1938 Thousand Islands Bridge Opened by Roosevelt & King (Video) Posted Monday, May 09, 2011 at 10:23:53 AM     Alexandria Bay, NY 1000 Islands  Comments  Unique Views 5613/Total Views 6044

Since I've been doing abaynews.com one of my favorite things to cover has become historical items involving the Saint Lawrence River. I recently came upon some old historical footage involving the T.I. Bridge and President Roosevelt and it's something everyone should take a look at.

This from Aug. 18, 1938

President Franklin D Roosevelt sits in an open car with Canadian Prime Minister MacKenzie King. They both hold one side of a pair of scissors and snip through a ribbon across the new Thousand Islands Bridge between Canada and America. They are driven over the bridge at the official opening ceremony. Roosevelt makes a speech on a platform in Canada, "This garden spot of nature, this bridge stands as an open door. There will be no challenge at the border. There will be no guard to ask a countersign. Where the boundary is crossed the only words must be "Pass, friend". " Applause.

Roosevelt is made a Doctor of Law by the Canadians and in ceremonial robes makes another speech, "The dominion of Canada is part of the sisterhood of the British Empire. I give to you assurance that the people of The United States will not stand idly by if domination of Canadian soil is threatened by any other empire."

WATCH THE VIDEO



Go to the CBC archives to listen to more audio from the bridge dedication ceremony.
http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/international_politics/clips/7050/&ref=spe 

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