Independent Pilot House

The Corps of Engineers maintains a museum by the locks in Sault Ste. Marie. The museum keeps a log of passing ships; they also get reports of upbound ships as they pass Detour Village, and downbound ships as they pass Whitefish Point. So that's my first stop at the Soo: I want to know which ships are in the system.

Had a nice chat with the lady at the museum's counter about this old boat while we were waiting for it to arrive. The new boats are large and impressive, but style obviously wasn't a concern to their architects. While the Independent was hardly the oldest boat active on the lakes, it was an attractive relic of another age. We were both old enough to remember when lakes boats were more common and more stylish, and wishing for something we knew wasn't in the cards.

Bridge notes: The yellow bridge in the background is the International Bridge, which crosses the Saint Mary's River between the two Saults. The dark bridge with several kinds of draws and lifts which runs beneath it is the old Soo Line railroad bridge, likewise called "International," which also connects Sault, Michigan, with Sault, Ontario.

Kinsman Independent at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in June, 1992.

Camera: Chinon Genesis III