In May, 1870, Col. Garnet Wolseley arrived here with an expeditionary force of British regulars and Canadian militia aboard the steamer Chicora. They were travelling to Fort Garry on the Red River to put down an uprising led by Louis Riel. The canal at the Sault was then on American territory, and Wolseley was compelled to debark and transport his troops and military supplies overland on the Ontario side. The "Chicora" was then permitted to traverse the canal and take aboard her passengers and cargo. This incident promoted the construction of a Canadian canal which was completed in 1895.