St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario)
Encyclopedia
The St. Marys River , sometimes written as the St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay
Whitefish Bay
Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of the southern shore of Lake Superior between Michigan and Ontario. It begins in the north and west at Whitefish Point in Michigan, about 10 miles north of Paradise, Michigan and ends at the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie on the southeast...

 and flowing 74.5 miles (120 km) southeast into Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...

, with a fall of 23 feet (7 m).
For its entire length it is an international border, separating Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

The most important area along the river are the rapids and the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...

, and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the north-eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River...

, with the most famous man-made feature being the Soo Locks
Soo Locks
The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario...

 on the US side of the border.
The rapids of the St. Marys (Sault Sainte Marie in French) are just below the river's exit from Lake Superior.

Two of the Ontario tributaries of this river are the Garden River
Garden River (Ontario)
The Garden River is a river in the Algoma District of Ontario which empties into the St. Marys River east of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.The river gets its name from vegetable gardens kept by the Ojibwa people in this area. The Garden River First Nation Reserve is located in this area. The reserve...

 and the Bar River. Other Canadian tributaries include: Fort Creek, Root River
Root River (Algoma District, Ontario)
The Root River is a river in Algoma District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It flows from Upper Island Lake at the community of Island Lake to its mouth at the St...

, Little Carp River, Big Carp River, Lower Echo River, Desbarats River, and the Two Tree River. The American tributaries to the St. Mary River are: Gogomain River, Munuscong River, Little Munuscong River, Waishkey River, and the Charlotte River.

History

Before Europeans arrived, native Americans fished, traded, and maintained a portage around the rapids. French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 explorer Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé , was the first of European French explorers to journey along the St. Lawrence River with the Native Americans and to view Georgian Bay and Lake Huron Canada in the 17th century. A rugged outdoorsman, he took to the lifestyle of the First Nations and had a unique contribution to the...

 was the first European to travel up the rapids in about 1621. In 1641 Jesuit priests Isaac Jogues
Isaac Jogues
Isaac Jogues was a Jesuit priest, missionary, and martyr who traveled and worked among the native populations in North America. He gave the original European name to Lake George, calling it Lac du Saint Sacrement, Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1646, Jogues was martyred by the Mohawks near ...

 and Charles Raymbault
Charles Raymbault
Charles Raymbault was a Jesuit missionary.Entering the Society of Jesus, Raymbault was procurator to the Canadian mission when he was called to Quebec. He traveled to the Sault Sainte Marie with Saint Isaac Jogues on a voyage of exploration and to effect a more permanent apostolate...

 ventured the same route as Brûlé finding many Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...

 at the rapids and named it Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie may refer to:* Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario , a Canadian city** Sault Ste. Marie , a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada...

 (sault meaning "rapids" in Old French).

Fort St. Joseph
Fort St. Joseph (Ontario)
Fort St. Joseph is a former British outpost on the southernmost point of St. Joseph Island in Ontario, Canada, on Lake Huron. Situated on approximately 325 hectares along the St. Mary's River, Fort St. Joseph was the staging ground for the initial attack in the War of 1812...

 was built on the Canadian shore in 1796 to protect a trading post, and ensure continued British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 control of the area. The fort fulfilled its role in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

.

The first modern lock was completed in May 1855 by Erastus Corning
Erastus Corning
Erastus Corning I , American businessman and politician, was born in Norwich, Connecticut. Corning moved to Troy, New York at the age of 13 to clerk in the hardware store of an uncle; six years later he moved to Albany, New York, where he joined the mercantile business under James Spencer...

's St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Company, and was known as the American Lock. Today, there are four parallel locks on the American side of the river, although only two are in regular use. The Soo Locks
Soo Locks
The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario...

 were made a part of the Great Lakes Waterway
Great Lakes Waterway
The Great Lakes Waterway is a system of channels and canals that makes all of the Great Lakes accessible to oceangoing vessels. Its principal civil engineering components are the Welland Canal, bypassing Niagara Falls between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and the Soo Locks, bypassing the rapids of...

 system in 1959.

Competitive pressure led to the construction of a Canadian Lock
Sault Ste. Marie Canal
The Sault Ste. Marie Canal is a National Historic Site of Canada in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The canal is part of the shipping route from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior and includes a set of locks to bypass the rapids on the St. Marys River....

 in 1895. Another account states that American refusal to permit passage of a Canadian troop boat during Canada's Northwest Rebellion led to the construction of a Canadian lock. The current Canadian Lock is used for recreational boats.

Islands

  • Drummond Island
  • St. Joseph Island
    St. Joseph Island
    St. Joseph Island is a Canadian island in Lake Huron, near the mouth of the St. Marys River which connects Lake Huron with Lake Superior. It is the second largest island in Lake Huron and the third largest in the Great Lakes overall, trailing Manitoulin and Lake Superior's Isle Royale.St...

  • Whitefish Island
    Whitefish Island (Ontario)
    Whitefish Island is an island in the St. Marys River, just south of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It was an ancestral fishing station to the Anishenabek people of the Great Lakes for over 2,000 years. It was reserved for the use of Chief `Joe Sayer' Nebenaigoching and his band in a treaty in 1850...

  • Sugar Island
    Sugar Island (Michigan)
    Sugar Island is an island in the U.S. state of Michigan in the St. Marys River between the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario. The entire island constitutes Sugar Island Township in Chippewa County at the eastern tip of the Upper Peninsula...

  • Neebish Island
    Neebish Island
    Neebish Island is an island in the U.S. state of Michigan in the St. Marys River between the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario. It is divided into two parts known as "Big Neebish" and "Little Neebish" which are divided by a river which is sometimes more mud than river and is known...


Bridges

The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, often known just as the International Bridge, spans the St. Marys River between the United States and Canada connecting the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It serves as the northern terminus of Interstate 75...

, a steel truss arch bridge
Truss arch bridge
A truss arch bridge combines the elements of the truss bridge and the arch bridge. The actual resolution of forces will depend upon the design. If no horizontal thrusting forces are generated this becomes an arch-shaped truss, essentially a bent beam — see moon bridge for an example...

, takes road traffic across the river. Directly to the west is the Sault Ste. Marie International Railroad Bridge which carries rail traffic on a single set of tracks.

Power plants

The Edison Sault Electric Hydroelectric Plant, located at the eastern end of the Saulte Ste. Marie Power Canal which runs between Lake Superior and Lake Huron through the city south of the American locks, is one of the longest hydroelectric plants in the world at 1,340 feet (408.4 m) in length. The plant consists of 74 three-phase generators capable of generating 25 to 30 megawatts
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

. It was completed in 1902. The hydro plant is faced with stone quarried during the excavation of the Sault Ste. Marie Power Canal.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 owns and operates a hydroelectric generating plant directly north of the American locks.

Finally, the Francis H. Clergue Generating Station, owned and operated by Brookfield Renewable Energy, Inc., is a hydroelectric generating plant located directly north of the Canadian lock with a generating capacity of 52 MW
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

. It was completed in 1981.

Canal

The Edison Sault Power Canal is used to power the Edison Sault Electric Hydroelectric Plant at its eastern end. The canal separated downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan from its mainland making it an island. It was begun in September 1898 as the Michigan Lake Superior Power Company Canal, but completed by Edison Sault Electric Company in June 1902. Measured from its headgates to its end at the power plant, it is 2.25 miles (3.6 km) in length, between 200 feet (61 m) and 220 feet (67 m) wide, and 24 feet (7.3 m) deep. The water runs down the canal at speeds upwards of 7 miles per hour (11.3 km/h).

Locks

The Soo Locks
Soo Locks
The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario...

 are located on the north and south sides of the river.

Other works

A set of compensating works are located at the mouth of the rapids, which are used to control the outflow of water from Lake Superior. The works consists of 16 gates, half of which are on the American side, and the other half on the Canadian side of the river. They were completed between 1901 and 1921. This flow is controlled by the International Joint Commission
International Joint Commission
The International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.The Commission has responsibilities related to the following treaties and agreements:...

.

A concrete berm
Berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas. Berm originates in the Middle Dutch and German berme and came into usage in English via French.- History :...

 was constructed along the north side of the rapids as remedial works to protect fish spawning habitat from lower outflow through the rapids. This was due, in part, to an increase of water outflow from the Francis H. Clergue Generating Station.

Pollution

The Saint Marys River is listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Great Lakes Areas of Concern are designated geographic areas within the Great Lakes Basin that show severe environmental degradation. There are a total of 43 areas of concern within the Great Lakes, 26 being in the U.S., 17 in Canada, with five shared by the two countries.The Great Lakes, the...

in The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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