Remembering the Fitz: Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Nov. 10, 1975, sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald and the loss of its 29 crew members near Whitefish Point, Michigan. In 2015, on the 40th anniversary, former Duluth WDIO TV anchor Dennis Anderson and writer Rick Fowler did an award-winning package of stories published in Lake Superior Magazine. Dennis described what it was like that night on the news desk, breaking the news of the tragic shipwreck and Rick interviewed a mariner who was experiencing his first season on the lakers, thrilling to the storm without realizing until later its dark impact. You can read both parts of “A Night to Remember.”
To honor the memory of the ship and crew, there are two annual events happening today on Lake Superior at Split Rock Lighthouse in Minnesota, where the beacon will be lit after dusk and a bell tolled for the lost crew members, and at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point, where there will be a ringing of the bell raised from the sunken Fitz in 1995 that is on display there. A third annual remembrance, the Great Lakes Memorial Service for all lost Great Lakes sailors, is at the Mariners’ Church in Detroit during its 11 a.m. service this Sunday.
And finally, in today’s Duluth News Tribune, sailor/author Marlin Bree presents his theory of what caused the wreck.
Remembering other shipwrecks and gales: History buff Dave Sproule, an Ontario Park’s natural heritage education specialist, posted a “Shipwrecks of Lake Superior” story this week mentioning three tales of Lake Superior wrecks, the wooden steamer Charles Hebard in 1902, the wooden schooner William O. Brown in 1872 and the most intriguing tale of Lord Selkirk’s canoe brigade in 1816 taking several partners in the North West Company to stand trial in Montréal for the murder of 20 people at a confrontation at Seven Oaks in Manitoba. One of the canoes with nine men sank in a squall on Whitefish Bay.
In another shipwreck story from this week, the Duluth News Tribune did its Pressroom Podcast on Lake Superior wrecks, including the Mataafa, on which nine sailors died just off the Duluth mainland in 1905, the Socrates that grounded on Park Point in 1985, the two missing French minesweepers built in Ontario that disappeared between Fort William (part of today’s Thunder Bay) and Sault Ste. Marie on a 1918 voyage and the lost Bannockburn of 1902.
Where the birds are: Birders hardcore or casual can tap a newly updated online resource, the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas, a decades-long project with roots to the 1977 creation of the state’s Nongame Wildlife Program. The atlas covers 249 bird species, all species breeding in the state, with field observations gathered from 2009 to 2013 by hundreds of volunteers and then compiled and recently available. A printed publication is also being pursued. The online atlas has interactive maps showing areas where birds have been documented, as well as information pages about each species and photos, like this one of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird by David Brislance, who wrote about how to get wild birds to eat out of your hand for Lake Superior Magazine. John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune details the creation of the atlas.
Higher ferry fare?: The National Park Service is considering an increase in the fees for trips in the Ranger III to Isle Royale, according to WoodTV. Suggested adult one-way fares would increase from $53 to $55 for the low-traveled season and from $63 to $70 for the high season. Public comments on the proposal will be accepted until Dec. 8.
Duck, duck, cinnamon teal duck: Ashland area resident Greg Alexander’s acrylic painting of a cinnamon teal duck (above) took second place out of 215 entries in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 2017 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. A painting of incoming mallards by a Delano, Minnesota, artist, Bob Hautman, took first place (at right). The Hautman clan has won multiple federal stamp contests, as the Twin Cities Pioneer Press story reveals. Waterfowl hunters are required to buy the $25 Duck Stamp, and 98 percent of the purchase price goes toward habitat protection or purchase. Many nonhunters – birders, stamp collectors and conservationists – also purchase the Duck Stamp and support the program.
Fish in and out of water: Scott Brand of the The Sault News spent a little time with Lake Superior State University’s Aquatic Lab Manager Roger Greil (seen here holding a container of Atlantic salmon fry) as he and some helpers harvested 100 pairs of Atlantic salmon from the St. Marys River for gathering eggs for later stocking in the St. Marys, Port Sanilac, Au Sable and Thunder Bay rivers. The original stocking salmon came from Maine, but since 2003, the LSSU program has not needed more than those adults harvested from the St. Marys near the Cloverland Electric Cooperative Powerhouse.
Slow down, you move too fast: Police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, this week were calling for caution after receiving 10 calls about collisions within 20 minutes during a winter blow mid-week, reports SooToday. More winter weather alerts were issued until this morning in parts of the Keweenaw and Upper Peninsula. By Thursday, up to 12 inches already had fallen on the Keweenaw, the first significant lake effect snowfall for that peninsula, and gale-force winds were recorded on Lake Superior, according to the National Weather Service. A winter weather advisory also was issued for Thursday afternoon in northern Wisconsin. This morning in northern Minnesota, record lows were broken in Duluth, International Falls, Hibbing and Aitken, reports KBJR6.
Conserving the caribou: Regional naturalists are raising concerns about the dangers posed by newly migrated wolves onto the Lake Superior island with the farthest southern caribou herd known to exist. “It is my dream that Canadians would have a discussion about caribou as Americans did about moose,” Christian Schroeder, who owns a camp on Michipicoten Island, told Ruth Fletcher of the Sault Star. Lake Superior Magazine noted the 2012 arrival of the wolf pack in an award-winning story “The Last of the Gray Ghosts” by Cheryl Lyn Dybas, published in October/November 2015, that reviewed the lakeshore populations of the species. Cheryl Lyn also reported that wolves may be an issue on the Slate Islands, where a healthy herd has existed. On the topic of Lake Superior caribou, the Toronto Star published an opinion piece, “There’s Still Time to Save Lake Superior’s Threatened Caribou” by Leo Lepiano, calling for intervention.
Waterfront workings: The Detroit News reports on the $246,230 emergency dredging of 9,000 cubic yards of sand at the Grand Traverse Bay Harbor near the Portage Entry to the Keweenaw Waterway while the Duluth News Tribune reported on a $6 million plan to replace the Minnesota Slip Seawall where the William A. Irvin is docked in Duluth.
Waterfront repairs: The city of Duluth and St. Louis County estimate more than $3.5 million in repairs will be needed after a late October storm damaged portions of the Lakewalk, Brighton Beach, McQuade Safe Harbor, Scenic Highway 61 and other shoreside structures, reports John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune. Meanwhile, in Marquette, Dennis Stachewicz, the city’s community development director, tells Lake Superior Magazine there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in needed repairs anticipated for the compromised Lakeshore Boulevard as well as damage such as the loss of riprap along culverts and other main sewer line repairs. The city is keen on implementing a $10 million project that would reroute some of the boulevard and would bolster the rock revetment protecting it from the Lake. “Every time we have a serious storm, we have to go out and clean it up,” Dennis says, at a cost of $30,000 to $50,000. To date, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has declined to allow emergency funding for the project. State and federal representatives were being invited to view the most recent damage in the Oct. 23 storm that also swept away two people from the Black Rocks site in the city. Their remains have not yet been located, despite searches by the U.S. Coast Guard, local police and sheriff rescue personnel. The two from Iron River, Michigan, joined others in ignoring the closure of Presque Isle Park, circumventing the barricades to be closer to the Lake storm waves.
Let out your inner Inga: The American Birkebeiner has put out the call for skiers to portray two Birkebeiner warriors, Queen Inga and possibly baby Prince Haakon during the upcoming Birkie in February. Each year cross-country skiers help recognize the Birkebeiner’s link to the history of when Norwegian warriors, Torstein & Skervald (portrayed in painting), called “birkebeiners” for their birch bark leggings, spirited Inga and her infant son to safety during the Norwegian civil war. Their frantic getaway on skis inspired the race. If you want to try to earn a warrior or Inga slot, register by Nov. 30 with the Birkie HQ, where you’ll find contest details. On occasion, a child is also used to portray the infant Prince Haakon (as in this photo with “Inga”).
We just gotta mention: Author/maritime historian Fred Stonehouse, whose work frequently appears in Lake Superior Magazine and many of whose books we’ve had the privilege to produce, will be returning to the Marquette City Commission after winning election on Tuesday, reports the Mining Journal. Fred once served as the city’s mayor pro tem. The Saturday before the election, Fred wasn’t out knocking on doors, but rather was in Duluth talking about missing minesweepers at the Gales of November program.
Water walker and Anishinaabe elder Josephine Mandamin, who earned our 2011 Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award along with Mike Link and Kate Crowley, will be honored at the New College of the University of Toronto Saturday afternoon in William Doo Auditorium. There will be speakers, dancing and a feast. Josephine, of Thunder Bay, started the Mother Earth Water Walks in 2003 when she decided to walk around Lake Superior. She has since passed on the mantle of the project to others, especially Sharon Day who has led the Nibi Walks, but Josephine did participate in a For Earth and Water Walk this year starting from Duluth and ending in Matane, Quebec, following along the St. Lawrence Seaway.
We join others in honoring the service of our regional veterans for Veterans and Remembrance Days.
Photo credits: Dennis O’Hara; David Brislance; Duck Stamp images © USFWS, used with special permission; John Shibley/Lake Superior State University; Brent West; The American Birkebeiner; Fred’s photo from The Last Laker, Finding a Wreck Lost in the Great Lakes’ Deadliest Storm; Richard Morphet