Shipwreck Identified

Since its discovery by scuba divers in 1978, the wreck of an old wooden schooner lying 100 feet below the surface of Lake Superior near the Huron Islands has been called by several names. Research on the wreck in 1995 finally led to the discovery of her true identity.

When a group of L'Anse divers found the shipwreck, they thought it might be the Olive Jeanette, a four-masted schooner which sank in 1905. The Olive Jeanette was downbound from Duluth with a cargo of iron ore in tow of the steamer Iosco when they were struck by a Lake Superior gale. Both vessels went to the bottom of the lake with all hands somewhere in the vicinity of the Huron Islands. Wreckage and bodies from the boats washed up on shore all the way from Pequaming to the Huron Mountain Club near Big Bay.

Once the divers started exploring the wreck, however, it became apparent that the vessel was far too small to be the 242 foot Jeanette. It also appeared that the schooner had only been equipped with two masts, rather than the four carried by the Jeanette. Finally, there was no trace of an iron ore cargo. The schooner definitely wasn't the Olive Jeanette, but what was it?

Another possible identity proposed for the wreck was the Lizzie A. Law, another schooner which some sources said was lost near the Huron Islands. Further research, however, turned up specific reports of the Law going ashore and being smashed to pieces at Traverse Island, more than 15 miles away.

In his book Keweenaw Shipwrecks, Great Lakes historian Frederick Stonehouse theorized that the wreck was that of the Southwest, a schooner which sank near the Huron Islands in 1898. The Southwest was upbound for Portage Entry on the morning of September 17 when it encountered fog, along with thick smoke from forest fires along the lake shore. Sailing blindly throught the fog and smoke, the Southwest struck the rocks southeast of the islands at about five o'clock in the morning. The crew launched the schooner's yawl boat and rowed to safety on one of the islands. The next day they were picked up by a passing steamer and taken to Marquette.

When the Southwest sank, it was carrying no cargo, being on its way to pick up a load of sandstone. The location reported in the newspaper account of the wreck was "about a mile and a half southeast of the largest of the Huron Islands," which corresponds closely to the location of the wreck in question. Like the unidentified wreck, the Southwest carried two masts. With these facts known, it was generally accepted among divers and historians that the wreck was that of the Southwest.

Proof of the vessel's identity came in June, 1995 when divers Dan Fountain of Negaunee and Rob Schmitt of Marquette examined one of the deck beams at the wreck's aft cargo hatch. Carved into the beam was "No. 22359 T277". A call to C. Patrick Labadie at the Canal Park Museum in Duluth, Minnesota revealed that the Southwest's official registration number was 22359, and her registered net tonnage was 277. The Southwest and the unknown schooner were one and the same.

The Southwest was built in Ogdensburg, New York in 1866. She was 137 feet in length and had a beam of 26 feet. At the time of the wreck she was owned by M. A. Bradley of Cleveland, Ohio.

The shipwreck of the Southwest lies within the Marquette Underwater Preserve, and is usually buoyed by volunteers from the preserve. It is located at 47°56.42' N, 87°56.16' W, LORAN coordinates 31851.9 / 46890.0, a distance of about 15 miles from either the Big Bay Harbor of Refuge or the Witz Marina at Skanee. Depth at the wreck site is a maximum of 100 feet.