April 17 – September 12, 2010

The more haunting attributes of water come alive in the new exhibit Shipwreck!, on view at the Center for History. The Great Lakes––Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and Lake Ontario––have a total surface area of 94,000 square miles. They are the largest lakes in the United States and together, they hold 22% of the world’’s fresh water. They also are among the most treacherous bodies of water on earth. Even after only one season, sea captains who sailed the world’’s oceans vowed they’’d never return to the Great Lakes. The danger lay in the vastly uneven topography of the waters’’ bottom as well as the wild and unpredictable weather fronts that can engulf the lakes.

Henry Cort

Over 25 stories and photographs of ships that met their demise on the Great Lakes, including the famous S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, can be seen in the exhibit. On loan from the Office of the State Archaeologist of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority are items salvaged through the years from shipwrecks, including dishes, silverware, glassware, and even buttons. Iron ore that was part of a cargo shipment can also be seen.

Each story in Shipwreck! is haunting in its own way, including that of the schooner Rouse Simmons, which known as the “Christmas Tree Ship,” sailed every November and December along Lake Michigan. Her owner and master, Herman Schuenemann, operated a successful business selling Christmas trees to Chicago’’s big hotels and theaters. The brisk trade required being on the water during the time of year that is considered the worst to sail because of high probability of ferocious storms. On November 22, 1912, the Rouse Simmons departed Thompson, Michigan, bound for Chicago. It was her last trip of the season, and on board were 50,000 pine trees–nearly double the schooner’’s capacity. Onlookers reported that the trees were stacked so high on the Simmons’ deck that the sails had to be raised an additional ten feet to clear them. As the vessel plotted south towards Chicago, a storm struck Lake Michigan. Lashed by the biting wind and heavy seas, the overloaded schooner’’s seams opened up, and she began to sink. The distressed “Christmas Tree Ship” was sighted off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and the lifesaving service (precursor to the Coast Guard) was alerted. A powered lifeboat was launched, but rescuers could not find the Rouse Simmons. The schooner had sunk before the rescuers could reach her. Everyone on board, including the 19 passengers and Captain Schuenemann, was lost. The following spring, several Lake Michigan fishermen reported snagging Christmas trees in their nets. Shipwreck! Is on view in the Carroll Gallery.

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald