My first visit to the Roche de Boeuf interurban railroad bridge across the Maumee River occurred last year while I was working on Road to Wapatomica, A modern search for the Old Northwest.
The bridge, which looks like it belongs in a photograph of the ruins of Berlin after its bombing during World War II, wasn’t the true object of my visit but it’s impossible to ignore. The rock formation that part of it rests on has a longer, more impressive history and it practically fades into the background because of the deteriorating concrete structure attached to it.
Roche de Boeuf (also called Roche de Bout) is a limestone outcropping that Native Americans saw as a sacred meeting place. Little Turtle, Tarhe the Crane and Blue Jacket reputedly met there to plan their strategy against Anthony Wayne’s Legion in what became the Battle of Fallen Timbers, and also reputedly used it to plan their battles against American armies led by Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair. Wayne’s army even camped across the river from it the night before the big battle.
When the bridge was built in 1908, the move created a storm of controversy because builders destroyed one-third of the sacred rock in the process.
As I wrote in the Fallen Timbers-Fort Miamis chapter of the book “Sadly, the rock doesn’t look much like the landmark that drew the Indians there for war councils or Wayne’s troops saw when they camped before the most important battle of their lives. That is clear from old drawings and postcards that show the rock formation before progress dropped a bridge on top of it.”
The bridge was abandoned in 1937 and as it crumbled it became a frequent subject for photographers. The deterioration apparently also made it more and more dangerous, especially to those who passed under it.
So, the Ohio Department of Transportation recently proposed an auction of the bridge and the land it sits on, which was held last Wednesday. ODOT officials said they tried offering the bridge to anyone they could think of – historical societies, nearly land owners, etc. — before auctioning it off to the public. ODOT officials said they would likely have to demolish it if it didn’t sell, a course they were trying to avoid.
Wednesday, Sarah Heidelberg won a bidding war with another prospective buyer and will pay $6500 for the used-to-be bridge. Some reports say that it may take as long as six months to get her the deed because Ohio governor Mike DeWine has to sign it.
She reportedly refused to say what she plans to do with it, which is what a lot of people say when they come home with a curious item that they bought for no discernible reason at an antique show or flea market.
I’m guessing that she doesn’t know.
