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• Michipicoten Canoe Route, The
  The nearby Michipicoten River formed an important link in the canoe from Lake Superior to James Bay via the Michipicoten, Missinaibi and Moose Rivers. The route was probably explored at an early date by the French Fur traders who maintained a post at Michipicoten. However the first recorded journeys were not made until the l770's when the Hudson Bay Co. Began to establish furtrading posts along this route inland from Moose Fort. In l781 Philip...

• Chicora Incident 1870, The
  The St. Mary's River was the scene of an international dispute between Canada and the United States in May 1870. The Canadian government had sent an expeditionary force to quell a Métis uprising led by Louis Riel at Fort Garry (Winnipeg). It chartered the steamer Chicora to ferry troops and supplies as far as Fort William. The canal at Sault Ste Marie was on American territory, and U.S. officials refused passage to the ship because...

• North West Company Post, The
  Travellers on the canoe route to the West had to make a portage around the St Mary's rapids. The North West Company established a fur-trading post south of the river by 1791. After the British abandoned their occupation of the American midwest, the company moved its post here in 1797. The depot eventually included storehouses, a canal and lock, a sawmill, and a portage road. Wharves were built at either end of the rapids for...

• Ontario Yellowbirds, The
  In 1924, the government of Ontario set up a provincial air service to replace forest fire detection by canoe and foot patrols. Based at Sault Ste. Marie, the service's aircraft became known as the "Yellowbirds" because of their yellow and black colours. The Yellowbirds detected fires, transported fire fighters and supplies and, from the 1950s on, pioneered the use of water bombers in battling wilderness blazes. Over the years the service also provided aerial support...

• Shingwauk Hall
  The Shingwauk Indian Residential School operated on this site from 1875 to 1970 as part of the Canadian Residential Schools system. An Anglican minister, E.F. Wilson, named this school for Chief Shingwaukonse (Little Pine). Shingwaukonse had a vision of creating teaching wigwams where Anishinaabe and settler children would learn from each other's cultures. In 1935, Shingwauk Hall was built to replace the former school building, known as the Shingwauk Industrial Home. The assimilationist Residential School...

• Superior's First Shipyard
  The first decked vessel to sail Lake Superior was constructed near this site on Pointe aux Pins in 1734-35. It was used by Louis Denis, Sieur de la Ronde, during an unsuccessful attempt to establish copper mines on the southern shore of the lake. Alexander Henry, one of the leading fur traders during the early days of the British regime, built a barge of 14 tons in 1770 and in August 1772, launched a sloop of 40 tons. These vessels transported supplies to a short-lived copper mine developed by Henry and his associates near Point Mamainse.

• Trans-Canada Highway, The
  This plaque stands at the halfway point of the Trans-Canada Highway, which runs from St John's, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia. Its construction, in conjunction with the provinces, was authorized by the federal parliament in 1949. The official opening for through traffic of this 4,859-mile route, of which about 1,453 miles are within Ontario, took place on September 3, 1962. However, with the completion of a section of Highway 11 between Longlac and Hearst in...

• Anna Jameson 1794-1860
  Born in Dublin, Ireland, and raised in London, this famous 19th century author, illustrator and social reformer joined her husband, Robert Jameson, Attorney General of Upper Canada, at Toronto in 1836. The following June, unescorted, Mrs. Jameson travelled to Port Talbot, Detroit, and Mackinaw. From there she journeyed by bateau to Sault Ste. Marie, descended the rapids, and attended an Indian Assembly at Manitoulin. She travelled on to Toronto by way of Georgian Bay and...

• Bruce Mines, The
  The original claim to the Bruce Mine location was filed in September 1846 by James Cuthbertson. It was acquired the following year by the Montreal Mining Company, and production commenced in 1847-48 at what became the first commercially successful copper mine in Canada. Employing skilled Cornish workers, the company operated the mine until l865 when it was purchased by the West Canada Mining Company. That firm had leased part of the property in 1853 and...

• Capture of the "Tigress" and "Scorpion," The
  Some 25 miles southwest of here lies the Detour Passage between Drummond Island and Michigan's upper peninsula. In August 1814, it was occupied by the armed U.S. schooners "Tigress" and "Scorpion", whose intention was to prevent supplies reaching the British garrison at Michilimackinac. On September 1 a British force of seamen, soldiers and Indians under Lieuts. Miller Worsley, R.N., and Andrew Bulger left Michilimackinac in small boats to attack the enemy. The "Tigress" was boarded...

• Colonel John Prince 1796-1870
  Here, on a portion of his former estate, is buried Col. Prince who emigrated from England in 1833 and settled at Sandwich, Upper Canada. As commanding officer of the Essex Militia, he stirred up a violent controversy by ordering the summary execution of four members of an armed force sympathizing with Mackenzie's Rebellion which invaded the Windsor area in December, 1838. He represented Essex in the legislative assembly 1836-40 and 1841-54. Prince was appointed the first judge of the Algoma District in 1860. Colourful and eccentric, he became one of early Sault Ste Marie's best known citizens.

• Elliot Lake Mining Camp, The
  Evidence of radioactive ore prompted Aimé Breton and Karl Gunterman to stake claims south of here near Lauzon Lake in Long Township in 1948. Geologist Franc R. Joubin became interested and persuaded mining financier Joseph H. Hirshhorn to fund drilling operations. In 1953 they located the ore body that became the Pronto Uranium Mine. The discovery of further uranium deposits near Quirke and Elliot lakes led to a mining boom. The town of Elliot Lake...

• Precious Blood Cathedral
  This church was constructed in 1875 and dedicated in 1876 as the Parish Church of the Sacred Heart by Bishop Jean-Francois Jamot. It replaced a wooden building constructed in 1846 that had served as a Jesuit missionary post for this region. Built of local red-grey sandstone, it was designed in the Gothic revival style with a single nave, tall lancet windows, and an imposing tower and slate roof. In 1901, transepts were added and in...

• Ripple Rock
  The ripple marks on the adjacent rock faces were made some two billion years ago by waves in a shallow body of water. Buried by later deposition of silt and then subjected to great pressure, the rippled sand became sandstone. The formation was subsequently tilted 60" from the horizontal by crumpling of the earth's crust. This exceptional feature is of particular interest in that there are at least three distinct beds of sandstone, two of...

• Frederic Baraga 1797-1868
  A pioneer missionary in northwestern Ontario, Baraga was born near Dobrni (Yugoslavia) and ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1823. Seven years later he came to the United States as the first missionary sponsored by the Leopoldine Society of Vienna. After studying Ojibwa, he served congregations in present-day Michigan and Wisconsin, working tirelessly among ettlers, Indians and fur traders. Baraga soon extended his ministry to the area north of Lakes Huron and Superior. Appointed a...

• Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp
  When Canada introduced wartime conscription in 1940, many young men — largely of Mennonite and other historic peace churches — sought alternatives to military service based on religious conviction and conscience. In response, the Canadian government set up the non-military, alternative service work camps for conscientious objectors. On July 16, 1941, the first group of men, most from Southern Ontario, arrived at Ontario’s first camp, the Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp to serve four-month...