In 1923, Stanley Newton published “The Story of Sault Ste. Marie and Chippewa County.” This is part twenty-eight of a continuing series about the history of Sault Ste. Marie and the area in its early years. I have left punctuation and grammar intact. – Laurie Davis
Time has vindicated the visions of Francis Clergue, though the industries he founded have passed from his control. The financial crisis of 1893 was the principal factor in robbing him of complete victory; nevertheless, he lived to see the children of his brain grow to maturity and prosperity. In the summer of 1923, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, enjoyed a Community Week when Mr. Clergue was the city’s guest of honor. No man ever received a more hearty or unanimous welcome than did he, on the occasion of his return after many years to the scenes of his reverses and his conquests.
The year 1905 marked the completion of half a century of service of the ship canal around St. Mary’s Falls. The canal was a prime factor in the development of the greatest marine tonnage concentration in the world. It had been of inestimable advantage to the country. It had enabled the iron and steel industry of the states bordering on the Great Lakes to attain the front rank it now occupies. It had afforded the most ample and economical outlet for the vast products of the trans-Mississippi grain regions. It had made possible the distribution of coal and package freight at rates undreamed of by the railroads. In immediate results, it has been the best investment ever made by our Government.
The occasion could not be permitted to pass without a fitting celebration. The initiative was taken by Mr. Peter White of Marquette, one of the ‘49ers in the north country, and Mr. Charles Harvey, engineer in charge of the construction of the first canal and locks. Joint action was taken by the Congress of the United States and the Legislature of the State of Michigan, whereby the National Government appropriated $10,000.00 and the State $15,000.00 to defray the cost of a semi-centennial celebration.
Event Is Most Notable
The event was one of the most notable in the history of the Great Lakes region. The Governor of Michigan appointed a Semi-Centennial Celebration Commission, consisting of Mrr. Peter White, Mr. Charles Moore of Detroit, and Mr. Horace M. Oren of Sault Ste. Marie, to be in full charge of all proceedings. The Commission nominated Mr. Charles T. Harvey as chief marshal of the celebration, and arranged a program covering August 2nd and 3rd, 1905, at Sault Ste. Marie. The States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were invited to participate, as well as the Vice-President of the United States and representatives of the Dominion of Canada.
The weather was perfect, and the schedule for two days was carried out without a mishap or variation. Local arrangements were happily administered by a number of committees under the general chairmanship of Mr. Otto Fowle, while 40,000 visitors enjoyed the city’s hospitality. A naval parade ascended the river through the Poe lock and descended through the Canadian lock, and Vice-President Fairbanks, Governor Warner, and other notables were greeted with uproarious cheering by the crowds on both sides of the river.
In the afternoon of the first day of the celebration, Mr. Peter White and Mr. Charles T. Harvey, from the speakers’ stand in Brady Field, related many thrilling experiences of former days. Recalling ancient times, a group of half a hundred Chippewa Indians camped beside the reviewing stand. Many of their fathers had lived as warriors in the old Indian village near the site of their tepees. The sons mingled with the white throngs around them, recalling without resentment the old days when navigation on St. Mary’s was a matter of canoes, and the incidents which presaged the decline of their race.
Many thousands of spectators viewed the parade in the afternoon of August 2nd. Mr. Charles T. Harvey, Chief Marshal, led the marchers, and the participants including battalions from the First Regiment, United States Infantry, under Major Robert N. Getty; Third Infantry, Michigan National Guard, under Colonel Robert J. Bates; the crew of U.S.S. Wolverine, Commander H. Morrell; and a battalion from the Michigan State Naval Brigade, under Commander Frederick D. Standish. Government officials and other distinguished guests, American and Canadian, occupied many carriages in the parade, which passed in review before the Vice-President and the Governor in Brady Field.
In the evening all the vessels in the river were illuminated, and the twin cities vied with each other in gorgeous displays of fireworks.
Great Army of Talent
The third day of August, the representatives of the National Government, the State, the marine interests and the Dominion of Canada spoke from the rostrum. Hon. Chase S. Osborn delivered in happy vein, the formal address of welcome in the morning, and addresses followed by the Vice-President, Mr. White, Hon. Rodolphe Lemieux, Solicitor-General of Canada, Congressman Theodore Burton, Chairman of the Rivers and Harbors Committee, President William Livingstone, of the Lake carriers’ Association, United States Senator Burrows, Senator Dandurand, Speaker of the Canadian Senate, and Mr. Francis J. Clergue. No such aggregation of talent and celebrity had ever graced the north country, nor has any occasion ever been nore felicitous.
“The celebration of 1905,” says Mr. J. P. Nimmo, “was conceived and consummated as an expression of the scientific and marine achievements of half a century. Popular rejoicing and profitable reflection were its keynotes; education and inspiration were its fruits. The people of Canada and the United States rejoiced over a lasting conquest; in friendly rivalry they bodied forth their national sentiments and their international unity. In reflection on past events they were reminded that there is still much to do, that progress has not done its last work. The passing generation let the bright light in on cloudy memories and saw the Indian and the canoe and the wooden craft dropping out of their lives. They saw steel leviathans growing and multiplying, and told their sons of what had happened in their day. They pointed to the military and naval power of their continent and told their sons of the sudden strength of the white man and the white man’s government, and that the wilderness and the raging river had become an everlasting heritage. Charles Moore, in “The Northwest Under Three Flags,” says: ‘The capitalists are realizing the dreams of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The trade with Cathway that eluded Nicolet is now maintained by the daily shipments of wood pulp to Japan; the copper that Joliet was unable to discover has at last been found, and with it nickel and iron; Radisson’s overland path to Hudson Bay is being traversed by the Algoma Central Railroad, now building; and the waters of St. Mary’s River, are being harnessed to build up a great manufacturing center. Meanwhile the largest tonnage known to any waterway in the world annually passes to and from Lakes Superior and Huron.’”
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Interesting read!
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