During the Revolutionary War, Detroit was the primary British outpost for raids on American colonials in New York, Illinois and Ohio, and once again was the key to control of the Great Lakes. With the treaty of Paris, which marked the end of the war and recognized the independence of the fledgling United States, Detroit and the area surrounding it came under American control. As settlement of the Detroit area and Ontario boomed during the 19th century the Detroit River took on even greater importance. Railroad magnates lobbied for an easy way to cross the river and were bitterly opposed by steamboat interests who wanted to protect their control of the waterways. Early proposals of drawbridges and winter-only crossings were successfully fought by the boat owners who insisted any kind of bridge would be a menace to nagivation.
Construction workers compact the suspension cable with hydraulic tongs.
Battles raged on both sides of the river between politicians and merchants over where a bridge should be located. Austin wanted Bower to build a bridge over the Detroit River and he wanted a contract for his Detroit Gaphite Company to paint it. Bower went to Congress and got a building franchise only to face a huge political hurdle in the form of Detroit Mayor John W. Smith. Mayor Smith wanted the cities of Detroit and Windsor to join in building a municipally owned bridge, even though such an arrangement was impossible due to charter limitations in both Detroit and Windsor. This diagram from The Detroit Times shows the extent of the tear-down when faults were discovered in the steel cable.