Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1881-09-10
chandise. At this time about 5000 tons

Ill season. After 1901 the business OF
the portage company increased very
rapidly, and the need Of canal became
plainly apparent. A rival forwarding
company was started in 1851 by Spauld-
ing & Bacon, which continued until
about 1853, but being unable to compete
successfully with the tramway this COM
pany finally ceased operations. At this
time j. L. Whiting was secretary and
treasurer as well as general agent of the
Chippewa-portage company, and Sheldon
Mcknight was president and general
manager.
The attention of the people of the
state was first publicly called to the i'm
p0rtance of securing q ship canal around
the rapids at Sault st. Marie, by Governor
Mason in his message to the legislature
in 1887, at the first session of the legis-
Iature of the state Of Michigan; The
legislature acted favOrably upon this re-
commentator, and on March 81, 1887,
an act was approved by the governor,
authorizing a survey for the estimate of
the cost of construction. Twenty-Five
thousand dollars was appropriated by
the act to cover the expense.
During the summer of 1887 Mr.. John
Almy, whom Gov. Mason had appointed
engineer, completed his surveys and re-
ported to the governor the plans for a
canal and ten locks of the following
dimensions: Width of canal, Is feet;
depth, 10 feet; Width of locks, 32 feet;
length, 100 feet; estimated cost of the
whole, $112,544. In September congress
was asked several times to appropriate
money for the construction of the canal,
but, through the opposition of the south
ern members, no help could be obtained
until August, 1852, when bill was ap-
proved by the President granting 10000
acres of public land for the purpose.
Among those who most strenuOusly
opposed the granting of help to the canal
was Henry Clay, who, in a speech against
it, referred to it as "a work beyond the
remOtest settlement in the United States,
if not in the MOON" Among those who
worked at Washington for the canal were
the Hon. John Burt, Capt. K. B. Ward
Sheldon Mcknight, Abner Sherman,
Simon Mandelbaum, ID. S. Cash, Vim.
Willard. +. c. Roberts, VIM. A. Pratt and
J.V. Brown.
After the appropriation was made an
other survey was ordered. This work
was done by Capt. Garfield, and the plan
which he submitted was substantially
the same as the former one, except that
the length of the locks was changed to
300 feet.
The Saint Mary's Falls canal was built
by syndicate of which the following
were the most prominent members. The
Fairbanks scale company of Vermont,
Erastus Corning of Albany, Gov. Sey-
mOur of New York, f. r. LivermOre Of
Boston and j. w. Brooks, at that time
president of the Michigan Central rail
way. This syndicate undertook to con-
struct the canal for the 10000 acres of
land in the state of Michigan, given by
the general government for the purpose
and valued at 100000, but the con-
structiOn of the canal cost them about
100000 more than that sum. The work
of excavating for the canal was begun
on June A, 1853 by Charles T. Harvey
with spade in his own hand, and was
conducted under the supervision of Capt.
Garfield, sOn-in-law of the late Gen. Cass,
he being chief engineer and having for
his assistant Col. Glenn of Niles, Mich.
In the winter of 1854 some of the men,
bers of the syndicate became somewhat
alarmed at the difficulties encountered,
they being much greater than had been
anticipated, and j. Il. Whiting was dele
gated to visit the members for the pur-
pose of inducing them to continue the
work. This he did during the winter
making the journey from Sault Ste.
Marie to Saginaw on foot, visiting SYRIA
cuse, Albany, st. JOhnsbury, VT, and
several other places, and interviewing
members. Mr.. Whiting succeeded in
placing the Importance and character of
the work before the members in such
light that they were encouraged to pro-
mi hn
pushed to a successful conclusion as
above stated in 1855. The canal when
constructed was nearly four times the
size originally intended, the locks being
$50 feet long, 70 feet wide and giving a
depth of water of 13 feet.
Although the canal was built much
larger than was contemplated by its first
projectors in 1887, so rapidly did the COM
merce develop and expand that dozen
years had hardly elapsed before it be-
came apparent that an increase i'm the
capacity of the canal was needed. 1t was
ascertained that the members OF congress
would do nothing toward improving the
the state. Mr.. Burt, who had been at
Washington in the interest of the canal,
returned to Detroit and laid the situa-
ton of affairs before the board of trade.
As a means Of securing the sought for
end, that body took action in favor of the
transfer of the canal to the United States
Acting on the showing presented, the
legislature passed joint resolution,
March q 1869 authorizing the transfer of
the canal to the United States. Although
congress did not take possession of the
canal until the spring of the present
year. appropriations were made for the
Improvement. On September 20 Gen. O.
M. Poe completed survey and made a