Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario sides of the river. Sault Ste. Marie is one of the oldest French settlements in North America. It was at the crossroads of the 3,000-mile fur trade route, which stretched from Montreal to Sault Ste. Marie and to the North country above Lake Superior. A cosmopolitan, mixed population of Europeans, First Nations peoples, and Métis lived at the village spanning the river. The city name originates from "Saults de Sainte-Marie", archaic French for "Saint Mary's Falls", a reference to the rapids of Saint Marys River. Etymologically, the word "sault" comes from an archaic spelling of "saut" (from "sauter"), which translates
Media in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario system — the station's only direct local production consists of news reports which air as part of regional newscasts produced at the Sudbury station. The city formerly also had its own CBC Television affiliate, CJIC-TV. However, that station was acquired directly by the CBC in 2002, and became a straight analogue rebroadcaster of CBLT-DT from Toronto; the repeater would close down on July 31, 2012, due to budget cuts. Sault Ste. Marie is not designated as a mandatory market for digital television conversion. Sault Ste. Marie also easily receives American network affiliates over the air from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan,