Thin Ice

Ziggy here. What would you do if some stray dog decided to come into your yard and dig up all your bones? I'll tell you what I'd do; I'd fight back. This is exactly what the citizens of Dearborn did when they heard their river was going to be altered. Plans for the channelization of the Rouge River had been under study since the 1930's. Before this occurred, the part of the river that ran through and past Henry Ford's home was a winding and unpredictable river which created small streams and oxbows. As funny as it sounds, an oxbow is not an accessory worn by oxen to dinner parties. It actually is part of the river, such as a bend, which resembles the frame worn by oxen to support their yokes. (They thought it was pretty funny!) Actual work began on the river in 1962 and protests against it, started in the 1970's. The plan for channelization included diverting all the small streams and oxbows into one widened, straightened, and paved channel. Why? It was supposed to decrease flooding along the river.