Sandy Creek is an creek located entirely within Monroe County in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The creek rises in London Township in the north-central portion of the county and flows southeast into

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

in Frenchtown Charter Township at Sterling State Park. Along the banks of Sandy Creek was one of the earliest French settlements in the area, known as the Sandy Creek Settlement, which existed from approximately 1780–1813 before being abandoned after the

Battle of Frenchtown The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

Geography

A very narrow and shallow creek, Sandy Creek contains no dams and is not navigable. However, the creek's watershed serves an important purpose of flood prevention in the area, which has a relatively flat topography and heavy agricultural use. In 2019, most of the creek underwent a $1.2 million

clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with Shelterwood cutting, shelterwood and Seed tree, seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters t ...

project along its banks to increase the creek's drainage to alleviate flooding along its route. Sandy Creek's watershed includes portions of Frenchtown Charter Township, Raisinville Township, Exeter Township (including the village of Maybee), London Township, Dundee Township, and the city of

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

. The creek flows for from London Township to

in Frenchtown Charter Township. Sterling State Park is to the south of the river mouth, while the unincorporated community of Detroit Beach is to the north. Stone embankments and a pump station were built along the banks of Detroit Beach to alleviate flooding from Sandy Creek and potentially rising waters from Lake Erie. Its only sizable

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

, Little Sandy Creek, flows parallel to the main branch about one mile to the south. Sandy Creek travels under

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...

(North Telegraph Road), and North Monroe Street ( M-125). The creek contains no large fish populations, and most fish can be found in the artificially enlarged lagoons of Sterling State Park leading to Lake Erie. Common fish in this area include

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...

, channel and bullhead catfish, largemouth and

white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12–15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with whit ...

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

and

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

Sandy Creek Settlement

Along the banks of Sandy Creek near Lake Erie was one of the earliest European settlements in the area, known as the Sandy Creek Settlement. The small settlement was founded as early as 1780 by the French shortly before the much larger Frenchtown settlement, which was founded in 1784 just south near the

River Raisin The River Raisin (, 'River of Sturgeon') is a river in southeast Michigan, United States, that flows in a generally easterly direction through Ice age, glacial sediments before emptying into Lake Erie. The River Raisin drainage basin covers app ...

. At the time, the area was under the administration of the British

Province of Quebec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

and predated American territorial control. In 1787, the area became part of the newly established American

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

, then briefly into the

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by an organic act that President of the United States, President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an Historic regions of the United States, organized incor ...

in 1800, and finally into the

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

in 1805. The Sandy Creek Settlement was a small area of land given to the early French settlers by the indigenous

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

tribe, which occupied the area beforehand. The small settlement of Sandy Creek, which grew to only a few dozen inhabitants, was abandoned in 1813 after the American's suffered a catastrophic defeat at the

during the

. During the battle, the Sandy Creek Settlement was abandoned and never resettled. While parts of Frenchtown later became incorporated into the city of

, there are no remaining traces of the Sandy Creek Settlement. The Sandy Creek Settlement is listed as part of the River Raisin Heritage Corridor as a contributing element of the

River Raisin National Battlefield Park The River Raisin National Battlefield Park preserves the site of the Battle of Frenchtown as the only national battlefield marking a site of the War of 1812. It was established as the 393rd unit of the United States National Park Service under T ...

. The settlement's history is detailed on a

historic marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

erected by the Monroe County Historical Commission near the boat launch in Sterling State Park. The historic marker reads: :''Joseph Porlier Benec, Sandy Creek's first settler, was granted a tract of land here by the Pottawatomie Indians, August 3, 1780. By the time of the

, sixteen homes lined the banks of the creek. Retreating Indians swept through the settlement after the defeat of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Indians at the first Battle of the River Raisin, January 18, 1813. Angered by the pro-American remarks of Jean Solo and Rene LaBeau, these Indians shot them. LaBeau's frightened young children ran two and a half miles to the River Raisin, seeking the protection of the American Army. The Americans ordered the Sandy Creek settlement abandoned and it never completely rebuilt.''

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Monroe County, Michigan Rivers of Michigan Tributaries of Lake Erie