Controlling the waterways

White Tailed Deer wander along the road in front of us.

St Joseph Island was on our route today, what we thought would be a small deviation from our main Highway 17 turned out to be a 100 km detour! The map didn't make that clear. We wanted to see a British Fort built in 1796, which overlooked the only route from Lake Superior to Lake Huron, the fur trade route that the Americans coveted. The British Indian department was also present at the fort to maintain good relations with the natives.

In 1807 relations between the Brits and the Americans were becoming difficult, the main reason being the control over the Great Lakes and the fur routes. Fort St Joseph became an important garrison in the area, but a little vulnerable. The commander decided that  his best defence was offence, so he decided to move his 40 regular soldiers, 150 Canadian militia and 300 Natives some 40 miles to capture the American fort at Michilimackinac island, and abandoned Fort St Joseph.

In 1814 the Americans burned the fort to the ground, and after a treaty gave the American fort back, the Brits decided not to rebuild Fort St Joe, moving their base to another island.






Earlier we had stopped off at Bruce Mines, and visited the local museum. Warmly greeted by a volunteer lady, she showed us round. There were many interesting items, including a very early cylinder phonograph, However the most unusual item was a hair curling machine from the early part of the last century that used electricity directly into each curler. It looked extremely dangerous!












Tonight we are Saulte Sainte Marie, a town which lies on the narrow point between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, and has the same name on both sides of the border between Canada and the USA. There are ship locks on the American side, and we saw a large tanker about to enter one of them.

Two bridges span the waters between the two countries, one rail and one road, the rail bridge has a lifting section to allow the bigger ships to pass. On the Canadian side there are smaller locks for boats and small ships.

On our travels today we passed through a Menemite area, an offshoot of the Amish, who eschew all and any technology later than the 19th century. They are farmers that still use horses to plough, and to travel through the area, and wear clothing that would have been worn in the 19th Century. They seem to be well integrated however, and well regarded when trading with their modern neighbours. They are of course very religious.

Lunch in a diner on St Joseph Island. I ordered a cheese and tomato sandwich and small fries!