The land where the Gordie Howe International Bridge project is located holds a rich historical past. For thousands of years, it has served as Anishinaabe Territory for the Three Fires Confederacy, consisting of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. The Sandwich, Ontario, community is the oldest continuous European settlement area in Ontario, with French settlers arriving in the late 1700s. And to many escaping the US slave trade through the Underground Railroad, Windsor-Detroit was a destination representing hope and freedom for themselves and for their offspring. Many of these descendants remain in Sandwich and the Windsor-Essex-Kent region today, remembering the arduous efforts their ancestors undertook to obtain better lives and liberty.