The St. Marys River, sometimes written St. Mary's River, drains
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
, starting at the end of
Whitefish Bay
Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield o ...
and flowing southeast into
Lake Huron, with a fall of .
For its entire length it is an international border, separating
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
from
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada.
The twin cities of
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...
, and
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It i ...
are connected across the St. Marys River by the
Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
The Sault Ste. Marie 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. The bridge is operated by the International Bridg ...
. The St. Marys Rapids are just below the river's exit from Lake Superior and can be bypassed by huge freight ships through the man-made
Soo Locks
The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the low ...
and the
Sault Ste. Marie Canal.
Two of the Ontario tributaries of this river are the
Garden River and the
Bar River. Other Canadian tributaries include Fort Creek, the
Root River, the Little Carp River, the Big Carp River, the Lower Echo River, Desbarats River, and the Two Tree River. The American tributaries to the St. Marys River are the
Gogomain River, the
Munuscong River, the
Little Munuscong River, the
Charlotte River, and the
Waiska River.
History
Before Europeans arrived,
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
(Chippewa) Indigenous Americans fished, traded, and maintained a
portage around the rapids of the St. Marys River, which they referred to as ', meaning "at the cascading rapids".
French explorer
Étienne Brûlé
Étienne Brûlé (; – c. June 1633) was the first European explorer to journey beyond the St. Lawrence River into what is now known as Canada. He spent much of his early adult life among the Hurons, and mastered their language and learne ...
was the first European to travel up the rapids in about 1621. In 1641
Jesuit priests
Isaac Jogues
Isaac Jogues, S.J. (10 January 1607 – 18 October 1646) was a French missionary and martyr who traveled and worked among the Iroquois, Huron, and other Native populations in North America. He was the first European to name Lake George, call ...
and
Charles Raymbault
Charles Raymbault (1602 in France - 1643 in Quebec) 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 Jo ...
ventured the same route as Brûlé, finding many
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
at the rapids, and named it
Sault Ste. Marie. ''Sault'' (Middle and early Modern French spelling of ') means "jump"; hence, the secondary meaning "
rapids" because the water 'jumps.'
Fort St. Joseph was built on the Canadian shore in 1796 to protect a trading post, and ensure continued
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
control of the area. The fort fulfilled its role in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
.
The first modern lock was completed in May 1855 by
Erastus Corning
Erastus Corning (December 14, 1794 – April 9, 1872) was an American businessman and politician from Albany, New York. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service as mayor of Albany from 1834 to 1837, in the New York State Senate from 1842 ...
'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
The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the low ...
became part of the
Great Lakes Waterway
The Great Lakes Waterway (GLW) is a system of natural channels and artificial canals which enable navigation between the North American Great Lakes. Though all of the lakes are naturally connected as a chain, water travel between the lakes was i ...
system in 1959.
Partially due to the American refusal of passage through the Soo Locks during the
Wolseley Expedition
The Wolseley expedition was a military force authorized by Canadian Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to confront Louis Riel and the Métis in 1870, during the Red River Rebellion, at the Red River Colony in what is now the province of Manitob ...
, a
Canadian Lock was built in 1895. The current Canadian Lock is used for recreational boats and is a National Historic Site of Canada.
During World War II, the Soo Locks and the St. Marys River waterway were heavily guarded by U.S. and Canadian forces coordinated by the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
's
Central Defense Command
Central Defense Command (CDC) was a command formation of the United States Army during World War II. The CDC was established on 17 March 1941, responsible for coordinating the defense of the Midwest region of the United States. A second major res ...
. During the waterway's usable season from March through November, 90 percent of the United States' iron ore production for domestic use passed through it in 1939, making the waterway critical to maintaining war production. A battalion of infantry, stationed at nearby
Fort Brady
Fort Brady was a frontier fort established in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan to guard against British incursions from Canada. The original location of the fort, known as Old Fort Brady, was along the Saint Mary's River. Fort Brady was located at ...
, provided security beginning just after the outbreak of the European war in September 1939; this was reduced to a company in mid-1940 and replaced by a
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
battalion in May 1941. After Pearl Harbor in December 1941, fear of possible air or paratroop attacks by German forces led to a major expansion of defence measures. Scenarios envisioned included U-boats in
Hudson Bay launching attack aircraft, and one-way bombing or paratroop missions along a
great circle route
Great-circle navigation or orthodromic navigation (related to orthodromic course; from the Greek ''ορθóς'', right angle, and ''δρóμος'', path) is the practice of navigating a vessel (a ship or aircraft) along a great circle. Such rou ...
from German-occupied Norway. Units deployed included the
131st Infantry Regiment, an
anti-aircraft regiment, and a
barrage balloon battalion for a total in mid-1942 of 7,000 troops in the area. Canada provided an anti-aircraft battalion, elements of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
, barracks and defensive positions for some of the U.S. force, and a warning system of 266 aircraft observation posts of the
Aircraft Identity Corps
The Aircraft Identity Corps was a Canadian civil defence organisation operating between 1940 and 1945. The corps's mission was to report suspicious aircraft and guard against German, Japanese, and Italian attack. The use of observers was deemed im ...
extending northward to Hudson Bay. This was augmented by five U.S.-staffed radar stations in northern Ontario. By late 1943, with no threat emerging and spare components stockpiled in the event of lock damage, the U.S. forces were cut to 2,500 troops, and the AA and air warning defences were abandoned. In January 1944 the garrison was further reduced to a single military police battalion.
Islands
*
Drummond Island
Drummond may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Drummond Peak, King Edward VII Land
* Drummond Glacier, Graham Land
Canada
* Drummond (electoral district), a Quebec federal riding
* Drummond (provincial electoral district), Quebec
* Drummon ...
(Michigan)
*
Neebish Island
Neebish Island is located in the U.S. state of Michigan, in the St. Marys River, which connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron at the easternmost point of Michigan's upper peninsula.
Located west of the international border that separates the Uni ...
(Michigan)
*
St. Joseph Island (Ontario)
*Squirrel Island (Ontario /
Garden River First Nation
Garden River First Nation, also known as Ketegaunseebee (''Gitigaan-ziibi Anishinaabe'' in the Ojibwe language), is an Ojibwa band located at Garden River 14 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
The Garden River reserve consists of two non-co ...
)
*
Sugar Island (Michigan)
*
Whitefish Island
Whitefish Island is an island in the St. Marys River, just south of Sault Ste. Marie, in Ontario, Canada.
History
It was an ancestral fishing station to the Anishenabek of the Great Lakes region for over 2,000 years. It was reserved for the u ...
(Ontario / Batchewana First Nation)
*
Lime Island (Michigan)
Works
Bridges
The
Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge
The Sault Ste. Marie 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. The bridge is operated by the International Bridg ...
, a steel
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 b ...
, 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 Sault 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 in length. The plant consists of 74 three-phase generators capable of generating 25 to 30
megawatts
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...
. It was completed in 1902. The hydro plant is faced with stone quarried during the excavation of the Sault Ste. Marie Power Canal.
The
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. It was completed in 1981.
File:Edison Sault power plant and Soo Locks 2010-04-20 USACE.jpg, Saint Marys Falls Hydropower Plant at the mouth of the Edison Sault Power Canal
File:Soo Locks sluice gates.JPG, US Army Corps of Engineers hydroelectric plant seen from across the St. Marys Rapids
File:Sea lamprey trap at FH Clergue Generating Station.JPG, Francis H. Clergue Generating Station
Canal
The
Edison Sault Power Canal is used to power the Saint Marys Falls Hydropower 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 in length, between wide, and deep. The water runs down the canal at speeds upwards of .
Locks
The American
Soo Locks
The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the low ...
are the major transportation route around the St. Marys Rapids, but the Canadian
Sault Ste. Marie Canal is still used by recreational and tour boats.
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.
USACE
Outflows, Discharge Measurements, St. Marys River, accessed October 2, 2008. This flow is controlled by the International Joint Commission
The International Joint Commission (french: Commission mixte internationale) is a bi-national organization established by the governments of the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its responsibilities were expa ...
.
A concrete berm
A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...
was constructed along the north side of the rapids as remedial works to protect fish spawning
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...
habitat from lower outflow through the rapids. This was due, in part, to an increase of water outflow from the three hydroelectric dams.
File:Ste Marys River.jpg, Remedial concrete berm along the St. Marys Rapids, an effort to improve fish spawning habitat
File:International road and rail bridges 2.JPG, International Bridge (left) and rail bridge (right) with the remedial berm in the foreground
File:Lake Superior flood control gates, 6 open.JPG, Lake Superior compensating works with a high rate of water flow (equivalent of 6 gates fully open)
Pollution
The Saint Marys River is listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada.
See also
*List of rivers of Michigan
This list of Michigan rivers includes all streams designated rivers although some may be smaller than those streams designated creeks, runs, brooks, swales, cuts, bayous, outlets, inlets, drains and ditches. These terms are all in use in Michigan. ...
* List of rivers of Ontario
References
External links
Canadian Heritage web site for St. Marys River
{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario)
Great Lakes Waterway
Sault Ste. Marie
Canadian Heritage Rivers
Border rivers
Rivers of Michigan
Rivers of Algoma District
Straits of Michigan
Straits of Canada
International rivers of North America
Canada–United States border
Tributaries of Lake Huron
Rivers of Chippewa County, Michigan
Landforms of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario