature attached shown at page 185. After a few years, notices of him appeared in the religious news- papers as being on a tour of the British Islands in the interest of the Canadian Missionary Society and stating his eloquence to be such that the largest churches and halls were crowded to hear him, and that he was consid— ered one of the most attractive pulpit orators of the day. THE LAST INTERVIEw. On his return to America a letter came to the writer stating when and where he could be met in New York city, and there hands were grasped once more. Popu- larity had not changed him but he appeared the same cheery, zealous, wholly consecrated laborer in his Master’s vineyard as when in obscurity at Garden river. An ap- pointment was made for him to spend the next Sabbath at the writer's home at Tarrytown on the Hudson, and occupy the pulpit of one of the churches. But on Satur- day came a telegram stating that his missionary society required him to address a missionary meeting at Montreal the next day, and he must comply, much to his regret. We never met again. A Pioneer Indian Missionary. 187 Not long afterward the newspapers announced that he had lost his life on the great western plains in a “bliz- zard,” that the Dominion government ordered a search for his body by the mounted police, that after an interval of a few days it was found and buried at his mission sta- tion, the people in the northwestern territories generally joining in mourning for his loss as a public calamity. VISITING THE GREAT WESTERN CANADIAN PLAINS. Nearly twenty years later, in 1898, the writer visited Edmonton, on his way to and from a trip to the Mac- kenzie Basin via the Athabasca river. Then he found one of the missionary’s daughters married to a prominent resident of the town. When after a trip of over a hun- dred miles by buck board wagon to Athabasca river land- ing he reached the Hudson Bay Co. post there, the wife of the factor of that important station proved to be another daughter, both of whom on learning the writer's identity, vied with each other in making his trip prosperous and adding very materially to his comfort in properly outfit- ting therefor. The third and eldest daughter became the wife of a brother of Lady Strathcona (when she was plain Mrs. Donald Smith) who was called to the Dominion Senate but had deceased, and his widow, although pos- sessed of a handsome residence in Edmonton, was then absent, but was met later at the east. The eldest son, Rev. John MacDougall, was filling his father's place as superintendent of Indian missions. Another son had be- come a wealthy rancher residing at Morley near Banff on the Canadian Pacific Railway, with whom the mother was tenderly cared for in her old age. The memory of the pioneer missionary was revered at Edmonton as one of the most eminent men in western Canada. A memorial church was there named for him, and his portrait looks down from the walls of the missionary society rooms in Toronto. He had the reputation of exercising unequalled influence with the wild Indians of the plains with whom 188 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. he came in contact, of which many thrilling incidents were related, but only one will now be mentioned. A NOTABLE INDIAN COUNCIL. In the fifth decade of the 19th century the great plains of Canada were traversed by vast herds of buffalo which annually migrated between Texas and the Peace and Liard river basin of the north and provided the staple food of the Black Feet and other migratory tribes num- bering in the aggregate thousands of warriors of cruel and vindictive natures who lived as their ancestors had done from prehistoric times, and as long as buffalo were plenty, cared little for the future. In the following de- cade the first trans-continental railways crossed all the bison ranges and brought white hunters within easy con- tact of the vast herds on the plains. Then the slaughter of extermination commenced and the Indian's staple food began to manifestly diminish. They saw white settlers coming in increasing numbers from the east, and con- cluded that they were the cause of the food supply shrink- age, and after many council deliberations agreed upon demanding that the “pale faces” return from whence they came and leave the Indians in sole possession of the plains. This of course meant a bloody and costly war which the Dominion government was anxious to avoid, but did not see any way to maintain its dignity and authority, other than to send an armed force to overawe the savages. Becoming aware of Missionary MacDou- gall's exceptional acquaintance with Indian affairs the officials applied to him for advice and decided to act as he thought best. He advised against military measures as sure to bring on massacres of settlers, as had been the case in the States, but to conciliate them by means suited to their natures. A carte blanche having been given to him to direct matters, he caused an invitation to be sent to the chiefs to hold a council with Dominion government officials at a certain rendezvous and to bring their camp A Pioneer Indian Missionary. 189 followers and families with them to enjoy a feast suited to the occasion to continue for a week or more. Under his directions a large tent was provided and plenty of provisions to be distributed among the wigwams of the tribes. The attendance of the Indians was general and satisfactory. The feasting commenced before the coun- cil meeting which was held in the large tent, the chiefs were placed in front of a platform upon which the gov- ernment officials and the missionary sat. The chiefs were asked to state their grievances which they all did by turn with many words and gestures, in the presence of their Own people, as the younger braves, the squaws and the maidens, filled up the tent behind them. A FEARFUL WAR AVERTED BY MISSIONARY TACT. When they had all been heard with the deference and dignity suited to the Indian ideas of council etiquette, the missionary addressed them in their own language as the spokesman of the government officials then present. He said that before the whites could decide to complv with the Indians' wishes about leaving the country, some conditions must be distinctly understood and agreed upon. One was that they could take back with them the prop- erty they had brought into the Indian country. The chiefs unanimously signified assent to this proposition. Then said the missionary we shall want to have you deliver us all the rifles, knives, guns and ammunition, which, as you know, we brought into the country, and wish to take with us when we go. The young braves and Ordinary warriors heard this statement and thinking that they were about to lose all their outfit of this description, quietly withdrew to hide their belongings of that kind while there was time! After this condition was amplified at great length with many gestures the speaker next made claim to all the blankets and sewing materials to be found upon the persons or in the tent of each Indian family. To this the squaws and maidens paid strict attention and 190 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. ..— . . . . . .-----, -- - - - - , , , ----------------------- one by one quietly withdrew to consult as to that con- tingency, the general feeling being that, while the chiefs deliberated, they had better break up the camp and flee to the mountains to save what to them were necessities or luxuries which could not be dispensed with. When the missionary finished his long speech and informed the chiefs that they could take time to deliberate and meet in council the next day, the latter rose and looked about to find themselves comparatively alone! When they reached their wigwams, their troubles with the wrathful inmates were still greater. The council reassembled but the war spirit of the chiefs was gone, and instead they offered an opportunity for giving them presents which were accepted, and treaty arrangements made, which averted a war then most imminent, but now no longer possible. The tact displayed by Missionary MacDougall on that Occasion, said my informant, a leading business man at Edmonton—was worth more to Canada than a brigade of soldiers and millions of money. Considering the ex- periences in the Riel rebellion, and that the scene of the impending conflict was 1000 miles further from railway connections and base of supplies, this estimate was cer- tainly not excessive. THE CLOSE OF AN ACTIVE LIFE. The particulars of the death of this noble pioneer were also learned in Edmonton. He had been with a party hunting buffalo on the plains for his usual winter’s food supply, and started to return to his home on horse- back alone, was caught in a “blizzard,” lost his way, dis- mounted, laid down exhausted and died. His body was found a week or more afterward, the countenance indicat- ing a peaceful end. Wild animals had approached and left the mark of their teeth upon his hunting knife sheath, but his body was untouched, which was buried by loving hands at the mission cemetery. A Pioneer Indian Missionary. 191 Thus closed the career of one of Canada's most in- trepid and useful pioneers: One who feared God and loved his fellow men, especially the natives of the forests and of the plains. His gospel light first seen glimmering in the hamlet at Garden river, Ontario, increased until it illuminated the vast basins of the North and South Saskatchewan rivers in the heart of the northwest terri- tories. THE LAST LINE IN THE CHAIN. Fifty years had nearly passed since Mrs. MacDougall came from Garden River with her flock of little children to the “Agency” at the Sault to spend some days of rest which her good husband was anxious she should enjoy. As a widow she came with her eldest daughter (the widow of Senator Hardisty before mentioned), and vis- ited the writer at his residence in Toronto in 1901. Such incidents as she related of the hardships endured in reach- ing and making a home on the banks of the North Sas- katchewan river would alone prove the truth of the pro- verb that “Truth is stranger than fiction.” She gave the parting hand grasp at the door, and was no more seen by the writer, who afterwards had a notice of her death at Morley not long afterwards. Thus the last link of that missionary connection was broken CHAPTER VI. CONFLICTS AND TRAGEDIES. Prior to and during the State canal construction work at the Sault, liquor traffic was unrestrained by any law and proved the source of endless trouble there, as else- where under like conditions. Over fifty grog shops were said to be located along or near the main village street, which, part of the way, was nearly parallel to the canal 1"eServe. - The young agent found this evil influence one of the most serious difficulties he had to contend with, but he stood on the vantage ground of a knowledge of its deadly nature, and of practicing strictly temperance habits him- self. - & When a lad he had been employed in a village store in New England which was situated next to an old style tavern with a bar as its main feature, the side entrance to which was directly across from the alley delivery door of the large grocery department of his employers. Being much of the time at that point, he saw who were the most frequent visitors to the opposite doorway, and, knowing them, was shocked to notice how many ills including deaths hovered about their daily lives, and how they went from bad to worse, as time passed on. He determined to rouse attention to the curse, organized a temperance society and enlisted a “cold water army” of a hundred or more of the village youths. This brought down upon him the wrath of the dealers, who threatened the merchants employing him with large loss of trade unless he was discharged. But, the latter were in sym- pathy with him and resisted such interference. Then 192 Conflicts and Tragedies. 193 came trumped up charges and perjured evidence before a magistrate, but he held his ground and license laws were enforced as never before. Hence on coming to the Sault he was no novice in that line of action, and the liquor dealers found that it was wise not to be too much in evidence in breaking over the few safeguards by which he sought to shield the workmen from temptation. Find- ing one of the dealers one day on the canal premises mounted on a barrel and haranguing a group of the lab- orers with advice to join in a strike, he walked up, charged the interloper with the offense of being a re- ceiver of stolen goods taken from the company, and threatened instant arrest. The man jº.:lped down and “took to the woods,” a spectacle which most beneficially impressed the crowd l But unwary victims were to be found by scores, of which two or three examples will be given. - A WIFE's VAIN EFFORTS. Dennis O’Brien is the name used to designate a mid- dle-aged Irishman who came to the Sault with a rosy cheeked wife but no children, to be a gang foreman of excavation. All went well for a time, but one day the wife came to the office for a private interview with the agent, and told him that Dennis was getting unsteady and she thought if he could be located where he would not be so near liquor-dens it would be the saving of him, and of unhappiness for her. As a result of her entreaties, Dennis was sent to the company’s quarry at Drummonds Island, near Lake Huron, and his wife employed there as shanty house-keeper. The discharge of their duties was very satisfactory, and their wages advanced to a figure at which they could save $50 or more per month (having no board to pay). During the following year they came occasionally to the Sault an ideal looking couple. He strong, manly and warm-hearted, she affectionate, healthy and happy—con- stantly by his side (to keep him from falling into tempta- * r ------, z- as ºrwºº * - . 194 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. tion, as she could do during the few hours of their stay while the stone barges were being unloaded). Then came the time when the quarry work ceased, and the couple, having drawn a nice sum in accumulated wages, were in temporary boarding quarters. A few weeks later, the agent saw Dennis in the street in charge of a constable with a convict ball and chain attached to his leg. On making enquiry he learned that the poor fellow had fallen into his old habits, that his wife had died, his money was gone, and being a participant in a drunken brawl where a comrade had been killed, he was bound over for trial to the next session of court and in default of bail was allowed “jail limits” on the security of a ball and chain A PRODIGAL'S INTERRUPTED RETURN. One day the foreman of a gang of wheelbarrow pit- men reported at the office that a young man of unusually refined appearance had applied for work of that kind, who was evidently not used to it, and asking for instruc- tions, which were given to bring the applicant with him. The agent looked him over with surprise. A hand- some young man of not over 25 years but with a face indicating dissipation. He stated his case as being that of a son of wealthy (unnamed) parents in Buffalo, who had left college and had led a wild roving life for a year or more, to the great distress of his parents. He had seen the folly of giving full license to drinking habits as he had been doing, and now wanted to play the prodigal son act of returning to a rich father, confessing all, and with a parental blessing turn over a new leaf in life quite dif- ferent from the past one. But he was out of money and, scorning to beg, would like to earn enough to pay his passage to Buffalo, where he was sure of a home wel- come. Permission being given and shanty lodgings assigned, he seized a wheelbarrow and went to a place on the “run-way” planks. It was soon noticed that he had symptoms of delirium Conflicts and Tragedies. 195 tremens but of a mild form, for which the best remedy was bodily exercise. A man was detailed to steady him at times, and in a day or two he was doing his full share of daily labor with an air of determination that proved the sincerity of his intentions. Thus a couple of weeks or more passed, when a steamer was advertised to go direct to Buffalo early the next morning. That day he requested that he might have the rules as to payment of wages suspended so that he might draw his wages in advance of the regular monthly pay day and take the steamer direct to his parental home. The agent person- ally supervised this being done, and with money in hand to pay the fare, the young man with tears in his eyes thanked the agent, who, with moistened eyes also, bade him good-bye. - Next morning the latter looking out of the window at the “Agency” saw the steamer for Buffalo sweep by down the river, and fancied that he could see the nameless young man on board. * After breakfast, as the agent was being conveyed to his office, his carriage driver noticed a human body” lying in a vacant lot near by. The up-turned face was recog- nized as that of the young man. The surmise was, that with money in his pocket the latent thirst was aroused, he fought the drink demon once more, lost, wandered off in the chilly night to die and fill an unknown pauper's grave! - No illumination for the “Father’s house” in that case ! THE LAST STRAw. The old adage that “a drowning man will catch at a straw” is suggestive of the title to this last example. One day the agent received a letter from ex-Chancellor Farnsworth, of Detroit, saying that he had a very faith- ful man as a coachman and house servant by the name of Patrick D— who was acquiring the habit of “imbibing” too freely, and it was thought well by himself and friends 196 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. to have him change his residence and begin life anew elsewhere. Knowing that labor was in demand at the Sault, Patrick had decided to go there with his family and would present a letter of introduction which was relied on to secure him employment. The writer of the letter was then one of the legal counsel of the company, and the agent of course would treat the request with respect, although the conditions were not to his mind. How Patrick would bear the ter- rible tests of the Sault surroundings was not a pleasant query. In due time Patrick appeared with a wife and family of three little girls, found a dwelling place and was as- signed to work mending tool handles in the carpenter shop. All went well for a time and Patrick proved to be a faithful workman. But one “pay day” night he became helplessly drunk and took several days to sober up, while loss to the company followed from other men having to wait for their tool repairs. Patrick was reprimanded, but on profuse promises was reinstated—and kept straight for quite a while. Again he went on a “spree” of longer duration, was taken back, but warned that on a third offense his em- ployment would end. When it came, his wife's pleadings prevailed and a third trial was granted. That sober inter- val lasted longer than before but ended at last in a week's debauch. Reinstatement was refused until one day Pat- rick rushed into the agent's office holding a paper in his hand exclaiming, “Mr. Harvey, I have done it! I have done it !” “Done what?” was the surprised enquiry. “Why,” said Patrick, “I have put myself under an oath never to drink again, and of course I never will ! Look at this.” Sure enough there was a printed form of oath filled in to read: “I, Patrick D , do hereby solemnly swear that I will never take another glass of intoxicating drink of any kind, so help me God! Signed and acknowl- Conflicts and Tragedies. 197 edged before me, . . . . . . Dodge, a Justice of the Peace for the County of Chippewa, State of Michigan.” There was Squire Dodge's well-known signature and the largest kind of a seal attached. “Now,” said Pat, “try me again and there will be no failing this time.” “All right,” said the agent, “we will test this cure,” and Patrick went to work again. Months passed by and it seemed as though Pat was a final winner, but the holidays came round and Pat fell. He seemed to have lost all heart and kept drinking harder until death came, and with it, that of his wife. Word did not come to the agent until both lives were ended. Thus poor Patrick’s “last straw” failed to save him. Three little girls, aged about 6, 4 and 2 years respectively, were left alone after winter had isolated the place for a long six months. Of these the agent at once took charge, headed a subscription paper and sent it to the Irish work- men who responded liberally. A nurse was hired, rooms rented, and the orphans made more comfortable than ever before. Every Sunday they were taken by the nurse to the church of their parent's faith, where most of the men attended. The sight exerted a feeling of sympathy among the men and of good will to the company officials, although that was not counted upon at the time. A wealthy resident of the town came forward and offered to adopt the eldest girl and care for the others until rela- tives could be found. To this the agent as their guardian “de facto” cordially assented. - SOME SUNSHINE. A dozen years or more passed when the agent, being again at the Sault, was invited into the handsome parlor of the adopting father. A young lady was called into the room, who, after executing some difficult music very creditably on the piano, was introduced as the former waif, and eldest child of Patrick D–l - CHAPTER VII. EARNEST QUEST FOR “A BIBLE CHURCH.” In the afternoon of a long summer day in 1853, the writer was engaged in engineering duties with his assistant (the late L. L. Nichols) near the Lake Superior end of the Sault canal line, when their attention was attracted to a craft coming towards them from the west, the like of which with its occupants they had never seen before. • It was a large, high-sided, open boat, evidently built by unskilled makers. It had no sails but was propelled by a series of long oars on each side, passed through openings in the sides, and with the motion of the oars corresponded the rise and fall of a row of white objects which bobbed up and down like jumping jacks. On near approach, it was seen that six young men were rowing who had on high conical shaped caps made of white rabbit skins like those seen in pictures styled “fool” or harlequin caps, which alone appeared above the boat sides and in motion gave it a weird or ghostly look not easily described. At the stern, an old white man was handling the rudder tiller, near him sat an elderly Indian woman, while on forward or aft seats were young “half breed” women and children with camp utensils and miscellaneous bundles, indicating a long voyage. The writer commenced counting them aloud, and when he reached 16, remarked to his assistant, “If Jacob was now going down into Egypt by boat, we might think he was coming this way!” Soon the boat, on nearing the ground, was brought about so as to land stern foremost. The old man stepped ashore, approached the writer, rabbit skin cap in hand, 1 98 Earnest Quest for a “Bible Church.” 199 and surprised him with the question in rather broken English, “Sir, can you tell me where I can find ‘a Bible church?’” There being at that time no organized church or church edifice at Sault Ste. Marie village of the description he evidently meant, the reply was made that the nearest one was at the “Garden river mission” 12 miles down the river, which he would see if he kept near to the left shore going eastward. Glancing at the near-by rapids he enquired if his boat could pass them safely. Upon being assured that with the aid of a rope it could, if lightly loaded, be eased down from a path near the edge of the water, he asked no other questions, but seeming to have the reaching of that church goal solely on his mind re-entered the boat, spoke a few words to the crew in Indian tongue and guiding the boat to the rapids brink, the occupants disembarked, produced a rope, and following directions soon had their craft on the lower level, resumed their places, and rowed rapidly out of sight as though on business requiring the utmost dispatch ! - - Some days later, Missionary MacDougall, from Gar- den river, met the writer at the Sault and accepted an invitation to spend a night at the “Agency.” The incidents of the enquiry for “a Bible church” was referred to after supper, and the missionary was asked if he had seen the strange boat and its occupants? “Oh yes,” said he, “the old man you saw landed near my house the same day, and told me of the directions you gave him. He then asked if there was a Bible church in my charge—I pointed to the mission chapel as of the kind he was seeking for. After questioning me closely, and on being informed that a Bible was then in the pulpit to be read and explained in public to all hearers, he be- came satisfied that his search was successful. He asked permission to use a vacant lot for erecting his family tent and additional lodges near the chapel, and to attend religious services in it with his family. 200 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. This request being most cordially granted. “Then,” said the missionary, “I was informed that a journey of over two thousand miles, requiring over two years of time, was joyfully ended !” “I have since learned his history from his own lips,” said Missionary MacDougall, “which is a most remark- able one and I can now repeat it to you, substantially as follows: “His name is John Sebastian, his age probably over sixty years, but he does not know how much more it may be. He was born on one of the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, and has but a faint recollection of his birth place surroundings, as he was left an orphan at an early age and as a lad was received into the service of the Hudson Bay Fur Company and sent on one of its vessels to the west coast of Hudson Bay at Fort York, at the mouth of the Nelson river. He says that the practice of that com- pany for centuries has been to select indigent hardy Scotch lads and send them to the vast wilds of northern Canada to become expert trappers, and by encouraging them to marry Indian wives and raise families to attach them to certain localities or districts for life, where they proved most valuable retainers or semi-official agents in training the native Indians to rely upon catching furs and dealing with the company for subsistence. “To this life he was introduced, was sent to a remote district far in the interior, presumably in the Mackenzie or North Saskatchewan river basins, and in the ordinary course of events selected an Indian wife and became the father of a numerous family. “One of the rules of the fur company was that their high grade trappers, like himself, were to sign enlistment papers for a term of five years at a head office of the district before a chief factor. If during that term they left their districts without permission they were liable to be apprehended and forcibly sent back with heavy fines imposed for neglect of their vocation. When the time of - -, -, ºr yºw ºr rº,Fºr , i. . . ‘w Earnest Quest for a “Bible Church.” 201 enlistment came near the close of a successful term they were treated with special attention by the post officers, their families were invited to come with them and trade freely, jollity, feasting and drinking were in order until the renewal enlistment papers were signed and a new five years life of exposure and hardship entered upon. In dealing with the company no money was used. The unit of value was a beaver skin of average quality. A certain number of various inferior skins, like musk-rats and rab- bits, were worth a beaver skin. On the other hand, a sil- ver grey fox pelt was worth so many beavers, and so on. The representative emblem or check for a beaver skin was a peculiar water marked goose quill made in London, which could not be counterfeited in that country. Hence when a trapper's furs were brought to the post, inspected, and tallied off, he received so many goose quills. These he took to the company's stores where he could exchange them for ammunition, clothing, food supplies or fancy articles of merchandise, as he chose. In case he did not come annually he could send his furs which were credited to him on account against articles bartered for. His rec- ollection is, that he made at least eight of these quinquen- nial or enlistment trips to Norway House or Fort York before the one in which he found an itinerant Methodist preacher or missionary holding religious services near by. One of these he attended and at once the long slumber- ing memories of his native heath were revived. He re- called going to the rude rustic kirk on his native island a few times, hearing hymns sung, the Bible read, and prayers offered up to God. He had never learned to read, and hence had made no progress in supplementing mem- ory by written records, or in keeping pace with a knowl- edge of the world's conditions or advancement. But then a new impulse was given him with the longings to com- mence life over again. Instead of feasting and drinking during his short stay at the company’s post, he plied the preacher with questions, learned about the existence of 202 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. the Bible as the word of God, about prayer as a means of spiritual intercourse with Him, and of the appointment of one day in seven as a day of physical rest and religious worship. On parting, the preacher gave him a four paged tract which he could not read. But on his return to his hunting camp, he set to work to learn to read from its letters, and by patient perseverance went over it until he mastered the words and then the sense, and could at the end of five years read it understandingly. Meantime he observed every seventh day as one of rest, and selected a clump of trees where he—unbeknown to his family— went regularly on those days to pray. There he believed God met him and granted him such spiritual knowledge that he was able to accept a free pardon for the past, and was filled with joy and peace, or—in other words—be- came converted and regenerated. He looked forward to the time when he could receive further instruction on his return to the post, but there was no preacher there and his heart sank within him. He learned, however, that hundreds of miles southward there was a land where Bibles and churches were to be found, but how to get there was apparently an impossibility. Again he enlisted and re-entered on five years of isolated life. Gradually he made up his mind to make a supreme effort to reach that Bible land. He discussed the matter with his wife and his sons and their wives, to whom grandchildren were born, and they all agreed to go with him except one daughter who had married an Indian who would not go, or let her, and they were left behind. “Again the company's post was visited and supplies exchanged for furs, but this time he declined to re-enlist, notwithstanding the most urgent solicitations of the com- pany agents to do so. “Returning as far as Lake Winnipeg he turned south, and by hunting and fishing on the way did not lack for . food. He followed the lake, it would seem, until he reached the Winnipeg river, and ascended that to ‘the Earnest Quest for a “Bible Church.” 203 Lake of the Woods,” when winter caused him to go into winter quarters. The next spring he started, and follow- ing river courses ascended Rainy river to Rainy Lake, crossed the short portage to the head waters of the Kam- inistikwia river, and followed that down to its mouth at Lake Superior. “He had then traversed nearly two thousand miles by a circuitous route from his interior camp and could make his way with comparative safety in ordinary frail canoes, but on the broad deep waters of the greatest of lakes further progress with them became dangerous. He could proceed by inside channels to the vicinity of the Nipigon on Pic rivers but then the broad expanse of Lake Super- ior could not be avoided. There he spent the second win- ter near a Hudson Bay Co. post, where he could obtain nails and tools to some extent. There he built the odd appearing boat first mentioned, and clothed the family in rabbit skin garments, including the conical caps which looked like sea gulls fluttering in the sun in full posses- sion of the boat on that midsummer afternoon | “Thus he arrived at the Sault, and set his foot on the soil of a country he did not even know the name of when enquiring only for ‘a Bible church l’” Thus far the narrative reported by the good mis- sionary. It made at the time a deep impression on the hearer, who was a witness to the truth of a part of it. Not long afterward, the writer had a business call to “Church's Landing,” near the McDougall mission, and there met John Sebastian once more. Inviting him to a seat on a near-by log, the writer asked him about the incidents mentioned in the missionary's report of his experiences, especially referring to the tract and the statement that he had learned to read by studying without a teacher. “That is the fact,” said Sebastian, “and if you wish I will show you the tract.” He went to his canoe, crossed the river, and returning placed it in my hands. It was 204 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. an ordinary four-page leaflet, printed in London, Eng- land, for a missionary society. It has been a matter of regret to me in after years that I did not make a written memorandum of its contents at the time, or enquire if the gift of a larger volume would be deemed by him a sufficient inducement to part with it, that it might be exhibited as proof of what a “mustard seed” like that might grow to ! The writer's present recollection is that it was a simple exposition upon a scripture text, with an impression that the latter was Matt. 11: 28-30: “Come unto me,” etc., but of this he is not certain. He told me of his two years journeyings to reach religious instruction in a “Bible church,” and that he had at last found one just suited to his needs. He re- lated some very interesting incidents of his journey, including some temptations to abandon it which came in his way, but brevity forbids repeating them. A digression will here be made to state that when John Sebastian enquired at the Sault for “a Bible church,” there was none of the description he had in mind. Steps were being then taken, however, to build a modest edifice in the Presbyterian connection which is still standing on the spot where erected, although now superseded after fifty years of use by a more modern and capacious one of that religious denomination, while others have added several attractive church edifices. But as evidence of the marvelous national growth in the last half of the 19th century, it can be stated that when that pioneer church was built in 1853–4 it was the only simi- lar one in the northern zone west of Lake Michigan—- which was then termed the “northwest” section of the United States (except possibly the first one built in the new village of St. Paul, in the then Territory of Minne- sota, which antedated it, if at all, by only a few weeks, but is no longer in existence). Earnest Quest for a “Bible Church.” 205 The first baptisms that took place in it was that of John Sebastian, his wife, children, and grandchildren. Missionary McDougall advised that they should be received into that church, and officiated at the service. Employment was provided for the patriarch for a time at the Sault, where he died not long afterward, when the writer was residing in a distant part of the country. Over forty years after that memorable baptismal scene, which the writer witnessed, he visited the Sault and attended a Sabbath service in the same church edi- fice and audience room. When enquiring after the Sebastian family, he was informed that the very credit- able music then rendered by the choir was in part due to the skill of the organist who was a granddaughter of John Sebastian / CHAPTER VIII. FRAGMENTARY EPISODES. II URRICANE PHENOMEN A. As examples of the terrific force which atmospheric pressure can develop, the following instances at the Sault will be mentioned : The writer was sleeping in one of the “wings” of the “Agency” on or about April 1st, 1854, when he was awakened at half past one o’clock in the morning by the falling of the brick chimney upon the roof overhead. On opening a window to ascertain the cause of the crash, he found that a thunder storm was raging without, accom- panied by electrical flashes so intense and continuous that his sight was blinded, and his eyes did not entirely recover from the strain upon them for several weeks. The next morning he went through the village to witness marvelous effects, of which the following will be mentioned : - The tornado came from the west and was reported to have torn a swath through the forests south of Lake Superior for a hundred or more miles until it emerged at the river above the rapids. There it encountered the 800-ton side-wheel steamer, Sam Ward, which lay in its winter berth alongside a wharf, to the heavy oak timbers of which it was fastened with two anchor chains. The wind caused the timbers to be broken and shoved the steamer up the inclined banks, leaving it several hundred feet beyond the water line ! The owners had a large force employed for weeks in hauling it back to the place from which it started. A singular feature in the case was that while its heavy iron “smoke stack” was twisted 2O6 Fragmentary Episodes. - 207 off, its light cabin, frame work and window lights were not wrecked, a condition certainly quite inexplainable. On the beach near by was a large “York boat” or “batteaux” of perhaps thirty tons capacity, laid up for the winter. The wind raised this and carried it over a field on which small timber had been cut, leaving the stumps to act like a nutmeg grater. Each one took a piece from the boat until nothing remained but the gun- wale frame which was dropped whole at the end of the lot as a proof of former existenceſ Midway, facing the village street, stood a large two- story tavern. This had its roof raised, carried a half mile and dropped in the middle of the river below the rapids without a shingle falling by the way. The writer loaned the owner some vessel mainsails to cover the lower stories until a new roof could be provided. The ground sections were not materially impaired. Several dwellings were wrecked and occupants in some cases had their limbs broken in bed by falling debris. The little church, elsewhere mentioned, was raised, moved a few inches on its foundations, and dropped with such force as to give the shattered plastering the appear- ance of fish scales, but not otherwise injured. - On the lower level river docks bundles of iron rods were lifted and carried a score of feet or more. The storm was reported to have unroofed a settler's house on St. Joseph Island, taken a bed up with children sleeping on it and dropped them in a pasture uninjured. At seven o'clock that morning a building on the shores of Lake Cntario, between Hamilton and Toronto, was mentioned in the local newspapers as having been demol- ished by a storm which disappeared on the lake beyond. This was presumably the one that made havoc at the Sault and traversed the 350 miles of air line distance at a speed averaging over 70 miles per hour. 208 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. *—-,-, -------------> ... ----, . - : * - - - - - ---- - - - - ---------, -: , --- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~…, ----------------------wºrrºr-wºrs * - - - - “… • . . . . . …, riº AN IMPORTANT SAFE REFUGE. One guarantee of order at the Sault, fifty years ago. was the presence of a United States garrison at old Fort Brady, as the following incident in the case of a civil officer, needing a refuge, illustrated. A young Irishman in the canal forces had indulged in liquor drinking to excess and was discharged. This was followed by more indulgence and in a frenzied condition he met the agent on the canal reserve mounted on his favorite mouse-colored pony, elsewhere mentioned. The madman seized the horse-bridle and began a wordy abuse of the rider. The latter's first impulse was to draw back his heavy riding boot and with a blow from it lay the interloper low, but when he saw the blade of a long knife projecting from the latter's side pocket and his hand reaching for it, wisely slipped down from the saddle, walked to the town justice's office and had a war- rant issued for the offender with delivery to a constable. Meanwhile, the former led the pony into a near-by liquor shop and in bravado style proposed to pawn it for drinks for the crowd. While a general laugh was going round, the constable appeared with a warrant, the young man made a dash for the back yard with the officer after him, pistol in hand, which was fired (by accident, as the latter claimed), but the bullet killed the fugitive on the spot. When news reached the canal work “run-ways,” the Irishmen, to whom the victim was well-known, dropped their shovels and flocked to the fatal spot and began a search for the constable. He dodged about until com. pelled to leave cover, and make a run for the Fort. When seen on the street a rush was made for him and for a half mile or more he was running for life with hundreds in pursuit. He gained the pallisades gate, the sentry shut it after him, and ordered the crowd to halt outside. As the garrison appeared on the ground, the pursuers sul- lenly retired. & The excitement gradually subsided, no inquest was Fragmentary Episodes. 209 held, the agent paid for the constable's rations at the gar- rison until he could leave quietly and take passage on a steamer for “parts unknown.” A LAW ENFORCING JUDGE. Such was a proper complimentary title for Judge Daniel Goodwin, who, while a resident in the city of Detroit, was the circuit judge of the State Supreme court for the entire upper peninsula—then one judicial district with summer terms only—held in succession at the several county court towns. A small sized man of quiet personal carriage, he was a terror to evil doers as his sentences were impartial and usually maximum rather than minimum in penalties. A PECULIAR EXAMPLE. The State prosecuting attorney for Chippewa county, including the “Sault,” was about that time a “roystering” young man highly impressed with his official importance, a convivial expert and notoriously licentious. A married night watchman, when absent on vocation duties, found occasion to object to frequent visits at his house, but the official, not at all abashed, assumed to threaten the husband with legal penalties for creating social disturbances ! The scandal attracted the attention of third parties by whose advice the husband had the attorney brought into court. A change of venue to On- tonagon county was obtained and the trial took place there. On the steamer passing from the Sault, the attor- ney, who had a seat next to the judge at the cabin table, kept up a lively conversation, cracked jokes freely and was very jaunty in style, evidently anticipating an acquit- tal or a mistrial. In due course the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, the judge promptly sentenced him to a long term in the State's prison, and on the steamer's return voyage he was not allowed in the main cabin, but took his meals with the deck hands, and had shackles in restraint of personal freedom to such extent as the sher- 210 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. iff's deputy thought necessary to insure a delivery at Jackson (prison). Such examples were appreciated by the vicious ele- ment in the communities and law and order were respected accordingly. A NARROW ESCAPE. Mr. F was a carpenter and dealer in lumber in a small way at the Sault from whom some boards were taken for the company's use, before the price was fixed. When his claim was presented the agent reduced the price. The carpenter insisted upon his own valuation and made threats which finally took the form of accusing the agent of stealing the property, followed by a criminal suit against him on that charge, with a sworn affidavit on oath supporting the allegation. The case came before Judge Goodwin, who dismissed the charge as groundless, but the carpenter rather gloried in the annoyance the affair had caused the agent, by loss of time and enforced attendance in court. The latter, to even up that score, had the carpenter arrested on the charge of perjury, and the judge ordered the trial to proceed the next day. On reflection the defendant soon realized that he was in a serious predicament. If found guilty of a false oath which he had petulantly made, the judge would have the power to sentence him to a long term of imprisonment and would be likely to exercise it, which would ruin his prospects for life. He lost little time in finding whether the agent was disposed to be vindictive, was relieved from terrible suspense to hear him say that he considered the occurrence as the result of a hasty impulse, by a usually well-intentioned man, and would be ready, on request, to so state to the court, and ask that further proceedings be dismissed without costs. This was ratified in court after the judge had made some remarks on the danger of the sanctity of oaths being lightly esteemed. Fragmentary Episodes. 211 A number of years afterward, the agent was walking in a street of an eastern city when a man on the opposite side espied him, hurried across and grasped his hand. “Don’t you remember me?” said he, “I am the man who made a fool of myself at the Sault in trying to spite you; and you helped me out of a bad scrape. If I can ever return a favor to you, don’t fail to call on me!” LOCAL SOCIAL CONDITIONS. The Sault settlement, although the oldest on the con- tinent west of Montreal, had not thriven industrially or socially, as at the commencement of the second half of the nineteenth century it had no outlying farms to sup- port population or trade, no roads except the main village street, the nearest settlements were on the island of Mack- inac, sixty miles southwards, and at Marquette, one hun- dred and sixty miles west. It was completely isolated each year by the close of navigation for nearly six * months, or from about the middle of November to middle of May. Its fixed population (not counting the garri- son) was less than 500, of whom a majority were Indians and “half-breeds” with a sprinkling of white families among them. The most important residents were the doctor, the editor and publisher of the weekly paper (the only one north of Saginaw) and a recently arrived warehouse- man and land speculator. These formed a sort of bar- room-cabal which expected to have individually or col- lectively a potent voice in every matter of importance in the settlement. . When the canal work commenced, and the young agent took charge of it, they did not like his anti-bar attitude, but might have condoned that if they found financial results satisfactory. Their individual exper- iences were however quite the reverse. Doctor M commenced professional life as a blacksmith, but adopted the medical profession when scientific examinations were 212 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. not legally required. He had one specific for nearly all diseases, which was “calomel and jalap” in varied pro- portions. He was an expert checker player and, being the only medical man in the village, was accustomed to have patients wait for him to finish a game previously commenced. Therefore, when a messenger came from the canal office asking him to give attention to a workman with a broken leg, and he had just commenced a game of checkers, he sent a dose of calomel and jalap by the messenger, with directions to the injured man to take that and wait his arrival after he had finished the game he was then engaged in. It was to him a disquieting episode that he was never sent for again, a non-resident physician was soon induced to come there as the regular medical attendant at a liberal monthly salary, and a young surgeon from Canada was also patronized.* Dr. M became convinced that the canal work was being mismanaged, and made his opinions loudly known on the street and in the bar-rooms. Editor B. was the local receiver of land sales revenues for the United States. The agent deposited moneys with him, but when a considerable shortage remained unpro- vided for and a plot was disclosed to make fraudulent claims upon the construction company, the agent sus- pended relations with him and advised the directors of the cause. His weekly newspaper then began printing doleful accounts of the agent and of the canal progress. *In connection with the local medical conditions the following incident will be added: A young man named Saxton, from lower Michigan, obtained the position of a foreman on the work and brought his wife to the Sault. She became ill and seemed to be fading out of life with a slow fever. She longed for cold liquids but the doctor (recently appointed) did not allow their use. The distressed husband informed the agent, and he went to see her. Her face was as white as the pillow it rested on and her voice was reduced to a whisper. When asked what could be done for her, she murmured “ice cream.” The agent returned to the office and summoned the doctor. “Can the woman live?” was asked “Oh, no,” was the reply, “opiates are being given to reduce the pain until the end comes. What she wants will only increase her distress.” “Well,” said the agent, “if she is to die anyway she may as well die happy by having what she wants.” Word was sent to the sick woman that ice cream would arrive, and to the housekeeper at the “Agency” to make it and take to her. When it arrived she clutched the pitcher and would not let it go until she had finished the contents, then fell into a quiet sleep. Her continued longings for ice cream were also satisfied and a speedy and complete recovery of health was the final result! Fragmentary Episodes. 213 The third member of the cabal was Mr. W., who was the recent purchaser of a warehouse on the river's front which he wanted the company to hire at an exorbitant rental, and when the agent declined to rent it, his indig- nation was most pronounced, and his predictions of a woeful finale to the canal construction operations were made known without reserve. When navigation had closed, these aggrieved parties met in conclave with the result of at least keeping the village rumors circulating at a lively rate. Coal not being procurable in those days, a large amount of cord wood for the fifty shanties and otherwise was a necessity. A section of hard wood land was found near by, a shanty erected thereon, roads cut out to and through it, some forty men employed there as wood chop- pers; while with the advent of snow a large number of teams and sleds commenced moving thousands of cords of the wood to the canal premises. The cabal before indicated discovered that the new road crossed a tract of purchasable State swamp land and it was forthwith applied for in W.’s name. Then a written notice was sent to the agent forbidding the use of the road across it, expecting that terms would be humbly sought for, when a heavy bonus would be in order. Of course the notice was announced and dis- cussed about town and developments awaited. But no reply came, and the wood teams jogged along over the route as before. After prolonged consultations the cabal decided upon extreme measures. A number of French “habitants” or “half-breeds” were hired in Canada and set at work by night to chop down trees and have them fall so as to block all passing over the road. Word came to the agent and orders were sent back to the wood- chopper-gang to clear out the obstruction, which was done during the day, and the next morning business went on as usual. The cabal at its next bar-room conference decided to increase the obstructing force and have it work 214 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. by daylight in vindication of legal rights to their landed property. But when the new operations commenced, ominous sounds were heard in the distance followed by the appearance of the wood-choppers corps in military rank and file, axes on shoulder with the cook in front beating a large metal kettle slung from his neck, evidently considering himself equal to the functions of a brass band ' When the Canadian forces were sighted, wild yells, outdoing Camanche Indians, reverberated through the woods, while the choppers brandishing their axes as tomahawks made a rush for the Canadians, when the latter turned and fled to the ice covered river, nor stopped until its northern shores were reached in safety. All propositions to induce them to return were found to be fruitless | The cabal discussed the situation and decided that such “trampling on the rights of American citizens” must not be longer tolerated, and as injunctions were at that season obtainable only at Detroit and beyond reach, the agent must be held personally responsible. Mr. W. pro- cured a brace of old-fashioned horse pistols, loaded the same in the crowded bar-room and announced that if trespassing on his property continued for three days longer by “the official instigator of the outrages,” his blood would be shed, and justice, if not law, vindicated Excitement in the village was, if possible, increased. The agent had a call from the clergyman whose ministrations he attended, to urge his coming to an understanding with the malcontents on the ground that his life was too valu- able to be jeopardized in such a matter. The last night of the three days of grace found the cabal in session at the House. W. with his pistols was there and also many eager onlookers. Suddenly the door opened with a slam and Foreman Saxton entered dressed in the extreme of Texan cow-boy style—pants tucked into his boots—wearing a sombrero hat, a red flannel shirt, a broad belt wherein were two Fragmentary Episodes. 215 pairs of pistols and a couple of long “bowie knives.” With waving arms Saxton shouted that word had been passed around among the canal gangs that some of the villagers were talking about a fight with them, and a man named W. was to be a leader of the fray. The gangs were at first disposed to come in a body and join in a first-class “bout,” but it was finally decided that as they would not know when, or where to stop, “a single combat” was better, and he was chosen to represent them. He did not know W. personally, but had heard him de- scribed as a white livered sneaking sort of a “cuss” and he would give any of those present five dollars to point him out and guarantee that he would stand up like a man and fight to the death with either pistols or bowie knives | A hush fell over the crowd. No one had a word to say, and after Swaggering about in theatrical style Saxton departed to visit the bar-room of the other hotel, ostensibly to seek W. there. On the bandit's departure, W. hastily took his pistols to his room and the same were seen no more. The meetings were discontinued, the sub- ject dropped, and the cord wood teams finished the sea- son’s work in good time. But the newspaper’s unfavorable reports were widely quoted by the outside press and of course attracted the attention of the Canal Construction Company directors residing in the Eastern States. A meeting was held and a committee of three appointed to investigate matters at the Sault, at the opening of navigation. They came and were delighted to find the reports utterly unfounded. The work was proceeding with the utmost order and energy, and marvelous progress had been made. Spon- taneously they addressed a letter to the agent in the hand- writing of Mr. J. W. Brooks, then general manager and chief engineer of the Michigan Central Railroad, which is before the compilers at this writing and a transcript is inserted as a marginal note;* while a photo facsimile of the original will be found on following page. º - - - - | 4. - 2. A z. z. … … - - |- - zºº º … & 2--~~~ -- - - - - - º, º ºr ºº ºz º & cº- … ºr ~~~– º – -- . º- . . -> º 2 -º-º: ºr x - … . -- º º – º – * * * * * * ~ * * * ~ *-* --- --~~ --~~~~ º - . . . . -º- - ºr ~ * …-e-.… … … … º zºº º 'º - … . … -- - - - - - - º A ºr * º _º. º º º --~~~~ * ~ * * * * * * * --~ - - – º –- --~~ º -- ºr ºº / e º 'º - .… … º ºxº-º e º ºx. 2 ... … º … cº- __ … **º. - / * …º. ºº & 2 -º a 2- * ~ *º ºvº -> *-* - º- -º- º --- º --- º º - …º. º º 'º - ~~~~ * ~ *… … … … -- * * * ~ *- --~~~ - *- -/- - - -º- ºr º - -- - - - - - … -- º -- º - - - - - - - -- - --- * * * * * * ~~~~ - * * . . . . º … … -- --- - - -- --> - - - - -º-º: -- … º * - - -º-º: - º º 'º- º - - - - _º. ºf º- Fragmentary Episodes. 217 The directors’ letter referred to has been preserved, and is of such an extraordinary character that a facsimile photo has been made and printed on the opposite leaf, the two pages in the original being made into one in the copy. The special reference to the cabal is emphasized in the copy but not in the original. S. M. F. S. Canal Company’s Office, Sault Ste. Marie, June 8, 1854. Charles T. Harvey, Esq., Dear Sir—We have been here upon the work of the canal now something over a week, having investigated the prógress which has been made in its construction as well as the manner of keeping the accounts, etc. We think it is but just to yourself and we assure you it is very gratifying to us to place in your hands some written evidence of our views upon the conduct of this enterprise. We feel that the public and even not a member of our Board have any just appreciation of the difficulties surround- ing the execution of so great a work in a locality so remote from everything requisite to its progress. We feel that in consideration of the difficulties presented the progress has been such as to show much energy and perseverance in its execution. It is gratifying to us to know that your integrity of pur- pose and action is far above the reach of those whose praise we should deplore, and that it is appreciated by a large circle of intelligent citizens here as well as among the stockholders of our company who are also indebted to you for the success secured by your promptness in the selection of their very valuable mineral lands. - - We will simply close by a cordial approval of your work thus far and congratulate you upon the success under very great difficulties with which the work has been so far con- ducted. We are Very respectfully yours, J. W. BROOKS, - ERASTUS FAIRBANKS, JOHN F. SEYMOUR. & ;.- g gs | 218 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. ~~~~~~~...~i=x-> → The reference to the cabal is especially noticeable. While quartered at the “Agency” the occurrences herein recited were rehearsed to their great amusement, as also some other more comical collateral incidents of which brevity forbids suitable mention. A needed spring vacation was taken by the agent during which he made a short call upon his aged parents in New England. The pained expression on the face of his mother on greeting him, and her request that he would give her full particulars of the disasters he had experienced during the winter, that she might sympathize more fully with him, led to the discovery that B. had obtained her address and was sending her gratis copies of the Sault newspaper containing slurs upon .ler son, and lies about the progress of the work AFTERMATIH. Time's subsequent kaleidoscopic changes in the per- sonal relations and conditions of some of those herein- before mentioned deserves brief mention. The agent, after the completion of the canal, took charge of the com- pany’s lands which he selected for it in the upper penin- sula with an office at Marquette. A few years later he :esigned that position to act as engineer gi the first mail road to Lake Superior from the south, of which he was the constructor under an arrangement with the United States government; was also projector, promoter, and engineer of the first railroad to reach Lake Superior from any direction and which is now a division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. Through his efforts at Wash- ington, nearly four millions of acres of land was donated by congress for that and other railways in Michigan. In 1864 he changed his residence to New York State, with an office in New York city, while engaged in various engineering undertakings. In 1895 he made a tour in Canada which led to his engaging in engineering matters and removing a year or two later to Toronto, where he is Fragmentary Episodes. 219 at present domiciled and in active exercise of his profes- sion as a railway promoter and engineer. Of the cabal trio, Doctor M. retired into obscurity, leaving no available annals for present reference. Editor B. took a downward course. His paper changed hands. He left the Sault under a cloud, lived in very straightened circumstances at Detour on the Sault river, near Lake Huron, for a time, and later removed to Ohio. Speculator W. left the Sault soon after the canal was completed, and led a very checquered life. At one time reported as making large profits in promoting bank charters in Canada, at another as being a prominent negotiator of French capi- tal for investment in the United States, occasionally attending levees of the Emperor in court dress, including knee breeches and a side sword ' One day in the “eigh- ties” the ex-agent, when walking near his office, then on Broadway, New York city, was surprised by being ac- costed by a man in the garb of a tramp with ragged clothes and broken shoes whom he recognized as W. formerly of the Sault. When told by the latter that he had not had food for two days, he took him to a near-by restaurant and gave him a turkey dinner while hearing of his latest run of “bad luck” as he termed it. Afterwards he was a frequent visitor at the ex-agent’s office who aided him in resuming a “presentable” appear- ance, and also in starting a book agency business in a small way—which however did not prove a success. He found other friends, but failing eyesight required an at- tendant to lead him about for a time until his decease occurred a few months later. • ** CHARLES. T. HARVEY. 1884. CHARLES. T. HARVEY. 1904. CHAPTER IX. ONE OF . “NATURE'S NOBLEMEN” UNEXPECTEDLY DISCOVERED. When construction operations on the canal at the Sault, in 1853, were under way and working smoothly, I looked over to the Canadian side of the river with cur- iosity to discover what there might be of interest there. Aside from an unoccupied substantial stone dwelling house about opposite the “Agency” there was not a build- ing in sight* until the eye rested on the formidable Hud- son, Bay. Fur Company’s fort at the bend of the river, where the immense pulp and paper mills now stand. The fort occupied a couple of acres or more, enclosed by a high pallisade barrier and with stone and timber overhanging bastions or block houses at the corners (one of which is still preserved, and a photo is inserted on oppo- site page), with loop holes for muskets or other fire- arm defense on the same plan as the original Fort Brady on the Michigan side then occupied by a garrison of United States regulars. Inside the stockade was the chief factor's residence, the retail store, the large store houses and clerks’ or re- tainers’ quarters. On enquiring about the personnel of the fur company's employees, I was told that the agent, styled the “chief factor,” was a Mr. James Hargreave, who ruled the “post” in an autocratic way, that he was very austere in appearance, brusque in his manner, and did not take kindly to “Yankee” visitors, who had learned to avoid him, and some called him a “bear.” *The river bank on the Canadian side was lined with a dense thicket of alder bushes and small evergreen trees, which hid the few “half-breed’s” one-story houses, on what is now the main street, from sight on the other side of the St. Mary’s river. 222 Remaining “bastion” located at one of the corners of the Fort of the Hudson Bay Company, at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the other three bastions and intervening palisades having been demolished in making room for water-power improvements. F===----- ---…- : g: - - - - -, -g- > * : - - - - -er - - - - - - - ; : : | 224 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. ' This reputation increased my desire to see him and judge for myself, so one day I had the canal company tug land me at the Hudson Bay Company dock and wait while I proceeded to inspect the fort and its residents. On knocking at the door of what was evidently the main residence, a maid appeared from whom I learned that the “chief factor” was within, and I was ushered into a spac- ious reception room. Soon the opposite door opened and the chief appeared. He certainly has not been misrepre- sented, was my inner thought as I scanned his figure and facial profile. A heavy broad shouldered man of medium height, about fifty years old—a broad face, shaggy eye- brows, deep set eyes and a heavy head of hair, standing straight up like a bear's, made him look the reverse of jovial Without offering me his hand or a chair when I arose, I opened conversation by saying, “My name is Harvey. I am the general agent of the construction com- pany which has commenced the work of building the ship canal on the other side of the Falls, and am also land agent of the State of Michigan, to act for it with the United States government. I have noticed your formid- able fortification, and learning that you were the chief factor of the great Hudson Bay Fur Company, which seems to be almost the sole occupant on this side, it seemed that as we are about equal in rank, we ought to know each other, and finding that I am the youngest, it seems proper that I should show due deference by being the first to make a formal official call.” I then extended my hand, and in turn was asked to take a seat. Conver- sation followed, and I soon found that I was meeting a very intelligent and well bred gentleman. After a time he rang a bell, and on a servant's responding he said, as near as recollection serves, “Take this key, go to the inner wine closet and bring me the bottle in the padded wicker basket, with small glasses.” While the messenger was absent, he said: “Mr. Harvey, I will frankly say that I feel much gratified by the compliment you have One of “Nature's Noblemen” Discovered. 225 paid me in calling as you have, and I will show my ap- preciation by asking you to drink to the health of the Queen in some Madeira wine that has nearly two cen- turies of age and cannot be matched in quality in your country I presume, or anywhere else except in the vaults of the chief offices of this ancient corporation. It was purchased and stored soon after this company was char- tered by King Charles the Second, about 1670-5. A bot- tle or two is sometimes sent from London to the officers of my rank, and I will now do what I have never done before to any of your countrymen, as a mark of esteem for yourself personally—ask you to join me in a glass of what our company’s officials call ‘King Charles Ma- deira.’” Upon this he filled my glass and, raising his own, waited my response. He little surmised the con- flict going on in my brain, which culminated in my stam- mering out the words, “I will have to ask you to excuse me!” The look of amazement as he replaced his glass on the table, and then of rising anger—which made his face look like a thunder cloud—and with the swelling veins, was suggestive of apoplexy! As he remained speech- less he impressed me with the feeling that whatever was to be said to allay a storm must be uttered instantly, and I broke the silence by saying: “My dear sir, I beg that you will allow me to explain my position briefly thus: First, I am almost morbidly sensitive on the subject of temperance, I joined a total abstinence society in my ‘teens’ when moved by the matchless eloquence of that temperance apostle, John B. Gough, and have re-signed the pledge whenever a new society or meeting came my way, until I think in some nine or ten instances I have passed my word of honor not to use wine as a beverage. Secondly, if I had not become thus bound, I should do the same as a protest against the frauds going on in my country in spurious wines and liquors of all kinds, which you on this side do not have to look out for to the same 226 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. extent, probably. But, beyond this, I have to set my face as a flint in that regard because I am in control of about 2,000 men who are in daily temptation from scores of grog shops with their deadly liquor fumes almost under their noses while at work. They all know that I am a teetotaller—and hold all deviations from that line to be the subject of strict discipline—and am thus able to maintain a fair degree of order, which if I should set an example of indulgence would open the gates of a local hell. Hence it is a principle that impels me—not a lack of appreciation of your courtesy.” During these remarks I could see that his features gradually relaxed their tension. For a minute or two after my words ceased he did not speak, then raising his hand and bringing it down on the table with a force that . imperiled the glassware thereon, he exclaimed: “Young man, you are right! You are right! Your adhesion to your principles I admire, and heartily approve. Don’t change them But,” he added, after a pause, “I hope that we may not be prevented from drinking to the health of the Queen after all—would you object to doing so over a glass of raspberry ‘shrub’?” “Oh, no,” I replied, “I am not pledged against that.” The servant was recalled, the bottle of wine removed, and one of raspberry juice (called “shrub” thereabouts) was substituted. We then touched glasses, and—the crisis was passed His wife, a Scottish lady, was called in and with a bevy of small children introduced. A cordial leave-taking took place, with an assurance that my call would be returned. When the long winter days came round, Mr. Hargreave ac- cepted my invitation to spend a week or two at the “Agency,” and brought wife and children with him. It was hard to decide which of us enjoyed those social hours the most. Neither of us played cards, but a game of chess we both enjoyed. In conversation he proved to be very entertaining. He was well posted in history and kept abreast of the times One of “Nature's Noblemen” Discovered. 227 in literature, but there was one topic to which he had given special attention, namely heredity. He considered that certain races of men owed their pre-eminence to qualities of blood transmitted from one generation to another, and the purer the strain the higher the grade of excellence would become. On his pinnacle stood the Scotchmen l Next came Englishmen, and the hope for the Yankees, like myself, was our ability to trace back our lineage to one of those races. When he was informed that my mother's name was Selden, the granddaughter of the “Continental” colonel who raised the first regiment in New England that joined Washington's army, and who commanded at the only battle fought within the original limits of New York city, where, in the vicinity of Twenty- third street and Third avenue, his regiment blocked the advance of the British forces—over twenty times more in number—until Washington, Putnam, and other gen- erals had time to escape capture via the North river road and Kings bridge—that Colonel Selden was captured, as inevitable, but his captors admired his bravery so much that when he died of his wounds they accorded him the almost unprecedented honor to a “rebel” of giving him a military funeral, with full honors, as if he had been ill their own ranks; also that some of the same blood was in my veins as in the Dudleys and Spencers who were then on the list of peerages in England, all doubts in his mind of my ultimate salvation, so far as heredity was concerned, were dispelled, and to him I became more like a blood relative than an adopted son 1 All reserve was cast aside, while I regarded him as one of the most noble minded and loveable men I ever met. As corporation agents, we transacted considerable business. The Hudson Bay Company posts on the north shore of Lake Superior then carried on fishing operations, and my commissary purchases of salted fish from that source, through him, amounted to hundreds of barrels. But woe to the stranger who was not dignified and punc- JAMES HARGREAVE. Chief Factor Hudson Bay Company. One of “Nature's Noblemen” Discovered. 229 tilious in his presence | One time, when calling to see him, a governor of one of the States went with me; when introduced, the governor said, “Ah, yes, glad to see you— where were you raised?” “Sir,” said the chief factor, straightening up, and with an air suited to the inside of a refrigerator, “I was born in Scotland, educated in Edin- burgh, and have performed my official duties in Canada.” The governor felt as though something had “hit” him, but what he did not surmise ! The chief factor shortly after said to me in an under- tone, “In Scotland we raise cattle, but children and men we educate.” The following year he received leave of absence and took his family to Scotland. While there his wife died. In writing to me of the sad event he asked me to indite an obituary notice of her, for publica- tion in her native place, which of course I did. Then came a letter saying that he had found a book of the famous John Selden (esteemed the most learned man of his time) with his autograph on the title page, who he presumed was of the same family as my mother's ances- tors of that name, and would therefore be specially prized by me, and to give an additional interest, he had sent the book by the Hudson Bay Company vessel to Fort York with instructions to have it go overland to Fort Garry (now the city of Winnipeg) and thence to my address. The volume came safely, and was of course of great intrinsic value, and highly prized by me, but was de- stroyed by fire in my later residence at Tarrytown, New York. He learned of this, and after searching over Eng- land could not find another purchaseable similarly placed autograph of Selden, but as it proved, bought another book by the same author. He wrote to me that he had married again, had retired from active service in the fur company with the usual pension, had bought a place on the St. Lawrence river at Brockville, Ontario, to spend his remaining years in, urging me to come and see him there, also sending his likeness as reproduced herein.” In *See likeness on opposite leaf. 230 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. the meantime I had become engrossed in matters absorb- ing my time and attention, and did not reply, and our correspondence ceased altogether. Years flew by until in 1876 I had for the first time occasion to go to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, via Montreal. Returning I took a short route via Central New York, crossing the St. Lawrence at Brockville. When on the train I wondered what made that name seem so familiar. After a time it flashed on my mind as the one mentioned years before in Mr. Hargreave’s letters as his home. I at Once determined to leave my train there and call upon liim. On arrival I called at the post office to make en- quiries, and was informed that he had died there a few months before, but that his second wife was living at his former home a mile or two from town. As I had never met her I went to the hotel to wait for the next train. Soon after, I was surprised by a call from the widow, whom the postmaster had informed of my enquir- ies, and she had come to find who the stranger was. On learning my name, she expressed great pleasure at meet- ing one about whom, as she said, her husband had told her so much. She informed me that one of the little girls I used to see at the Sault was married and lived near by. It was arranged that I was to be taken in a carriage to the Hargreave house, and to dine at the daughter’s before train time. The widow called for me and we rode to her residence—beautifully situated by the river. After looking over the grounds and buildings we went to the library. “Now,” said she, “my husband's will provided that if you came here to see him, another copy of John Sel- den's works, which he had bought and kept hoping to present to you himself, should be delivered to you as a token of his regard and remembrance, and here it is l’” That copy is still near me and the title page is repro- duced herewith as a memento of the giver. T R A C TS Written by JOHN SELDEN O F T H E. I N N E R - T E M P L E , Eſquire. The Firſt Entituled, } ANI ANGLOROM FACIES ALTERA, rendred into Engliſh, with large Notes thereupon, by R E D MAN W E S T C 0 T, Gent. The Second, E N G L A N D's EP I N O M I S. The Third, Of the Original of E CC L E S I ASTICAL juriſdićtions of Teſtaments. - The Fourth, Of the Diſpoſition or Adminiſtration of Inteſtates Goods. - 3Che Tºtt laſt neotr befort frtant. L O N D O N , Printed for Thomas Baſſet at the George in Fleet-ſtreet, and Richard. Chiſwell at the Roſe and Crown in S. Paul’s Church-Yard. M D C L XXXIII. 232 Reminiscences of the Sault Canal. After a pleasant repast at the daughter's home I took my departure. In 1901—twenty-five years later—I was next in Brockville. Again I waited over a train and made en- quiries. None of the Hargreave family then lived there. The widow had returned to Scotland, the daughter removed elsewhere, and the place had been sold. When I walked out to that locality, behold the buildings had disappeared, and a magnificent mansion, said to be the finest country residence in Canada, occupied the site. The half century covered by this narration had witnessed such changes and effacements, that the Selden book and the likeness of a face, grown much more benignant in ex- pression than when I first saw it—are the only aids left to memory. My parting apostrophe to it in scriptural phrase, is “Behold” a Nature's nobleman “indeed in whom was no guile!” CHARLFS T. HARVEY. Toronto, June, 1905. NoTE—LIVING WITNESSES OF INCIDENTS MENTIONED. Extract from Editorial in Sault News, July 29, 1905. The editor of the News has received special “proof” pages of a Souvenir Volume of Reminiscences of the Pioneer Sault Ship Canal as narrated by its construction promoter, manager and engineer, Charles T. Harvey, but gathered from various magazinés and reviews, with additions by the compilers whose hames appear in the introduction. Immediately on receipt of these pages the News found on inquiry that there were two persons living in town who were employed on or lived near the canal before its completion. One is our well known citizen Mr. Andrew Blank of 434 W. Portage avenue and the other Mrs. Edward Trelease of 318 Douglass street. A News reporter called upon them with the pages in hand and after reading the same Mr. Blank said: “I can certify to the reliability of many of the statements from personal knowledge and believe all of them are substantially correct. I remem- ber the constable shooting the young Irishman mentioned on page 208 and saw the chase of the constable towards old Fort Brady, but my recollection is that while the Irishman died from the effects of the constable’s shot, he lingered several days and was cared for at the Rapids Island hospital, which Mr. Harvey established for the canal workmen.” Mr. Blank said that the mouse colored pony mentioned on page 151 was the most intelligent animal of that kind he ever saw. y When left (usually saddled) by Mr. Harvey standing near the canal and it saw the men running to be out of the way of an impending blast in the canal lock bottom, it would not always wait for the sound, but start on the rush with the men, and when the shower of rocks was over, would return with them to where his master left him, but when not near the men or when hitched to a buggy it would act by sound as mentioned. Mr. Blank referred to the tornado mentioned on page 206 as the most terrible thunder storm he had ever witnessed. He made a record of it as occurring on April 18th, 1855, at 11:30 p. m. and at its height the whole heavens seemed to be one blaze of lightning, while thunder shook the earth and the wind roared as it caught the buildings and tossed them about with irresistible force. - Other incidents were referred to by Mr. Blank who came to work on the canal in 1854 and continued with the same until Mr. Harvey opened the sluice gates as mentioned on page 166 of which event Mr. Blank was a spectator. Mrs. Trelease was next interviewed who said that she came to the Soo in 1849 with her husband and had a large three story boarding house fronting on what is now Portage avenue near the canal about midway of its length. Their house was filled with foremen of the working gangs and skilled mechanics who wanted a better style of board than the canal company pro- vided in its steward system of shanties for the mass of unskilled laboring men. She remembered Foreman Saxton, mentioned on pages 212-214 as a very vivacious young man who boarded with her until his wife arrived. She also recalled Dr. M. mentioned on pages 211 and 212 to mind and said that she should never forget him, as her child and brother-in-law died while under his care, and she believed that her husband would have followed on the same road during a terrible typhoid fever if she had not called in another doctor who was temporarily within reach. Her recollection is that 233 k * * |- ... ºr *... " f Dr. M.’s favorite game was chess, and that this kept the patients waiting longer than checkers, which the doctor doubtless also engaged in. She next referred to the hurricane phenomena mentioned on page 206 and said that it was such a fearful scene that the feeling of herself and others was that the end of the world had come. Also that the tavern mentioned on page 207 was the next building but one to her home and was owned by a man named Hoskins, whose family fled to her house after the storm àbated, which carried the roof of their house into the middle of the river. Among the freaks of the wind was the picking up of a heavy broad axe on her premises and carrying it across the canal where it was dropped without injury. - - Mrs. Trelease is now a widow but is very hale and hearty for one of her years. - With such corroborating witnesses to these “reminiscences” the reliability of the incidents mentioned in them cannot be doubted. & In the whole realm of literature it can be safely said, that this volume is unique. The happenings arising in connection with the contruction of a great public work were never before, we opine, woven into a veritable series of romances as in this case. - Should a later edition appear, we would recommend that the highest artistic talent be engaged to illustrate some of the scenes depicted so graph- ically in the text. 234. PREFACE TO PART FOURTH. Mention was made in the introduction to PART THIRD of a promise by the original Sault Canal Chief Engineer that in case a second edition of “Reminiscences” was called for, he would prepare for it an account of his perilous retreat from Lake Superior shores by snow-shoe, row-boat and sleigh, in the winter of 1855-6, and of the marvelous results of that journey in securing national aid, not only for the pioneer railway to that region, but for over 6,000 additional miles of railway, since built in seven other states. - This promise it will be seen is fulfilled in the follow- ing pages, the manuscript “copy” for which was not forthcoming until the closing weeks of this year—1905. The fact should not be overlooked, that the same Engineer was the contract constructor of the first mail and stage road to Lake Superior from the south, affording connection in 1861-3 with steamers on Green Bay to the railways extending northward in Wisconsin. Of the development of that pioneer utility the compiler of this volume was an interested observer under circum- stances referred to in the local Press at Sault Ste. Marie, as published during the Celebration-Week, and reproduced in PART SECOND, Chapter II, page 60. It seems appro- priate to add in this connection a brief biographical note, respecting the author of the following pages; 235 He was born at the parsonage of the parish of West Chester, in the town of Colchester, State of Connecticut, referred to by him on page 257. His father, Rev. Joseph Harvey, D.D., was a direct descendent of the Puritan Governor Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, and his mother, Catherine D. Selden, was a granddaughter of the Continental Commander- mentioned on page 227. After receiving the education afforded by the common schools and academies of New England, he chose a busi- ness career, and at about the age of 15, became a clerk in a country store. After changing his business location several times, in 1850, he entered the service, as sales agent, of the Messrs Fairbanks, the celebrated inventors and manufacturers of the first platform scales. His rise was rapid, until in 1852, he became their general western agent, when his personal narrative in Part Third commences. Next, came the period stated in Part Four, after which he became Chief Engineer of the first Government Post Road to Lake Superior, and also of the first railway to those shores. He coincidentally engaged in iron smelting in Marquette County, Michigan, as mentioned on page 139. During this time he built a dam on a novel plan devised by him, on one of the largest rivers entering into Lake Michigan, (where is now the City of Manistique), which has been in use for over 40 years. In 1865 he undertook to solve the engineering problem of furnishing rapid transit for New York City, and removed his residence to that vicinity. He devised, and 236 sº there introduced the first elevated street railway ever seen in the world, and was also the first engineer to utilize wire cables in moving passenger cars, which was also first used at that time. It is safe to say that no one walked the streets of New York, who individually contributed as much to the comfort of the inhabitants of that city, or to its rapid extension northward as did the author of its elevated rail- way system. The development of electrical power, then unknown, has since superceded the use of cables as origi- nally planned. - He was selected as a member of the first Isthmanian Inter Oceanic-Canal Board of Advisory Engineers, and his report was published by order of Congress, in which he recommended the “Nicaragua Route.” In 1899 he was invited to address The Engineering Society of the School of Practical Science of the Uni- versity of Toronto, and chose as his subject “THE CON- JUNCTION OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CEN- TURIES FROM AN ENGINEERING STAND-POINT,” from which the following extracts are taken : “Engineers of the highest class are born, not made. Technical Education is helpful, but not determinative of the quality, or strength of will power, you need to best succeed in your profession. If I were to estimate your prospects for eminence in it, I might not ask what technical works you were studying but would inquire what class of books you like best to read, and what your amusements are. Some fifty years ago a lad of about twelve years of age left to choose his own amusements, selected a small water course, and without suggestion or attention from anyone, proceded to build a culvert over it, made of lath placed in a new form of construction, and when, after days of working 237 in the muck, he had it built on a good foundation, proceeded to cover it with a pathway earth embankment, and not satisfied with its sustaining that, loaded a wheelbarrow with stones and set it on the centre of the span. The satisfaction felt, at finding no deflection in the structure under such pressure, he deemed sufficient compensation for days of hard work. Less than forty years later he had attained the unique Engineering distinction of having supervised the building of a ship canal outclassing all others on the globe—not only in lock dimen- sions, but eventually in volume of transit tonnage. This occurred the same year-in the 80's, that a novel style of railway, also originated by him, exceeded any other in the number of passengers per mile transported over it. If you were to ask him how that distinction was attained, he would tell you that he attributed it, not to a technical education—for which his opportunities were few—but in the choice he made in his amusements and reading.” It is unnecessary to state the name of the lad thus mentioned; that the speaker was referring to his own y earlier days, “goes without saying.” S. V. E. H. 238 PART FOURTH. *- PROMOTING THE FIRST RAILWAY TO LAKE SUPERIOR. By CHARLES T. HARVEY. CHAPTER I. ENGINEERING A NEW HARBOR. Soon after the acceptance of the Sault Canal by the State of Michigan in May, 1855, the writer took a short vacation in a trip to the Eastern States, and returning, visited Marquette and Ontonagon to make arrangements for managing, as local agent, the Upper Peninsula Canal lands, which he had selected to the extent of about 140,000 acres, in part payment for the canal work, as elsewhere mentioned. On visiting Ontonagon he found that the want of harbor facilities along the coast from Copper Harbor to La Pointe (now Ashland), a distance of about 160 miles, was a serious drawback to the prosperity of the copper mining industries recently developed there. During the previous autumn, storms had prevented the landing of a full quota of winter supplies. In consequence of the shortage, scores of miners, for fear of famine, undertook to find their way south through the hundreds of miles of wilderness to the settlements in lower Wisconsin. Reports of terrible hardships and even loss of life along the scantily “blazed” (i. e. marked) indian trails were received afterwards at the places from which the men migrated. - 239 240 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. The effect was severely felt in the curtailment of min- ing work the next year in the Ontonagon district, and in the decreased value of its lands. The writer concluded that a navigable entrance could be made into the Ontona- gon River, by confining its current across a sand flat, about half a mile in width, where only about four (4) feet of water was ordinarily to be found. His offer to supervise the testing of the plan was accepted by the county authorities and by the leading mining companies so promptly that he made arrangements to start the work that season—with the result that the following year (1856) a nine (9) foot channel was obtained, and the propeller “General Taylor,” with a full cargo of pro- visions, entered the river late in the season, and remained there, taking a load of copper out the next spring (1857). The saving to the mining companies for that year was estimated at five times greater than the cost of the im- provements.” [One of the novel devices used was that of controlling the river currents by fascine mattresses, a plan which Capt. Eads adopted, over ten years later, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, on a larger and more per- manent scale.] The installation of the harbor experiment, which was placed in charge of Captain T. M. Hubbell (who had been one of the principal assistants in the Sault Canal work), brought the writer to Ontonagon late in the season of 1855, and together with certain land explorations to find suitable timber for the harbor piers led him to trust to leaving on the last steamer of the year going eastward, which was the “Planet,” Captain Easterbrook. *The improvement being of a temporary nature, the authorities agreed to pay a yearly sum to have the channel maintained at a specified depth, which the writer undertook to do by unique special mechanical appliances. Certain local demagogues concluded that the benefits could be had without the stipulated payments, and had sufficient influence to have the same repudiated. The writer suspended operations, and the channel filled up to such an extent that the steamer “Sunbeam,” on which the principal advocates of the county's bad faith had taken passage, did not dare to attempt an entrance during a sudden violent gale, but was capsized outside in the lake and all on board went down with the boat, excepting one deck hand, who floated ashore on a piece of the wreckage. Engineering a New Harbour. 241 Returning from the woods on the 17th of November,” the writer was pleased to find the “Planet” just leaving for La Pointe, to return eastward in a day or two. On the 19th, or two days later, he awoke at the Bigelow House (then the only two story hotel on Lake Superior shores), to find that the “Planet” had made a brief land- ing in the night, but the porter had failed to call him as promised, and the last opportunity for a comfortable exit from those pathless shores in the next six months had vanished . A suspicion that this serious omission of hostelry duty was not accidental or guileless was strengthened by the fact that my traveling companion occupying an adjoining room was likewise suffered to slumber on, although landlord Van Anden was to see him called to go on the “Planet” with me. *One incident connected with the land inspections will be mentioned. The writer, with two companions, went into the woods lying south of the two branches of the Ontonagon River, crossing one branch by boat but on their return the boat was missing, and the only alternative was to cross on an improvised raft. The weather was cold, and the river banks were lined with ice, which had to be broken to launch the raft. When in the current the weight of the three persons proved more than the raft could float, and as the writer was the only swimmer in the trio, he had the “Hobson Choice” of plunging in and swimming across, having to break the shore ice to make a landing, while the remaining two floated across. One of these was named Emerson, since deceased, and the other was B. W. Wright, now Deputy Treasurer of Marquette County, Mich. The party then had to walk several miles—the writer's clothes being frozen and stiff—to reach the nearest resting place, at the “Minnesota Mine.” REMARKS.–Considering that the incident mentioned in the foregoing note was one in which another person now living was concerned, the compiler ad- dressed a letter to him, enslosing a copy of this note, asking his recollections of the same, to be accompanied by his likeness, and was favored with a reply dated Office of Treasurer of Marquette County, Marquette, Jan. 5th. 1906, from which the following extracts are taken. S. W. E. H. B. W. Wright. “Regarding my remembrance of the experiences of Mr. C. T. Harvey, Mr. George Emerson and myself in crossing the Ontonagon River on that cold 242 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. However indignant the feeling caused by the hotel proprietors omission of duty, coupled with disinclimation to swell his profits by the additional revenue incident to the enforced detention, all outward manifestations of the same were suppressed as both useless and impolitic, the only sensible course being to accept the situation, and make the best of it. As no road then existed between settlements on the shores of Lake Superior, or towards those southward in Wisconsin, the outlook for a release from this unexpected captivity was certainly not cheering. The nearest post road was at Stevens Point, 250 miles distant, and the nearest railway station, at Janesville, 150 miles farther southeast of that point. To reach the nost road an indirect, poorly marked Indian trail must be fol- lowed through an unbroken wilderness, without an inter- vening habitation. As the writer had decided to establish his Land Agency Office at Marquette the next summer, he preferred to make that a “stop over place” on his way south, if the difficulties of reaching roads in Wisconsin from there were not too great, about which he had very scant infor- mation. day in the latter part of November, 1855, I can say that memory kindly recalls the incident. I was then a youth of seventeen, just from the city, and the mighty forests through which we passed, and the rugged hills over which we climbed in the deep snow, made a lasting impression. * * * If you will pardon me, I would like to add a litle to Mr. Harvey’s sketch, which in the main, agrees with my recollections. “On getting our bearings (after crossing) we found a log cabin near by, which not only suggested a shelter, but a chance to Jry our garments. There being no response to our knocks, we entered without further ceremony, and found a lively fire blazing in the cook stove. Supposing we were the fortunate sole occupants, we proceeded to take advantage of the genial warmth, by partially disrobing, that we might dry our soaking garments, when a warning grunt startled us, and our eyes becoming better focused to the dim light of the cabin, we saw a squaw with her “papoose” lying upon a “bunk” in the corner of the room. - “Being unable to induce her to talk, we realized that we were not only intruders, but unwelcome, and beat a hasty retreat, striking the trail of the Minnesota Mine about three miles distant. . * * * I have no photo of that immediate time, but send the nearest to it taken some time after. Sincerely yours, B. W. Wright.” Deciding on Overland Route. 243 To adopt that route was to follow the road lead- ing to the famous “Minnesota Mine” and eastward min- ing camps for about 20 miles, thence by Indian trail for 60 miles to the Methodist Church Mission of L'Ance, at the head of Keweenaw Bay. From thence an Indian mail- carriers’ trail led to Marquette, 100 miles farther south- ward. Although the route via L'Ance was the longest in mileage, as it had more intervening settlements where we could obtain aid in our perilous journey, it was considered the most desirable, and finally adopted. - The Indian (half breed) monthly winter mail carrier was consulted, and as his service commenced when the swamps were frozen over sufficiently to bear his weight, and as he named Monday, December 3rd, as a presumably safe time to start, that date was fixed accordingly and his services as guide engaged. A powerful train-dog with harness and sledge was secured, as also blankets, but a tent was omitted as too weighty for conveyance. *The writer visited this mine in 1852, during his first trip to Lake Superior mining regions, as mentioned in chapter I, page 13, and then saw the immense mass of nearly pure native copper, weighing (as stated by expert E. J. Hurlburt) over 500 tons, and worth some $250,000 where it lay, in process of being cut up for shipment. A notaple illustration of the uncer- tainties of mining operations took place there, when in earlier days a party of prospectors attracted by surface appearances, sank a shaft 60 feet in depth directly over the enormous nugget, but finding nothing of value in that depth, abandoned the work. The next prospectors, years afterward, com- menced at another point, exposed a paying vein, and following that came upon the mass sideways, but when uncovering it, the bottom of the abandoned shaft was found to reach within about 10 feet of the metallic monster! What a surprise awaited the original prospectors, had they persevered. * :* :*:: #:- CHAPTER II. \ COMMENCEMENT OF RAILWAY PROMOTING. But the intervening 15 days seemed long, and how to profitably employ the time was at first a mental puzzle. While sitting in the hotel reception room one day with his feet on the stove fender, the query came into the writer’s mind, why not start a movement to promote rail- way extension to these shores, and solicit government aid therefor? The thought seemed an inspiration and was quickly followed by enthusiastic action. The writer forthwith wrote and posted in the Bige- low hotel office a notice that a meeting of citizens would be held in the hotel to consider the subject on the next evening. - & His recollection is that six persons attended, and the barber shop was found to be the most convenient room for holding the meeting. In due course suitable resolutions, with a formal petition, as drafted by the writer, were adopted, and he was formally appointed a delegate at large from the northwest to proceed to Washington and present the same to Congress. A copy of the petition was preserved as printed, and it is now before the writer, and which bears the written endorsement: “Drafted, printed and circulated by C. T. Harvey—” Brevity compels the quotation of but two or three sentences, reading as follows: “To the Honorable Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States, in Congress assembled. ‘Your memorialists citizens of respect- fully represent. Meeting of Citigens at Ontonagon, Mich. 245 “That a population already large, and rapidly increas- ing, are actively engaged in developing the mineral and agricultural resources of the Lake Superior region; That the great mineral district of said region contains the richest and most valuable deposits of copper and iron known to the civilized world, which, if properly developed, must speedily become a vast Source of national wealth and glory. “That to give some idea of the present magnitude of this trade, it may be sufficient to state that 11,730 tons of shipping passed through the St. Mary’s ship canal during the single month of October, all engaged in said trade That the magnitude of this trade in the future, with proper channels of communication, can hardly be estimated. “Your memorialists therefore propose that a railroad be constructed commencing at Fond du Lac, in the State of Wisconsin, to pass up the valley of Wolf River to the northern boundary of Wisconsin, at or near the line between Range 34 and 35, west meridian of Michigan, thence to Ontonagon, with one branch to Marquette, and one along the great mineral range to Copper Harbor. Your memorialists believe that this project presents one of the strongest claims ever submitted to the considera- tion of the government for a liberal donation of lands. “Your memorialists therefore pray for an appropria- tion of alternate sections of land nine miles wide on each side of Said road and branches, in aid of said project, as your memorialists will ever pray.” The prophecy that “the mineral wealth of the Lake Superior region, if properly developed, must become a vast source of national wealth and glory” is certainly fulfilled. - Since that was written it has placed the nation far in the lead of the world as an iron and steel producer. Certainly that is “glory” of the highest grade. CHAPTER III. PERILOUS OVERLAND AND LAKE JOURNEY. On Monday, December 3rd, 1855, the writer might have been seen departing from the Bigelow House at Ontonagon for the long journey southward, accompanied by four persons, namely, the Indian mail carrier, also two French Canadians who wishing to go to Marquette were engaged as “voyageurs” to carry packs in addition to the sledge load assigned to the train dog—and last, but not least the writer and his “companion-du-voyage”— Edward C. Hungerford.* *Mr. E. C. Hungerford is now a highly respect- ed resident of Chester, Conn., and the President of its bank. He was born in the same neighbor- hood as the writer, and an early friendship was formed between them. When young men, both were employed by the Messrs. Fairbanks, and both were identified with certain Lake Superior enterprises for a number of years. At this time Mr. Hungerford was inspector of Mining Operations on the Canal company lands, of which the writer was agent, and con- sequently they had made journeys in that region together before this instance. Earlier in that year (1855). Hungerford and the writer had made an exploring trip on foot from - Copper Harbor along the Mineral Range to Torch E. C. HUNGERFORD. Lake, and thence to Houghton, then a small min- ing settlement. On the way they pased across the premises since developed into the famous “Calumet and Hecla Mining Company” location, the most profitable mine in the world, according to data stated in pages 134 and 135. It was then a dense forest, without a habitation within several miles. The writer had selected part of the area as “Canal lands,” and being the agent of the corporation owning the same, was in official control of the property worth scores of millions in hidden wealth, along which he walked, but was (of course) unconscious of its nearness. He subsequently sent a party of prospectors into the vicinity, who unearthed some fine specimens of “float copper,” but did not find the main vein. This last was discovered in 1864, by Edwin J. Hurlburt, a former employee in canal land matters at the Sault office. Three years after the writer had resigned his agency of the same, Hurlburt became associated with Boston capitalists, who purchased the canal lands upon which the first openings of the mine were made. 246 - - Marine Journey Incidents. 247 All were loaded into a two-horse sleigh, and we took the road to the Minnesota Mine, and passing that, reached the Toltec Mine where the road ended. The team turned back, and we lodged for the night. Next morning each one of the party strapped on snow- shoes, without which the journey would have been im- possible—and with the dog hitched to the sledge, fol- lowed our guide through “the forest primeval,” various unfrozen streams and morasses impeding our progress, and after two nights' rest, rolled up in our blankets, it was afternoon of the third day before the blue waters of Kewenaw Bay came in sight, and we could halt. AT THE METHODIST INDIAN MISSION. The air was mild, the water calm, and the sky Serene which made a boat ride to Marquette appear alto- gether preferable to a journey on snow-shoes. To go there by the Indian trail would require at least six days. of very hard travelling—while with favorable weather the 100 miles by boat could be comfortably passed in 48 hours. The decision was soon made to try the coastwise trip, and before dark, a small “Mackinac” boat with two pair of oars, but no sails, was bought of a mission “hab- itant,” and made ready for the morning, when the mail carrier leaving us, started by the trail for Marquette, which was the end of his route. JOURNEY CONTINUED BY ROW BOAT. With the four men, the train dog and sledge and provisions for about three days placed in the boat, there was only eight inches of “freeboard” above the water line, while the sharp wedge shaped ends of the boat ren- dered it as unsteady sidewise as a canoe—but it was the best one available, and with it the perilous voyage was commenced. 248 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. The weather was very propitious as we skirted along the south side of Keweenaw Bay, and that night we camped at the end of the point dividing it from Huron Bay. This must be crossed where it was 12 to 15 miles wide in the direction of the southerly main coast line, and with the broad lake over 150 miles wide in its north- easterly expanse. After a hasty breakfast, we launched forth, Hungerford seated in the bow as the “look out,” the two Frenchmen in the center plying the oars, the dog next to them, and the writer as steersman, with a short oar or paddle, in the stern, and beneath us, a thousand feet or more of water! Our progress was slow, not more than three miles an hour—and when midday came, we were yet miles from land. Thus far there had been no wind, but a heavy “dead swell” of increasing broad crestless billowy waves com- ing in from the northeast, was a sure sign of a gale ap- proaching from that quarter. The oarsmen were urged to the utmost, and at inter- vals Hungerford and the writer took their places. The sky became overcast with a murky haziness—when far out on the lake the “white caps”—waves of the nearing gale could be seen. - There was yet a mile or more to the point we were aiming for, when the wind reached us. The size of the “white caps” grew rapidly larger, and 'ere long began to come over into our “cockle shell” boat, but not more than we could bail out until we slid up on the shelving rocky point, and we soon had the boat hauled out to an apparently safe distance. A few minutes delay would have sufficed for the waves to fill the boat, and thus have ended our lives. THREE DAYS OF STORM. As the night came on, the gale increased, until the spray of the waves went over the near-by tree tops. Three times, during the night, we were obliged to move Marine Journey Incidents. 249 the boat more inland, to avoid the surging “combers,” zwhich in size rivaled those on the ocean. The sight next day was grand beyond description. Our landing point extending into the lake, beyond any other in sight, received the full force of billows that gathered size and velocity for nearly two hundred miles. The concussion of the waves on the shore sounded like a battle cannonade, and shook the ground like earth- quakes. Fortunately, the wind was not extremely cold, and the gale subsided during the next forty-eight hours into a snow fall, which covered the ground about two feet deep, and ourselves, also, as we lay the third night, “camped out” in our blankets. Gradually the wind died away, the sun shone out, and a gentle breeze off-land was effectually opposing and quieting the waves from the Lake. Our provisions were eachausted and we were eating the food prepared for the dog—which was in fried cakes made up of half tallow and half corn meal—while the wistful canine went fast- ing ! - JOURNEY BY LAKE RESUMED. Realizing that no time was to be lost, we launched our boat in the afternoon of the fourth day and rowed southward. w The daylight soon passed, and a night of inky dark- ness came on, so dark at times that we could hardly distinguish each other in the boat. But the surf along the rocky shore was loud and continuous, thus enabling us to follow its contour with certainty hour after hour. Suddenly, the writer saw what seemed to be an apparition right ahead, resembling a colossal human head with flowing white hair muttering dire threats. A shout to the oarsmen to back stroke their oars, and by a quick motion of my steering paddle, the boat was sheared off from actual contact. It proved to be the swash and spray of the surf against a rocky reef a foot or two out of water 250 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. directly in front of us. Hungerford, who had previously passed along the same coast by boat in daylight, concluded that it must be the very dangerous locality known as “Sauks-Head Reef,” which extended for a long distance into the lake, and the main shore was too dangerous with rocks and cliffs to risk our landing on it in the dark. The only alternative was to endeavor to outflank the reef. Turning the boat so as to bring the roar of the coast's surf at his back, the writer steered the boat into the broad lake. In his anxiety to avoid the reef, he kept on that course for perhaps half an hour, when it suddenly occurred to him that he might pass beyond sound of the surf, and thus be lost in the trackless waste of waters. (A compass being then useless without a “binnacle light”). A cold shudder passed over him as he ordered the oars to be laid athwart. No sound could be heard, and for a moment his heart stood still ! Then he léaned over and brought his ear close to the water, when he noted a faint sound like the buzzing of a fly—turning the boats course towards the faint sound, and having it kept at full speed, in a few minutes he repeated the ear test. To his inexpressible joy, the Sound was more distinct, and con- tinuing in the same direction, the surf became after some time as certain a guide as before. No more was seen or heard of what might be termed the “Night-Mare-Reef.” The nights were then over fourteen hours long, and as hour after hour passed with the oars keeping up a steady motion, and the Lake remaining calm as a mill pond, good progress was comparatively being made. OTHER DANGERS EN COUNTERED. But, about one o'clock a. m., a current of intensely cold air was in evidence, and within an hour it was appar- ent that ice was forming on the oars, steering-paddle and the sides of the boat, to such an extent as to perceptibly Marine Journey Incidents. 251 lower it in the water, and before day light would evidently cause it to founder. In such a case, the only hope for life lay in taking the risk of making a landing on shore, accordingly the bow was turned towards the surf. A large part of the coast in that vicinity was known to be faced with almost perpendicular cliffs, rising out of water often from 10 to 20 fathoms deep, to 100 feet or more above the Lake level. - To strike these, meant a quick exit from “mundane scenes,” and this contingency made the writer exclaim, when the surf sound was close at hand, “Brace up boys, for we will be on Earth or in Heaven in the next few minutes l’’ Hardly had the words passed his lips, when he touched a sandy bottom with his steering paddle, and a moment later, the boat slid up upon a grassy beach, and all immediate danger was over ! LANDING IN DARKNESS. The woods came close to the water, and by feeling about among the trees, a white birch with shaggy bark was found, and some pulled off to use with bunches of moss, while with our snow shoes the snow was cleared away to make a place to start a fire. Then it was discov- ered that there was but a single match in the box | Hungerford being posessed of a remarkably steady hand, was duly appointed “district fire lighter"—and tak- ing the last match, won the game by catching the flame in a bunch of moss, and soon a roaring fire lit up the scene. This change was effected mainly by Hungerford and myself, as the Frenchmen were so benumbed by the cold in their lower limbs that we had to help them out of the boat, and seat them beside the fire to thaw out. A small remnant of food, saved by the writer, for emergencies, was brought out of hiding, and with appetites Somewhat appeased, we rolled ourselves up in blankets, and laid down in the snow to enjoy a restful sleep, never excelled in after life! 252 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. PROVIDENTIAL SURROUNDINGs. - It was broad day light when we awoke, the sun was shining, and the cold had moderated. It did not take us long to launch the boat, and passing into the Lake, pause to look about us. On both sides of our mooring place were frowning cliffs—but a small stream during past ages had worn out a gulch and created the cove where we landed, and where the trees grew as we found them in the narrow chasm. Had our landing occurred a hundred or so feet on either side—only an obituary would have re- mained for us. Looking southward, we recognized the bold headland of Presque Isle, (now included in a park of the city of Marquette), -looming up in the distance, probably about ten miles away—and towards that we laid O111 CO 111 Se. About three o'clock p. m., Thursday, December 10 1855, a solitary boat might have been seen (a la G. P. R. James) making a landing at the then hamlet of Marquette with four men disembarking ten and a half days after leaving Ontonagon. - In a letter to the Governor of Michigan, hereinafter referred to, the writer mentions the trip as one on which on three occasions his life was hardly worth a few minutes purchase. These were, 1st, the escape from foundering when crossing Huron Bay; 2nd, the resumption of surf guidance in utter darkness on treacherous waters; 3rd, the safe landing on an unseen dangerous coast. Of the three, the peril of being so nearly lost as to bearings on the vast expanse of Lake Superior on that Wednesday night, has ever since been on his mind as the most fearful incident. Doubtless there was not another boat out at that hour on any of the Great Lakes of the St. Lawrence Basin—but the possible horrors which the ear alone enabled us to avoid, need not be longer dwelt upon. Overland Journey Incidents. 253 RETROSPECTIVE THANKSGIVING. Here let thanks be returned to Divine Providence, not only for the preservation of our lives, but also for making these terrible risks to result in lasting benefits to such a wide extent as will hereinafter appear. Doubly grateful ought the writer to appear in view of other incidents in the annals of Lake Superior, which bear some resemblance to his aforesaid dangerous surround- ings. One was, the upsetting of the boat by which the eminent geologist Dr. Douglass Houghton lost his life in coasting from the Portage Lake trail along the south shore of Lake Superior towards Eagle Harbor—(in memory of whom, the City of Houghton is named). The other, where four men started to coast front Marquette to Sault Ste. Marie, in November, 1854, in an open boat, which was found months afterward, stranded, and in or near it were their bodies incased in ice. Before the writer left Marquette that winter, going south, the postmaster received a letter from the mission- ary at L'Ance, stating the facts about our departure and the phenomenal gale and storm of the next days, with the suggestion that, as it seemed impossible that we could have escaped its fury, a search should be made along the shore of the Lake for our bodies—if no tidings were received meantime as to our fate. OVERLAND JOURNEY RESUMED. While resting at Marquette, and waiting to hear that solid ice had formed on Green Bay sufficiently strong to permit of traveling over it with teams—a meeting of citizens was held in the school-room by the light of “tal- low dips” with Mr. John Burt as chairman, at which the Ontonagon proceedings were jointly adopted. Late in January, word was received that the ice on Green Bay was in good order and a sleigh-path opened between the iron mines and the Escanaba River lumber 254 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. camps. The writer then arranged to accompany the late Dr. Morgan L. Hewitt (one of the pioneers of the town), who was going with a two horse team to Green Bay. We set out early one crisp winter morning—(Mr. Hung- erford remaining on the shores of Lake Superior for the winter). [The train dog had no more fasting that season.] The first day enabled us to reach a lumber camp on the upper Escanaba River, and in two days more arrive at the mills near its mouth. From there the ice on the Bay afforded a fine pathway, and the 120 miles of distance was easily made within three days. One incident of the trip will be mentioned. - Southward from Menominee, when a mile or two from shore, a fissure in the ice about three feet wide was encountered, which reached across the Bay, and was covered by a thin film of new made ice, and snow, so that its weakness could not be detected by the eye. The writer Had the reins when the horses plunged into the thin ice, and all to be seen was their heads held up by the pole end, resting on the opposite edge of ice. Fortunately a team was seen approaching from the north, which proved to be driven by A. R. Harlow (an early settler of Marquette) and with his assistance the horses were hauled out on the south side, with no serious injury resulting to them. The journey was thence continued to the City of Green Bay.* Here another meeting was called, and the form of proceedings by the Lake Superior Settlements relative to railway extension, etc., was adopted. *The writer traversed Green Bay several times afterwards before roads were opened along its shores. Once the following year, in company with the famous Lake Superior pioneer Peter White and others, when they coasted from Escanaba River to Menominee in December in a small row boat and were in great peril from ice near Quimby’s tavern which stood on the Bay shore just north of the River. Again in the early spring of a later year when making the Green Bay trip alone on horse back he undertook to ride over the ice but on reaching Menominee Bay found that it had disappeared and he was compelled to follow the beach after dark. He encountered a swamp in which his horse was mired and could not move, he dismounted and waded through, reaching “Quimby’s” tavern in the small hours of the morning. Quimby sent out a search party next day who found the horse standing precisely where left by his rider! By hard work, with skilful use of levers, they raised the poor animal and brought it out. The writer next day continued his journey on it to Green Bay City. Overland Journey Incidents. 255 Among the speakers was an enthusiastic young lawyer, named Timothy O. Howe, who was afterwards a prominent member of the United States Senate, and Postmaster General in President Arthur's Cabinet. Parting with Dr. Hewitt at a place named Horicon, where a short line of railway extended into Milwaukee, the writer arriving there, called on the first President of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, (Mr. Mitchell), and solicited his cooperation at Washington, D. C. But Mr. Mitchell was incredulous as to beneficial results in that quarter, and declined to become interested in any efforts of the kind. A few months later, his Railway received a large Congressional Land Grant worth millions of dollars, but took it as a dog does a bone, without a word of courteous thanks to the promoter of the same. The writer found W. B. Ogden, President of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, (then the Chicago & Fond du Lac Railroad), on a later train, and on interview- ing him, met with a cordial reception. Although the government idea was a novel one, Mr. Ogden concluded, that it had merit, and after several conferences in Chicago, arranged for influence, being brought to bear among certain northern members of Congress, which proved beneficial. From Chicago, the writer went to Washing- ton, D. C., with his snow-shoes strapped to his “grip,” and when the omnibus landed him at the sidewalk in front of the old National Hotel, a crowd collected and followed him into the ante-room from curiosity, caused by the sight of such unusual traveling appendages.* *These snowshoes are now to be seen at the “Franklin-Fairbanks Museum,” St. Johnsbury, Vermont, the writer having presented them to the founder of that institution soon after their use as herein mentioned. CHAPTER IV. PROMOTING EXPERIENCES AT WASHINGTON. Having thus arrived at Washington the writer’s first calls in the city were upon the Senators from Michigan,— General Cass, of Detroit, and Senator Stewart, of Kala- mazoo. The General had previously invited the writer to be a guest at his Detroit residence, and cordially renewed the acquaintance at the Capital. - After listening very courteously to the writer's state- ment of his mission, the General expressed his warm approval of the idea of Government aid for a railway to Lake Superior, but added, that he was sorry to say, 1t was utterly useless to make any effort to obtain it, and gave the reasons for that conclusion very fully. The main points of the same being the attitude of the Southern Members, who then controlled both Houses of Congress, and their influence was also paramount at the White House. He said they acted as a unit, and made decisions in meetings, styled a “caucus.” That at one of recent date, they had passed a resolution, denouncing all further grants to railways, such as had been made to the Illinois Central Line, and that such decision was an end to the matter. In conclusion, the General’s closing words according to recollection were, “I must advise you, my young friend, not to waste your time on so hopeless an object, and must ask you not to expect me to give it fur- ther attention, much as I would like to favor you if in my power.” Of course, the writer withdrew, feeling rather down- hearted, but he deemed it his duty to call on the Michigan members severally, and, at least, make his errand 256 Promoting Experiences at Washington. 257 known. Accordingly, he next sought Senator Stewart, who received him courteously, and listened attentively to his errand, but when it was stated, remarked: “My young friend, I can best indicate the situation by applying to you the text used by a darkey preacher up in Allegan County, which was, ‘Blessed are they who expect nothing, for when they get nothing, they won’t be disappointed’ and which seems especially applicable to your case.” The Senator then related the current news about the Southern members caucus, and believing that to end all hopes of Congressional aid for railways for that session at least, he like Senator Cass, considered further reference to the subject to be a waste of time which he must avoid. The writer next called upon several of the Michigan Representatives in Congress and others, but heard only the same tale about the caucus, and its one effect. He then turned his attention to the Southern members and to ascertaining who their leaders were. The fact appeared that the most influential man among them was the Honorable Clement C. Clay.* Senator from the State of Alabama, who was chairman of the caucus before mentioned, and recognized as the foremost champion of “Southern rights.” To win his support, the writer concluded was “the key to the situation” and to gain which was made the object of immediate plans and efforts. Without seeking an interview with Mr. Clay, or any of his associates, the writer proceeded to New York, and *Clement Clairbome Clay, born at Huntsville, Alabama, 1819, was the son of Clement Clay, the seventh governor of Alabama, and representing that State in the National Senate until succeeded by his son, now referred to. The family was one of the oldest and most influential in the colonial days of Virginia, before removing to Aiabama. The son was elected U. S. Senator in 1853, and unanimously re-elected in 1859, from which he withdrew in 1861, when his State seceeded, and he was made Senator in the Confederate Congress at Richmond, Wa. After various atempts to aid the Confederate cause, he surrendered to the Union forces in 1865, and was a fellow prisoner with Jefferson Davis at Fortress Monroe. He was released in 1866, and returned to his home at Huntsville, Ala., where he practiced law until his death, in 1882. A gentleman with the inspirations of a high sense of honor, he was Con- sidered in the South as a “Chevalier Bayard” during his senatorial career. 258 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. devoted himself to preparing a map which would be likely to please the Alabama Senator and at the same time, promote railway access to Lake Superior. By adopting the line of the then mainly unimproved chartered route of the Mobile & Ohio Railway, and connecting it with the Illinois Central Railway then being rapidly constructed (for both of which Congress had made land grants in 1850) and utilizing a section of the Chicago & Fond du Lac Railway, then operating to Janesville, an exten- sion could be shown to the copper and iron mine ports on Lake Superior at Ontonagon and Marquette, which would indicate an almost air line transit over 1600 miles in length from the Great Gulf to the Great Lake This ideal midway north and south national railway route was as novel as it was grand. No one had sug- gested a trunk line in that direction, or one of equal length on the continent' Its magnitude was not, however, a serious drawback in map making ! With the facilities to be found in New York, the writer soon had the draft made, and taking it to the Endicott lithographing establishment, the largest in the country, obtained an imprint of a then unusual size—about one yard long by one-half yeard wide—and had a first edition of 500 copies made ready for use. From a letter written by him at that time, and which is now available for reference, dated, New York, March 5th, 1856, he states that the maps were then first received from the printers, and that he would return to Washing- ton with them the next day (March 6th). The following sentences occur in the letter: “This map I had made with especial reference to circulating among Members of Congress, and expect to bring in the Members from Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, to aid the project, on the score of its being a feeder to their State Railroads < * * The litho- grapher did not get the maps ready until today, * * * Promoting Erperiences at Washington. 259 Tomorrow I expect to leave for Washington * * the principal solicitor of the Chicago & Fond du Lac R. R.,” Ex-Judge Wheeler, goes with me, and he will see to the pushing forward of the plan at Washington, which I have not time to do * * * The same has cost me no little time and trouble since coming ‘below,’ ‘f over- burdened as I am with other matters, but I will cheerfully do this and more if I can thereby sensibly promote the Lake Superior interests involved.” Signed, Charles T. Harvey. INTERVIEW WITH LEADING SOUTHERN SENATOR. On returning to Washington, March 6th, the first person the writer sought to interview was Senator Clay, of Alabama. In recording the circumstances of that occasion, the first personal pronoun will be used as the easiest form of colloquial narrative of the facts, substan- tially as follows: On the next day after arrival at Washington, I called on Senator Clay at his rooms in Willards' Hotel, with a copy of the new railway map in my pocket. It was about eight o'clock in the evening when my card was presented, and his valet ushered me into his presence. He was sitting at a writing table in the middle of the room. He looked up, evidently waiting for me to make known my errand without offering me a chair, or extend- ing the courtesies tending to make me feel at ease in opening the conversation. I could feel the flush of embarassment coming into my face, but bracing up, said, “Senator Clay, I have called to confer with you upon matters of unusual importance to the State of Alabama, and especially to the City of Mobile. “Ah, indeed” said he, “anything in that line will interest me, please take a seat and proceed.” *Afterwards reorganized as the Chicago & Northwestern R. R. #The ordinary phrase in use in the Lake Superior region, at that time for lower latitudes, was the word “below.” 260 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. “Mr. Clay,” said I, “knowing your time and attention in your official position must be mainly occupied in National interests and political affairs of the widest scope and highest importance, it is not surprising, therefore, if local industries and commercial development should not secure your attention to the extent which the importance of the same really deserves. You are of course desirous of promoting the prosperity of the people of Alabama, for which an opportunity is now available, as never before. Two elements of industrial and commercial growth are now recognized as basic and indispensable. One is the most improved and economical system of transportation on land as furnished by railroads, and the other, the best facilities for transit by ocean routes to the markets of the world of bulky exports like cotton. The city of Mobile should become a great shipping centre, because it is magnificently situated on the ocean estuary of the Southern Coast, nearest the centre of the United States. The State of Alabama has natural resources that should make its citizens the wealthiest of any like num- bers on earth. Its vast cotton fields, its primeval forests, its great deposits of iron, coal and other minerals are a priceless inheritance, and that the City is not specially thriving, or the State financially strong, is mainly, because local transportation facilities are not extended and per- fected. It has a projected line of railway from Mobile to Cairo for which Congress made a land grant in 1850, covering nearly 500 miles, but of which less than one tenth is now in use, in a slipshod way. There is a move- ment now under way, to put new life into this undertak- ing by extending the route to the Northern Lakes, and making Mobile the main terminus of a grand central route over 1600 miles long, almost in an airline north- wards, traversing three Southern and three Northern States, beside crossing a small section of Kentucky, and by a branch to New Orleans, a fraction of Louisiana Promoting Experiences at Washington. 261 also-and which will bisect the entire national area at nearly its East and West central line—I have been appointed a delegate by the citizens of the Northern end of this route to lay this subject of vital importance to them before Congress, to ask its aid, and have now called upon you as a distinguished representative of the South- ern region, which it will benefit immensely, to consult as to the best methods of securing the attention which its merits deserve. To prove to you that it has already taken definite shape, I have the honor of laying before you a map of the route in its entirety. At this point, I unrolled the yard of paper topography, and spread the same on the table. The Senator rose out of his chair, adjusted his glasses, and bent over the map scanning it with the utmost care. Soon he exclaimed, “This project is grand l’” This is a most extraordinary conception 1 What a magnificent route that will make A couple of hours or so were spent in tracing out the State chartered routes which would become feeders to the main trunk line, and could properly claim aid as a part of the system. Then Mr. Clay settled back in his chair, twirled his eyeglasses and gave me a searching glance with the enquiry—“I take you to be a Yankee?” Oh yes, I replied, a “Simon pure”—I was born in a town in New England, in which a century or so ago, the authorities came together when it was found that the expected hogshead of molasses had not arrived from the West Indies, and by solemn act, duly entered on record, postponed for a couple of weeks, within their limits, the Annual Thanksgiving Day appoint- ed by the Governor of the State, to make sure of having that necessary material on hand for making pumpkin pies—without which it was considered that the event could not, properly be observed.* The anecdote brought a hearty laugh from Mr. Clay; “I thought you was a Yankee when I first saw you” said *Colchester, Conn., was the town then referred to. -zº-i-, -, -r-, -ia--- - - - - --, - -- ºr --- . . . . . sº * . * 262 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. he, “and I will now frankly say that you are the first level-headed one I have met, and I have seen lots of them mainly from the northwest, a favorite section, I believe, for them to migrate to. They have swarmed into Wash- ington for railroad land grants in those northern wilder- nesses like Minnesota (then a Territory) and which we of the South know nothing about, and voted at our caucus to close the gate on that kind of legislation and let the decision be made known to them as final. Since then there has been a lull in that direction, to our great relief.” “But,” said he, “you have now outlined a plan which will benefit the South as much as the North, in fact, rather more I think, adding the New Orleans Branch— as he measured off the distances on the map—and with aid to some branch lines near the Gulf wilich I can recom- mend, the manifest overshadowing merits of this grand South and North Trunk Railway route—leads me to say at once, that I will support your proposition to the utmost of my ability. I am chairman of the Southern Members Caucus, vested with the power to call a meeting at any time, and with your bill put in proper shape, I will lay it before the caucus, and ask it to rescind the resolution now in force, so far as to make this line an exception. My friends will, I think, accede to my wishes in that respect, and if your Northern Members will come to its support, we can carry the measure through Congress at this ses- sion.” It was about midnight when Senator Clay uttered these pregnant words, and I thanked him for the assur- ances thus given, which I undertook to communicate to my Northern friends without delay. Some conversation on other subjects followed. After relating some of my experiences in the then recent trip from Lake Superior to Washington, I concluded with some jocose remarks vividly remembered substantially as follows: “Senator—Since coming here I have heard numerous predictions—about a possible dissolution of the Promoting Experiences at Washington. 263 United States by secession of certain disaffected ones, owing to anti-slavery agitation or otherwise. “Of course you and I are mutually opposed to such a catastrophe, and I can now suggest a method to prevent it, which is, to expedite the laying of the rails on this new route, and let them project through rockbound shores on the Bay of Mobile, at the south end, also through the trap rock cliffs of Lake Superior, which I can point out, and then rivet the ends. This will bind the Union together at the middle where nothing less than an earthquake can pull it apart tº Mr. Clay laughed heartily’ saying—that is certainly a noved idea and we may give it a trial—With a cordial handshake, he bade me good night. I have often recalled this incident to mind, with the thought, that if we could have lifted the curtain of time, and foreseen the changes to occur within less than a decade, how little we would have felt like enjoying the joke thus essayed, as of no special significance. Within those few short years, the secession conflict was raging with a million of armed men on either side. I had first cousins* in both the Southern and Northern forces, and came near being myself in the list of combatants. The Senator was also personally involved in various exper- iences as elsewhere noted. But the future was beyond our vision and such jokes were then deemed “in order” Next morning I hastened to interview Michigan Congressmen and report Senator Clay's assurance, but was surprised to find them too incredulous to treat the subject seriously. Some enquired if I took them for such “greenhorns” as likely to believe such promoting yarns as that In this dilemma, I went to Mr. Clay and frankly told him that the Northern Members doubted my statement of his attitude. “Send them to me, and I will try to satisfy them,” he replied. *Governor Louis P. Harvey, who lost his life in caring for the Wis- consin soldiers engaged in the battle of Shiloh, Tenn., was one of those here referred to. 264 Promoting first Railway to Lake Superior. With this message, I returned to the Michigan Mem- bers, and after much urging, secured the consent of three of them to act as a Committee to call upon the Southern Senator and ascertain his views. The only member of the delegation that I can now recall to mind was Con- gressman Trowbridge of the Pontiac district. The party went in a sort of shamefaced way, had an interview with Mr. Clay when I was not present, but returned jubilant! They arranged for a meeting of their associates at my room at the National Hotel, where they declared that Mr. Clay had satisfied them that my report was correct, and the way open for obtaining extensive land grants for railway purposes. An adjournment to the next day at the same place was agreed upon when Members from Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, were invited to be present, and discuss the form and scope of the Bill to be introduced. At the later conference, members vied with each other in proposing routes to receive aid, which were quite discon- nected from the one I had been solely advocating. As one after another was added, I became alarmed lest the bill should become so overloaded as to fail of obtaining Mr. Clay’s approval. Some were crossed off, but I remem- ber that one hundred and fifty miles were added by the three words “AND TO BAYFIELD.” To calm my fears, the Members of Congress argued that as the Southern leader had assented to the principle of granting aid, he would not be over particular as to its application, and I might, ask him to add other grants in his own and adjoining States. Accordingly I called on him, and found that he was quite willing to add certain lines to and in Florida as an offset to the Northern extensions, and the scope of the bill, or rather bills, was duly approved. The grants were made to the several States, and as the Territory of Minnesota had not then been admitted, with the desirable sovereign powers as a State, grants to aid railways within its borders were defered until the following year when its admission as a State was applied Promoting Erperiences at Washington. 265 for-and then granted according to the previous under- standing. • As the result of these conferences, Senator Clay caused the rescinding of the Southern Caucus restraining resolution, and Öbtained southern votes for the Congres- sional grants as no other man could have done. The grants to the several states dated from May 15th and 17th to June 3rd, 1856, or within 90 days from my first interview with Mr. Clay as previously mentioned. After securing his approval of the form of the bills finally passed, I left Washington to resume regular business engagements, Judge Wheeler remaining, however, until their final pas- Sage. It is quite safe to say, that not an acre of the lands then granted, or of those alloted to the State of Minnesota the following year, would have been thus made available for railway extensions had not the map appearing on opposite page been exhibited to Senator Clay, and his co-operation secured at the time and in the manner men- tioned. The grants, as stated in a communication recently received from the Commissioner of the United States Land Office, comprised 6,629,737 acres of land in four Southern States, namely: Alabama g e & tº 2,884,188 Florida e & & e 2,497,717 Louisiana . g º * 699,220 Mississippi . e ſº ſº 548,612 To five Northern States, 12,292,565 acres, namely: Michigan & s , ſº g 4,957,980 Missouri & e º tº 3,205,925 Iowa . . . . 4,528,660 Wisconsin . g tº t 3,205,925 and in 1857 to Minnesota, 7,116,722, making a grant total of 26,439,083 acres or an area about equal to that of the States of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire combined, and affording the usual quota of 6 sections or 3,840 acres per mile for nearly 7,000 miles of railway which were subsequently, nearly all built and are now in 11S6. - w --------------------, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -—— - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - º - ·ąųnq Kņuonbasqns saeuaſpuu jo sa Iſuu 900’ſ. Kļuvau Iog put I go soloe 000‘00ý“93 uøao jo squ'elā Ieuoſqt. N paunoas qoſqae dºu 30 ºlſuuļS-oºuſ % S © |：|| |× ſae × . (** © §. È © T] AN CONNECTIONS B ET W E E N W LAKE S Promoting Experiences at Washington. 267 In examining some documentary receptacles a few months since, I found two copies of the map which had such a marvelous effect a half century ago, one of these I have had photo-lithographed, while kept as an heir loom, and the reproduction in perfect fac-simile appears upon the preceding page. The remaining one I took occasion to present to the State of Michigan in care of Governor Warner, at a meeting in the Hall of Representatives, in the Capitol at Lansing, on the evening of March 29th, 1905, when I had the honor of being invited by Resolution of the House, to address the Members of the Legislature, and solicit their co-operation in providing for the first Semi- Centennial Celebration of the completion of the Sault Ship Canal, a few months later. - The Governor received the map and by special mes- sage committed it to the care of the Legislature, which after providing for its preservation, caused an engrossed resolution of thanks to be forwarded to me, of which the following photo-lithographed fac-simile is appended as a suitable “finis” to this personal narrative of events over- lapping a half century. CHARLEs T. HARVEY. Toronto, December, 1905. Photo-lithograph of engrossed vote of thanks adopted by the Legislature of the State of Michigan. *. ..Senave Wesºukow Marver so -eńkerersº- Öke & de fittichigan has recently received from Charles 3: ãarveſ, 3. fºrmer resident of this &late, an. original ntry publisked in eighteen Kazāred ſtfig-ſive and eighteen hundred fifty-six, eatitt. ed “Great 3riang ©ouxe chows between £ake £aperior and the &If of àexico." £assessing great historical interest as connected with: wational aid fºr the extension of railway facilities in 3łchigan Xī- feat the milâ1e of the nineteenth centariſ; therefºre --tºes, Ivea,3'-- $g fke šeart-tº- £ear, of3-presentatives evacuzzing). hºstike thanks of the people ofâûzkiga. be zwä hereby xre extewaea tº 3ºz. $zeweg fºr 1%a generous gift. xxâ be #1 fuetkee - -*Re solved $º--- &t ** *gressed cery of £kese resolations ºe fºrwardez to 3ºl. 3-weg. \ § wº A-wes ºf wet's as Maºiſts | :=）=========w=…=） -）================ ！=======~==++; | ___ …“ CAD 8Ē --★ →= CUI=E |||| W9IHOIW Íñi ſii ¿? } ！\， ,'', - * 3.'s