Freshwater Fury: The Great Lakes Storm of 1913

Charles S Price upside down, 1913,  Wikipedia

Dear wife and Children. We were left up here in Lake Michigan by McKinnon, captain James H. Martin tug, at anchor. He went away and never said goodbye or anything to us. Lost one man yesterday. We have been out in storm forty hours. Goodbye dear ones, I might see you in Heaven. Pray for me. / Chris K. / P.S. I felt so bad I had another man write for me. Goodbye forever.

~A message found in a bottle 11 days after Plymouth disappeared, dictated by Chris Keenan, federal marshal in charge of the barge

Wikipedia says that the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, also known as the “Freshwater Fury” or the “White Hurricane”, was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that ravaged the Great Lakes November 7-10, 1913. With the sinking of 19 ships, the stranding of another 19 and a death toll of at least 250, it remains the deadliest and most destructive natural disaster in Great Lakes history.

Major shipwrecks occurred on all but Lake Ontario, with most happening on southern and western Lake Huron. Lake masters recounted that waves reached at least 35 feet (11 m) in height. Being shorter in length than waves ordinarily formed by gales, they occurred in rapid succession, with three waves frequently striking in succession. Masters also stated that the wind often blew in directions opposite to the waves below. This was the result of the storm’s cyclonic motion, a phenomenon rarely seen on the Great Lakes.

In the late afternoon of November 10, an unknown vessel was spotted floating upside-down in about 60 feet (18 m) of water on the eastern coast of Michigan, within sight of Huronia Beach and the mouth of the St. Clair River. Determining the identity of this “mystery ship” became of regional interest, resulting in daily front-page newspaper articles. The ship eventually sank, and it was not until early Saturday morning, November 15, that it was finally identified as the Charles S. Price. The front page of that day’s Port Huron Times-Herald extra edition read, “BOAT IS PRICE — DIVER IS BAKER — SECRET KNOWN”. Milton Smith, the assistant engineer who decided at the last moment not to join his crew on premonition of disaster, aided in identifying any bodies that were found.

You can get a map to the wreck of the Charles S Price, and here’s a list of shipwrecks of the 1913 storm and an account of the weather. You can see more photos from Wikipedia and also in Lakeland Boating’s great slideshow of some of the on and offshore damage from the Freshwater Fury.

More at absolutemichigan.com/Shipwreck and even Michigan shipwrecks on Michigan in Pictures.

Grand Island North Lighthouse

Grand Island North Light 2, photo by Shawn & Brian Malone

The page on Grand Island North Lighthouse from Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light begins:

Eight miles in length, and three miles in width, Grand Island is the largest island on Superior’s south shore. Long known by fur traders for the natural harbor of refuge on the island’s southern lee, the North West Company established a post on the site of present day Munising in the late 1700’s, and subsequently the American Fur Company operated a post on the Island itself during the early decades of the nineteenth century. The hay days of “King Fur” were fading into memory when Abraham Williams, the island’s first permanent white settler arrived from Vermont in 1837 and set up homesteading in a couple of the old abandoned trading post buildings on the island’s south shore. As other settlers began arriving to eke an existence from the island’s shores, Williams established a trading post, blacksmith’s shop and sawmill on the island.

In 1853 Congress appropriated $5,000 for a new lighthouse at the top of a 175-foot cliff on the northern end of the island, but materials used were so inferior that the light had to be completely demolished and rebuilt in 1867. It served for almost 100 years before being decommissioned and sold to Dr. Loren Graham, author of “A Face in the Rock,” a chronicle of the rich native heritage of the island. There’s more great photos of the lighthouse including this one by Jeff Shook and a shot from 1905.

You can buy a copy of this photo right here and check out more of their Lake Superior lighthouses.

If you’re looking for some chilly reading on a warm fall day, The Surfer’s Journal is running a ten page story in their summer issue featuring photos that the Malones took at a Grand Sable Dunes surfing session in January of 2009.

Big Air at the Midwest Super Park

Midwest Super Park, photo by Hometown Invasion Tour.

This is one of a number of photos from Nick Baumgartner’s cool Big Air Competition slideshow.

You can also see them at 2009 Midwest Super Park – Marquette Mountain at Yooper Steez, where Nick explains that every year some of the Midwest’s best snowboarders and skiers take to Marquette Mountain and showcase some of the best talent around.

Wind, Snow, Light

Wind, Snow, Light, photo by dcclark.

David captured blowing snow and light at the Tech Trails at Michigan Tech University. You can see it bigger in his Winter set (slideshow).

Check out David’s blog Cliffs and Ruins for more photos and stories including this cool set of possibly bobcat tracks.

Ice bridge

Ice bridge, photo by Blondieyooper.

Winter at Lake Superior, Marquette, Michigan. Be sure to check it out bigger.

You can see other photos April took on March 3, 2009 and many more great shots in her Winter in the UP set (slideshow).

More great winter pics on our Michigan Winter Wallpaper page!

Boating the Straits of Mackinac with the Stempkis

Mackinac Bridge, photo by Ross Nave.

#737 on the list of Fun Things You Could Do in Michigan This Weekend is Boating with the Stempkis!

Be sure to check this photo out bigger and here’s Ross’s Michigan slideshow.

Hope your weekend is great!!

Fourteen Foot Shoals Cabin

Fourteen Foot Shoals Cabin, photo by DIsnowshoe

DIsnowshoe has some beautiful photos of this cabin at Cheboygan State Park (slideshow).

The web site for Cheboygan State Park has more about the cabins and also their rustic teepees.

Petoskey’s Underwater Crucifix

Petoskey Crucifix, photo by Latitude 45.

Martin says that this beautiful crucifix rests in four fathoms of water (24′) in Little Traverse Bay, near the breakwater beacon. He pointed out this article in the Petoskey News Review about the history of Petoskey’s underwater crucifix and the annual viewing event:

The crucifix is made of white marble from Italy, and was a special order for a family in Rapson, Mich., as a memorial for a son killed in an accident on the farm.

After the structure arrived, it was discovered there had been damage to it. The family sold it as an insurance sale to a southern Michigan diving club, who wanted to place it as a memorial for their friend who died diving at Torch Lake. (ed. Charles Raymond)

The crucifix made its way to Little Traverse Bay, and was first placed by the U.S. Icebreaker Sundew 1,200 feet off the Petoskey breakwall on Aug. 12, 1962.

About 20 years later, the Michigan Skindiving Council tried to salvage what they could of the structure. It was lifted from the water, a new base was built in the Petoskey marina over the course of a day, and it was replaced in the bay.

At the time, Jessick was president of the council, and he proposed a winter viewing. The first was in 1986, affording the community the opportunity to view the statue through a hole made in the ice.

Jessick is Harbor Springs resident Dennis Jessick who helps organize the event. Sorry that I didn’t know about this in advance – I’ll try to keep an eye out next year but it doesn’t sound from the article like there’s a lot of lead time! There’s a little more in this Roadside America article about the Skin Divers Church.

Martin writes that the water seems to be half the actual depth. Be sure to check it out bigger and (probably soon) in his automatically generated Pretty Petoskey set (slideshow).

More great winter pics on our Michigan Winter Wallpaper page!

Again with the ice

IMG_1513, photo by wcwhiting.

Bill says he’s waited all year for this to happen again.

Check out Bill’s other photos from this day and in his slideshow (there’s a music video at the tail end of the slideshow, so make sure your speakers aren’t on too loud!).

Sorry to keep coming back to the ice theme but it’s just too awesome.

Will Shoe Be Mine?

Will Shoe Be Mine?, photo by docksidepress.

Someone stole my cookies, but fortunately Matt takes his funny Valentines seriously. He suggests you view it on black and I suggest you also view it in his very un-GLUM Winter GLUM 2009 show.

I hope that those of you who celebrate Valentine’s Day have a day filled with fun and love (and chocolate) and that those of you who don’t have a day full of fun and love and chocolate too!