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After hitting the north pier broadside and losing power, the Mataafa was spun 180 degrees by the wind and seas until it became stranded north of the north pier.
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donnlarson
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Donn Larson's dad was among the throng of Duluthians gathered to watch the seamen of the Mataafa in peril and the fruitless rescue attempts.
I’ve had a little time recently to catch up on my reading and found a book that reconnected me to a story I grew up hearing.
My dad was 9 years old when the Mataafa hit the north pier of Duluth’s ship canal broadside in the fierce storm Thanksgiving week of 1905. He was among the throng of Duluthians gathered to watch the seamen in peril and the fruitless rescue attempts. It remained etched in his memory and he often retold his firsthand account of the disaster. Whenever we had a fierce nor’easter, my dad would describe it as a Mataafa wind, and talk about how some crewmen who couldn’t get off the boat froze to death.
Minneapolis journalist Curt Brown researched the 1905 Mataafa Blow and his book about it, So Terrible a Storm: A Tale of Fury on Lake Superior, was first published in 2008, with a paperback edition in 2011. It is an excellent account of that storm’s toll on Lake Superior, 29 ships lost or wrecked and 35 lives taken in the three-day tempest.
Curt’s investigation is exhaustive and his attention to detail impressive. His main attention is paid to the ships’ officers and crews, and the decisions he surmises they made, some speculative of course, but appearing rational in light of the storm’s abrupt onset and intensity. He gives fair treatment to another pressure, too—the shortcomings of fleet owners and managers, who prized performance and needed a lesson from nature to make their vessels and practices safer.
If you have an interest in Lake Superior history, you will be captivated by this book. There are a few errors, like Brown’s reference to Duluth’s “new aerial lift bridge,” which didn’t get its lift span until 1929, and in a few places I paused to pardon his occasional turgid phrases. Curt spoke at the most recent Gales of November program in Duluth. There’s no question, though, about the book’s overall appeal. I have no idea how well it is selling, but it deserves more attention than it’s gotten and a lasting place in Great Lakes historical writing.
Donn Larson is one of Lake Superior Magazine's editorial advisors.