Impasse at the Soo

Impasse at the Soo

Among the greatest fears of the shipping industry on the Great Lakes is damage to the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, or a blockade on the St. Marys River where the locks are constructed. Because the river connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron, either event would stop virtually all traffic on the upper Great Lakes. On September 5, 1899 at the narrowest point of the channel, known to mariners as the "Sailor's Encampment," the steamer 'Douglas Houghton' lost steering and hit the bank. The schooner barge that it was towing kept moving forward and smashed into the 'Houghton,' immediately sinking it in the channel. Over the next five days, until the 'Houghton' was moved out, a fleet of 332 vessels had bottlenecked, reportedly costing the shipping industry $600,000. A famous photographer from Sault Ste.Marie, A.E. Young, captured this scene of what is still considered the largest blockade in the history of the Soo Locks.

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