A Great Lakes tragedy

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butlersrangers
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

A Great Lakes tragedy

Post by butlersrangers »

On a clear August evening, in 1865, the 'south-bound' S.S. Pewabic was passing its sister-ship the "Meteor", which was heading north, near the Lake Huron port city of Alpena, Michigan.

The swift 200-foot steamers made it a practice of passing close to each other to exchange mail and newspapers. On this calm evening, the Meteor unexplainably veered and rammed the Pewabic.

The Meteor immediately went to the aid of the Pewabic, but within 4 minutes the Pewabic rested in 180 feet of fresh water, with over 100 souls and a huge load of copper ingots, silver, and iron.

The wreck of the Pewabic is still visible to passengers on a 'glass-bottom' excursion boat out of Alpena. Much of the copper was salvaged during efforts in 1917 and 1974, which also cost the lives of some Divers.
I have seen ingots, recovered from the Pewabic, at mineral shows and at the Michigan History Museum, in Lansing.

The demands of the U.S. Civil War, with copper prices rising to over 45 cents a pound, had been a powerful stimulus to the Mining of 'Native' (almost pure) Copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula.
This activity and the demand for labor made Mining in Northern Michigan suddenly viable. The new jobs and boom economy drew people, such as my ancestors, to this remote area of the U.S.

The Pewabic and Meteor had been built in 1862 and transported a lot of the easily refined, rich Michigan Copper.

An upcoming auction, by a northern Michigan antique dealer, will feature some of these recovered ingots with markings of the Hancock, Pewabic, Quincy, and Franklin Mining Companies.
(For reference these copper ingots are about the size of a long loaf of bread and weigh about 60 to 70 lbs. each).
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pewabic.jpg
pewabic.jpg (52.1 KiB) Viewed 335 times
Pewabic ingots.jpg
Pewabic ingots.jpg (49.22 KiB) Viewed 335 times

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butlersrangers
Posts: 9827
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: A Great Lakes tragedy

Post by butlersrangers »

Here is a link with interesting content on the shipwreck:
https://images.maritimehistoryofthegrea ... p?ID=50606

Dick Hosmer: It appears a Miss F. Hosmer perished on the Pewabic.

(I do not know the ultimate fate of the S.S. Meteor, it did continue on its voyage the next day, after further rescue efforts proved futile. Later generations of ships would carry the same name).

I guess "sister-ships" don't necessarily look alike. Pewabic survivors leapt onto or were picked-up by the Meteor. In August, twilight lasts to almost 10p.m. on the northern Great Lakes.
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pewabic surv 3.JPG
pewabic surv 3.JPG (74.55 KiB) Viewed 326 times

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