The Great Lakes: The Vessels That Plough Them: Their Owners, Their Sailors, and Their Cargoes, Together with a Brief History of Our Inland SeasCurwood, James Oliver
History
The Great Lakes: The Vessels That Plough Them: Their Owners, Their Sailors, and Their Cargoes, Together with a Brief History of Our Inland Seas
Curwood, James Oliver
Great Lakes (North America); Inland navigation -- United States; Shipping -- Great Lakes (North America)
That treasure-hunting is not without its romance, as well as its
reward, is shown by the case of the _Pewabic_. This vessel, with her
treasure in copper, disappeared as completely as though she had been
lifted above the clouds. Expedition after expedition was fitted out to
search for her--a search which continued over a period of thirty years.
In 1897, a party of fortune-seekers from Milwaukee succeeded in finding
the long-lost ship six miles south-east of Thunder Bay. Another
terrible event was the loss of the steamer _Atlantic_, off Long Point,
Lake Erie, with three hundred lives. For many years, futile search was
made for her; not till nearly a quarter of a century was she found, and
$30,000 recovered.
[Illustration: This is One of the Most Remarkable Photographs ever
Taken on the Lakes. It Shows a Sinking Lumber Barge just as She Was
Breaking in Two.
The Photograph was taken from a small boat.]
Whisky and coal form quite an important part of the treasure which
awaits recovery in the Inland Seas. Many vessels with cargoes of whisky
have been lost, and this liquor would be as good to-day as when it went
down. In 1846, the _Lexington_, Captain Peer, cleared from Cleveland
for Port Huron, freighted with one hundred and ten barrels of whisky.
In mid-lake, the vessel foundered with all on board, and though more
than sixty years have passed, she has never been found. To-day her
cargo would be worth $115 a barrel. The _Anthony Wayne_ also sank in
Lake Erie with three hundred barrels of whisky and of wine; and five
years afterwards, the _Westmoreland_ sank near Manitou Island with a
similar cargo. These are only a few of many such cargoes now at the
bottom of the Lakes. Of treasure in lost coal, that of the _Gilcher_
and _Ostrich_, steamer and tow, that disappeared in Lake Michigan,
is one of the largest. The two vessels carried three thousand tons,
and as yet they have not been traced to their resting place. In 1895,
the steamer _Africa_ went down in a gale on Lake Huron, carrying two
thousand tons of coal with her, and at the bottom of Lake Ontario is
the ship _St. Peter_, with a big cargo of fuel. It is estimated that
at least half a million dollars in coal awaits recovery at the bottom
of the Lakes.
But, after all, perhaps the most romantic of all disappearances on the
Inland Seas is that of the _Griffin_, built by La Salle at the foot of
Lake Erie, in January, 1679. The _Griffin_ sailed across Lake Erie, up
the Detroit River, and continued until she entered Lake Michigan. In
the autumn of 1680, she started on her return trip, laden with furs and
with $12,000 in gold. She was never heard of again, and historians are
generally of the opinion that the little vessel sank during a storm on
Lake Huron.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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