Canoe Trip Details
Canoe Building & Waterways Traveled
In the summer of 2005, students from Lawrence Technological University will recreate an historic canoe trip from Detroit to Pittsburgh via Lake Erie to mark the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War. In the 18th century, the French and Native Americans used the waterways from Detroit to Pittsburgh as primary trade routes. Lawrence Tech students will be the first people in modern times to make this historic voyage. The 6-week trip was two years in the planning and is being implemented largely by students. The student team will depart May 14, 2005 on the Rouge River near Lawrence Tech’s campus in Southfield, Mich., and arrive in Pittsburgh July 9, 2005, the anniversary of General Braddock’s defeat in the Battle of the Monongahela at Pittsburgh. The trip will be coordinated with historical reenactments and other commemorative events celebrating the anniversary.
In 1750, British and French representatives met in Paris to try to solve territorial disputes, but no progress was made. In 1752, the Marquis Duquesne was made governor-general of New France with specific instructions to take possession of the Ohio Valley, removing all British presence from the area. The following year, he sent troops to western Pennsylvania where they built forts at Presque Island (Erie) and on the Rivière aux Boeufs (Waterford). At the same time, Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, was granting land in the Ohio Valley to citizens of his colony. Dinwiddie, hearing of new French forts on the upper Allegheny River, sent out a young Virginia officer, George Washington, to deliver a better demanding that the French leave the region, setting in motion the events which inevitably led to the French & Indian War.
Canoe Building & Waterways Traveled
Lawrence Tech students will build a replica of an eighteenth-century canoe, for safety's sake using modern composite materials instead of birch bark. The 24-foot replica has a 6-person capacity. The rest of the team will make the journey in modern canoes and kayaks. The journey begins on the Rouge River in Southfield, Michigan, near Detroit, then proceeds down the Detroit River to Lake Erie. The Lake Erie portion ends in Erie, Pennsylvania, where there will be a 14-mile overland portage to reach Waterford, Pennsylvania. Here the canoes will enter the water again on LeBoeuf Creek, which leads to the French Creek and finally to the Allegheny River, where the trip culminates at Pittsburgh.
Beyond making history and celebrating the anniversary of the French and Indian War, students embarking on this project are gaining out-of-class knowledge and experience in:
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Teamwork
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Leadership
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Communication
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Engineering
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Environment
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History
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Organization
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Logistical Planning
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Physical Fitness/Endurance
Safety is the number one priority for an adventure such as this. All participants are competent swimmers and a number have also received their lifesaving certification. Safety being priority one, everyone on the trip will be equipped with appropriate safety equipment, including floatation devices. In addition, the Coast Guard periodically will be notified of our location along the route and we will proceed accordingly under their discretion.
