Navy band

This is really a wonderful little town.  They have been having a weekend bicentenial "sailabration" of the War of 1812; so we have been enjoying lots of really interesting events and learning the history .... which turns out is not only local, but national.  Sault Ste. Marie is the oldest settlement in our nation.  The French fur traders started trading with the Indians here in the mid 1600's, and the missionary priests were right behind.  This exact location (probably a radius of 2 or 3 miles from the locks) was a large campground of the Native Chippewa nation because of the rapids providing such good fishing..... and the rapids were there because of the confluence of three of the "big" lakes.

And then from the viewpoint that most of the north's timber, iron ore, etc, passes thru these locks on its way down to the industrial areas of the lower lakes...... this has been (and still is) an historical resource funnel for our nation.

One uplifting thing I learned today .... the Native Americans were granted fishing rights to this area when the French turned over this land to America ...... and that is still being honored to this day!
The rapids between the lakes (21 foot drop in about 1/4 mile) were what gathered the Indians here in the first place; and whitefish has always been plentiful here. But local commercial fishermen cannot fish in St.Mary's River ..... they fish in Lake Superior (or Huron) and then sell their whitefish to the local restaurants.  Anyway, I was glad to find at least one promise that the white man made to the Indians that was kept.

Part of the festivities here has been a lot of military demonstrations/exhibits AND several outdoor performances by the Navy Band.  Of course the Army Corp of Engineers has a big presence here because they maintain and operate the locks ... and they did a bridge building demonstration, which Charlie and I watched for several hours.  Then the Border Patrol has a sizable presence .... and the Coast Guard.... both for obvious reasons.  You could tour the Coast Guard Cutter, a masted sailing ship, and there is a real live Great Lakes Freighter which has been made into a living museum.

Anyway, we have had a really grand time ..... we all just love the Upper Peninsula. Like the bumper sticker says: "its a whole different world".

Later, Marilyn