The Monroe corner of Campus Martius Park, adorned with a sculptural column symbolizing the arts in Detroit. Photograph by Amy Elliott Bragg.
On July 24, 1701, Antoine de la mothe Cadillac shored up his canoe on the banks of a strait in between two big lakes and set his guys to operate felling trees to build a French settlement he’d simply call “ville d’Etroit” — the city on the straits. (The Anishinaabe men and women who by now lived right here referred to as it Waawiyaataanong, meaning “at the curved shores.”)
Three hundred many years later — or, if you are counting, 20 decades ago this weekend — Detroit arrived alongside one another to toast centuries of history in grand style. There was a parade of tall ships. There was a reenactment of Cadillac’s landing. A time capsule that experienced been sealed up in 1901 was ceremonially opened. (I
