REMEMBERING 85 YEARS AGO

The car carrying six young men went through the ice of Deaths Door Sunday,
 March 10, 1935.  It was Tuesday when the car was finally grappled
 on one of the front wheels and pulled to the surface.  Three of the
victims remained in the back seat.  Bodies of the other three, found outside
the car, had been brought to the surface earlier.  (Island Archives photo)
 

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Although it's been 85 years since the death of six young men who drowned while crossing the Door over the ice, the memory still carries a considerable sting for this family, as I suspect it might for other families who lost a loved one on March 10, 1935.

These were the circumstances that led to the incident:  A basketball game was played in Ellison Bay on Saturday, March 9, with six young men from the Island forming a team.  That evening the team car and several other cars with fans drove to Sturgeon Bay to spend the night before returning to the Island Sunday.  Although the group had agreed to gather in Gills Rock at mid-day, prior to crossing the ice, the car with the team arrived in Gill Rock earlier that Sunday morning (based upon observations and pieced-together accounts) and proceeded home.  A fog or a haze hung low over the Door, not unusual in certain winter conditions.  Despite what might have impeded visibility, the car with the six men started home.

Later that afternoon it was presumed the ball players had returned safely to the Island, but their absence was soon apparent.  By nightfall, those concerned realized what had happened. The six men who lost their lives were:

    Ralph Wade - 28
    John "Bub" Cornell - 22
    Leroy Einarsson - 21
    Norman Nelson - 19
    Raymond Richter - 21
    Roy Stover - 19

[SUGGESTED: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION is available in my blog posted March 9, 2015]

While looking for information related to the recent Mariner Sunday at Trinity, I found several pages about this 1935 incident in Clara Jessen's book, "I Remember," a book based upon her recorded history of March 1987, and later published in 2003. Clara wrote (starting p. 36, with a few edits):

Early Days of Marriage

Our first home was ready for us.  We lived in the house on the corner where the Albaqtross is now.  We rented it from Bill Engelson for $5 a month and John was to repaper it. He had bought a new rug and a new couch and with the furniture that was there it was a lovely, homey place.   The living room was quite comfortable with our hard coal burner.  We had kerosene lamps, but I know we used a lot of candles that first winter.  Thje kitchen was always real cold.  I think if you'd washed the floor on a old day, the water would have turned to ice.

I taught school all day and John was home. (John sailed on the Great Lakes)  He did the cooking, the dishwashing, cutting wood for the kitchen stove.  He had lots of company because the house was on the most traveled intersection on the Island.  I never knew when I came home from school who our dinner guests would be, but there was usually someone there.  John was a person who loved people and loved company.

I recall he always picked me up at school promptly at 5 o'clock and I was ready.  But one afternoon Varian (married to John "Bub" Cornell) and Mary (Cornell, sister of Bub) stopped in shortly after four and said, "Come on, Clara.  Let's go for a ride before John picks you up."  I don't remember where we went; it was just three of us stopping here and there, visiting, having a good time. 

John had to have his tonsils out and he could have this done for free at the Marine Hospital (in Chicago).  So after we had been married about six weeks he went to Chicago planning to be there three for four days at the most.  However, after he got his tonsils out infection set in and they kept him there for four long weeks.  

I had never stayed alone up to this point and I didn't want to stay alone.  I remember Florence Jess, who was single then, stayed with me a good many nights. So did Merle Johnson who was one of the other teachers at the school.  The last week Varian and Bub offered to stay with me.  They lived two miles down the road near the ferry dock and the traveling was rough and their home was cold.  They just moved in with me until John got back.  He got back on a Friday afternoon and Varian had a good dinner ready for us. We were real happy as the four of us sat down to dinner that evening.

In telling about his trip, John confessed that he did not enjoy traveling across Death's Door on the ice.  He admitted that he was nervous and he was real happy to hear that Bub and some of the others had come to meet him.  I remember Bub teasing him and laughing and saying, "Oh, you know that ice is perfectly safe. Those roads are marked. How silly you are to be afraid."  That was Friday.

The next day Bub and five other boys drove across on the ice to play a basketball game with one of the county teams. And two other cars full of Island fans went with them.  Varian didn't go because she was going to have some scout activities on Sunday and felt she had obligations to stay on the Island.  Sunday morning on our way to church John and I saw Varian on the road. We stopped and talked and she told us about the terrible dream she'd had the night before - that Bub had gone through the ice.  We laughed about it and said, "Aren't dreams awful?" and went to church.

Shortly after lunch we went to Tom's Hall to supervise or watch the Girl Scout practice. Varian, I think, was scout leader.  When I mentioned we had seen some of the people who'd gone the night before she lit up and said, "Oh, was it Bub's car?"  I didn't know which car it was.  I didn't know she had already started to worry.

It wasn't Bub's car. When that car wasn't home by evening and the other two cars were, everybody knew that something was terribly wrong. Those boys had taken a shortcut and gone through the ice:  six young islanders between 18 and 25 years old.  I went to school the next morning and realized that many of my students, at least four of them, had lost brothers in that tragedy. Everyone had lost friends.  We tried to have classes but every once in a while someone would be sobbing out loud.  I walked across the street to the clerk of the school board and said, "Mrs. Andersen, I can't teach and the kids can't study.  I'm going to close school down." And there was no school that week.

*      *      *

Islanders continued to travel over the ice, to the peninsula and back, but with a great deal more caution, it can be assumed.  There was no choice in the matter, as there was no ferry winter transportation until 1946, when the first steel hull ferry, Griffin, was placed in service.  Even then, there were no Sunday trips for many years. And the going with the 65-foot ferry often encountered ice conditions too much for the minimal horsepower.  But, it was safer than crossing the ice in a vehicle, that is, on days when ice conditions were considered suitable for crossing by vehicle.

Today, mindful of the loss of life years ago, we must still respect ice conditions in the Door passages, despite having an excellent piece of equipment in the Arni J. Richter.  Although they are fewer, there are still times when moving ice fields or blizzard conditions can place ferry operations on edge, at the limits of what may be considered prudent.  Better navigational instruments, greater horsepower, and excellent basic design each give ferry captains an edge on such occasions.

TRAGEDY of MARCH 1935 - Island Waterfront - Part XI

Island Archives photo showing the car emerging from the Death's door waters.
 A grapple caught the right front wheel, and men on the right - with yet 
more men off-camera - strain on the line. 
 Men in center stand on a boat's cabin top.  
The photographer is unknown, but Mrs. Jacob Johnson of Gills Rock,
who believed she saw the car pass her home early Sunday morning,
and whose husband was later credited with being among the first to locate 
the site of the disaster after following wheel tracks out onto the ice,
was credited for another photo published by the newspaper.  It's 
possible Mrs. Johnson was the photographer here, too.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

March 10 of this year marks the 80th anniversary of a tragedy in which six young Island men lost their lives when their car plunged through thin ice in Death's Door.

Despite the passing of years, this incident still taps into veins of emotion, because of the details that surround the incident, and because of the number of lives in this community that were changed by the event.   In researching this blog, I've used various newspaper reports, some published only a few days after the event itself, and others that were written years later in retrospective.  These
reports reside in the Washington Island Archives in a file named, appropriately, "Island Tragedies."

The six young men left the Island to play in a basketball game on the peninsula, in Ellison Bay, on Saturday, March 9, 1935.  There were also fans who attended the game.    Collectively, fans and players traveled on to Sturgeon Bay and a hotel Saturday evening.  The general plan was that all parties in their several autos would meet up again in Ellison Bay at a set time on Sunday, and then return across the ice together.  For unknown reasons - impatience to get home, perhaps - and at an exact time still not known for certain, the single car carrying the six basketball players departed Gills Rock for the island and in their route across the Door veered from the prescribed, safe track by heading too far east, only to find ice too thin to support their car.

Others, when they returned later that Sunday, had no idea the players were missing until it was discovered that none of the group had yet reported home.  That was in the early afternoon of Sunday, the 10th.   Searching was initiated.   Car tracks in the snow leading from the Gills Rock shore were followed over the ice, eventually leading searchers to an open hole.  An airplane plane from Escanaba was also alerted, but by the time it arrived over the area, the scene of the car's disappearance with the six players was already known.

What remained was the unpleasant task of retrieving the car and bringing the six bodies to the surface.   For more complete details, the reporting in the Door County News (Thursday, March 14, 1935) serves best.

               *     *     *                                             *     *     *

                                      SIX YOUNG MEN DROWN IN DEATH'S DOOR

Caption reads, in part:  "This photo was taken
as the body of Ralph Wade was found -
photo by Mr. Jacob Johnson, Ellison Bay"

ALL WASHINGTON ISLAND RESIDENTS
                                  -
Accident Occurred Before Noon on Sunday
                                  -
CAR PLUNGES THROUGH ICE
                                  -
All Bodies Recovered; Funerals Held This Week
                                  -
Bulletin:  Calmer Nelson, Door county coroner, made the statement that an investigation into the accident would be conducted next week.  The date for holding the investigation was not announced.
              -           -           -
The worst tragedy in the history of Washington Island occurred some time Sunday forenoon, when an automobile bearing six young men, all prominent in the life of the community, dropped through the ice of Death's Door as they were enroute to their homes from a short trip to Sturgeon Bay, and they lost their lives by drowning in the icy waters.

Those in the group were John (better known as "Bub") Cornell and Ralph Wade, the former 22 and the latter 28, both married; Leroy Einarson, 21; Norman Nelson, 19; Raymond Richter, 21; and Roy Stover, 19.

Wade was the owner of a tavern and dance hall.  Cornell, married last September, was a fisherman, the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Cornell.  Einarson was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Einarson, proprietors of the IdaBo Inn;  Norman Nelson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nels C. Nelson, assisted his parents on their farm.  Richter, a member of the coast guard at Jackson Park, Chicago, was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Richter.  He was home on a 25-day leave of absence.  Stover was the son of Mrs. James Johnson.

It appears that the young men formed part of a group to come from the island to witness and participate in a basketball game played at Ellison Bay Saturday evening.  Following the game they decided not to risk the trip across the ice of Death's Door after dark and came to Sturgeon Bay to spend the night.  They left Sturgeon Bay about 9 a.m. Sunday and it is reported that the car, driven by Cornell, was seen going onto the ice at Gills Rock about 11 o'clock.  When they did not reach home by noon, searching parties of island people were formed, and late in the afternoon an airplane from Escanaba, Mich., was chartered in an effort to determine whether they had become lost in the fog or had met with misfortune.  It was too late that evening for the plane to do anything, but early Monday morning searching parties located the spot where the car disappeared through the ice, only a mile and a half or two miles from Gills Rock.

The spot where the car plunged to its watery grave was located by Wally Arneson, Escanaba, in an airplane and Jake Johnson, of Gills Rock, and the bodies of Cornell and Wade were recovered.  The car had gone down in 120 feet of water and it is thought the two men, who were in the front seat, were able to get out and attempt to reach safety by crawling on the ice.  However, the water was so cold that they were unable to stand it, and apparently sank after putting up a stubborn fight.  Their bodies were removed Monday forenoon by coast guardsmen.

(The search was then called off until the next day due to weather, and it resumed on Tuesday, March 12.)

The intensity of the search effort can be seen in the face
of the man at left above the taut grapple line.
The Coast Guard's boat "Bull" appears to be
the vessel shown in the background.
(Island Archives photo)

At about noon Tuesday the body of Norman Nelson was removed from the water by coast guardsmen and volunteer workers, who remained constantly at the spot endeavoring to get a grappling hook on the car.  

The stubborn fight which John Cornell put up to escape death was shown when searchers came to the hole in the ice Monday.  Thrown up on the slush ice were his cap and mittens and a package of cigarets which he apparently had in his hand when the car plunged to the bottom. Mute testimony of his desperate struggle was also shown by the way the thin ice had been broken away as he attempted to get to solid ice and crawl out.  his chest was also severely bruised as he apparently tried to cling to the ice until help might arrive.  Just how long he struggled in the icy water will never be known.

The bodies of Cornell and Wade were removed to the Casperson Funeral Home at Sister Bay immediately after they were recovered, where they were prepared for burial.  Funeral services for both men were held Wednesday afternoon, with every resident of the Island who could possibly attend being present.

Mr. Cornell is survived by his bride of six months, the former Varian Hanson, his parents, and four brothers and four sisters.

Mr. Wade leaves his wife and two sisters.

At 4 o'clock Tuesday arrangements had not yet been made public as to funeral services for Norman Nelson.  In addition to his parents, he is survived by one brother and two sisters.

Leroy Einarson was the adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Einarson.

In addition to his parents, Raymond Richter leaves one brother and two sisters.

Those left by Roy Stover are his widowed mother, Mrs. James Johnson, and two sisters.

Even in sorrow, residents of the Island breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday afternoon when coast guardsmen and other workers were able to bring the car to the surface and with it the bodies of the three remaining victims of the tragedy, Leroy Einarson, Raymond Richter and Roy Stover.  The bodies of the three men were in the rear seat of the car.

As in the case of the Cornell and Wade funerals held Wednesday, it is expected that practically every resident of the Island will attend the funeral for Norman Nelson today (Thursday), and the rites for the other three men on Friday.  In addition to Island residents, many friends from distant points and people of Door county made the trip to the Island to be present for the last rites.

Ice floes handicapped workers in attempting to grapple for the car Tuesday, and the fish tugs Clara C., Velox and Dawn, and coast guard boats broke through the slush ice and by maneuvering back and forth it was possible to clear a space large enough to permit grappling hooks to be manned and when a substantial hold was secured on the car it was hauled out on solid ice.  

                   *     *     *                            *     *     *                        *     *     *

During the days the recovery search continued and funeral services were planned - and likely for days and weeks afterward -  this understandably was the major island news, reaching everyone.   Imagine, for a moment, those family members who traveled to the island to attend one of the six funerals, and taking a similar route over the ice, perhaps questioning their own safety with the incident still so strong in their minds.  They would retrace their travels over the ice once more on their way home.

There were no portrait photos published of the young men, probably because there was no time to obtain them before going to press.  In order to make the news account more personal the names of off-island visitors and pall bearers were listed for each of the victims.

As noted in the Door County News story, there was fog on Sunday, a somewhat unusual but not unheard of circumstance in winter.  Such fog is often worse in the early morning hours, with visibility improving as the day goes on.  If fog had been encountered, this would help explain why the six, returning from the mainland earlier than the others, might have veered from the prescribed, safe route.  Autos with fans who returned later in the day, toward early afternoon, apparently met no difficulty in finding their way safely home.

Jake Ellefson, a retired Island commercial fisherman who was but 10 years old at the time, reflected on this incident, noting how disarming fog can be, generally thicker over water than land, and the boys may have committed themselves to continuing their crossing once out on the ice and beyond the peninsula, already partway home.  Jake's older brother, Steve, then a high school student of 17 or 18 and also a basketball player, also traveled to the mainland for that game.  However, Steve had received strict instructions from their dad that if he wanted to go, he would ride with Fred Mann, and he followed that advice, Jake said.  Noting the tight interior of the model of Wade's car, and given the fact the players were known to be quite tall, it was doubtful there would have been room for another in that car, anyway.  Such a tight, two-door car was a "coffin car" for ice travel, Jake noted.

Weather had been reported as being warm during the period leading up to the weekend game, and Jake surmised that snow mounded to support small trees or boughs that marked the safe route could have softened, with boughs easily toppled over, adding to uncertainty about the safest route that morning.

At the J. W. Cornell home that afternoon, Mary Cornell and her friend, Arni Richter, had returned from across the Door and were awaiting her brother, John Cornell, puzzled when he had not yet returned.  J. W. and Bub's older brothers would take part in the search, using their fish tug Clara C.   Upon the first body retrieved reaching the surface of the water, the newspaper reported that J. W. exclaimed, "That's my Bub!"

Arni Richter had been John's best man at his wedding, and Mary was maid of honor for her friend Varian Hanson.  In time, Varian would marry Don Olson, and they would raise their two children, Mary and Jim, in their Sturgeon Bay home.    Arni Richter and Mary Cornell married in November 1936, and four years after that, in April 1940, Carl and Arni took over ferry services from William Jepson. 

Roland Koyen, Bub and Harvey Cornell,
taken in 1930 when the Island ball team
traveled to Baileys Harbor for a game.
(from Mary (Cornell) Richter photo album)

Close friends Mary Cornell, Sis Hansen and
Varian Hanson (from Mary's photo album,
around 1930.)

             *     *     *

A Door County News editorial underscored the desperate need for safe winter travel for Islanders:

The people of Washington Island should have a safer and better mode of travel during the winter months than is provided by either automobile or boat, over the ice during the fall, winter months.  

While establishment of an airplane route between Washington Island and the mainland would be an expensive proposition, if it prevented another such catastrophe as occurred last week it would be well worth whatever the cost might be.  The Island people have gone further in development of air transportation than any other section of Door county, and have a landing field the has been frequently used, and which has placed Washington Island in closer touch with Escanaba, which has an airport, than it has with the Door county peninsula.

With a good airport within the near proximity of Sturgeon Bay it is possible that a mail route which would also take care of a certain amount of passenger business, might in time be established between Washington Island and this city.   The people of Washington Island are entitled to the full co-operation of all the people of Door county in any proposition that might better their transportation facilities, whether it be in the air or on the water.

Air service was out of the question as being too expensive, and the wooden-hulled ferries used in the 1930s, even when sheeted over with light iron, could not stand up to the punishment of ice service.  The dilemma of how to provide winter ferry transportation after 1940 fell on the shoulders of the Richters as the owners and operators of the Island ferry service.  But it wasn't until 1946, when WWII had ended and steel and motor parts and other needed materials were once again available for commercial shipbuilding, that the steel-hulled ferry Griffin was constructed and began Island service.  From 1946 onward, the former necessity of crossing over fields of ice in the Door in questionable conditions would be greatly diminished, with a few exceptions now and then.  Every so often, there would still be the need to take to the ice in order to transport mail, freight, and the occasional passenger, to and from Washington Island when the ferry couldn't get through.

     *     *     *                               *     *     *                      *     *     *

Added note:

In the hand-poured slab in the garage behind the J. W. Cornell home on Main Road (where our own family had the privilege of living for some 36 years, and where our daughter and her family live now) initials were scratched in the cement in October 1916,  Bub's (age 4 or 5) and those of his older brother, Claude (age 20).   In 1933, Claude Cornell became owner of a Stinson Jr., the Island's first plane.

-  Dick Purinton

INITIAL PLUM ISLAND OPENING REPORT

Thor Purinton and friends visited Plum Island Saturday, August 16,
on the first of two special days when the public was welcomed
to visit and hike trails.  Shown near the forward range light, L to R:
Dr. John Buckley and his wife, Susan, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama;
Jamie Kornacker, Charlevoix; and Jess Brown, a Van Dam Woodcraft
craftsman who works with Thor in the Boyne City,
Michigan, boat shop.  (photo by Thor)

Plum Island, Death's Door, Wisconsin -

When they returned from their trip on the "family yacht" Moby Dick from Plum Island last Saturday, August 16, I asked youngest son, Thor, how it went.  "Terrific!  We had a great time."

This comes from Thor, who's been on Plum Island numerous times in years past, hiking, hunting, and swimming along a southern beach.  But that was during BLM ownership, after the Coast Guard moved their search and rescue operations to Washington Island, and prior to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) taking over and closing down the island to visitors.   In recent years, unless you had specific permission, such as research or as a work party member under Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands (FOPPI), partner with USFWS, you were not welcome to set foot on the Plum Island shores.

This is about to change, although in a carefully controlled way, starting with two special visitation Saturdays, August 16 and August 23.   One hitch for potential visitors, at least on day one, was that you needed your own watercraft for transportation.

Returning to the old Coast Guard station, near
boathouse and pier.  All structures, except the boathouse which has
already had a once-over,
await major repairs and restoration. 

Plum Island's first official guests for day one included Thor and friends who visited from Alabama and the Boyne City/Charlevoix area.  Dr. John Buckley and Susan are frequent travelers to the Van Dam workshop where they built a beautiful boat several years back, Susan C, and they're now partway along on their second project, Victoria Z.  Through the process of designing and building and observing, sometimes hands-on with suggested changes in details, they've become very close to the Van Dam craftsmen in what seems to be both an extraordinary and respectful relationship.  This past weekend the Buckleys traveled a long way to join Thor, Jess and Jamie on Washington Island, visiting Plum and Rock Islands also during their stay.

Thor's group was greeted near the boathouse by FOPPI president and volunteer, Tim Sweet, and two USFWS personnel who gave them a basic introduction that included a trail map and a sheet of guidelines, as follows:

  *  Refuge open during daylight hours only
  *  Foot travel only on the island
  *  Access for wildlife observation/photography hiking are limited to the established hiking trails
  *  Boats are required to moor at boathouse; dock space available on first-dome-first-served basis
  *  Kayaks / canoes must use designated launch / landing areas
  *  Dogs are welcome but must be leashed
  *  fishing from the dock and beach not allowed
  *  NOT PERMITTED on the refuge:  collection of plants, berries, seeds, mushrooms, rocks, fossils, lantern, or other artifacts; fireworks; camping; campfires; geocaches

Those restrictions aside, several fine options are available in hiking trails, the longest one being the Island View Trail (3 miles) that loops the island, more or less paralleling the beach.

From my own past experiences there, both in hunting and searching out trees with Roy and Charlotte Lukes, crossing the interior on any route other than a maintained trail would not be advisable anyway, under any circumstances, due to wind fallen trees, nettle plants that are six feet tall, and a parsnip plant that can deliver a nasty chemical burn.  From the maintained trails you will have ample opportunity to see Plum Island's varied shoreline and habitat, amazing for such a small island.   In addition, there are the several, interesting former government lighthouse and life saving structures found there.

It is for this second reason many will want to visit Plum Island and absorb the rich and fascinating maritime history of the Death's Door area, with Plum Island at the center of that activity.   The opportunity to view the range light structures up close, along with the old, original Death's Door 1849 lighthouse remains, is reason enough to visit Plum Island.  This old foundation was recently examined by archeologists, and their future reports will help to fill in blanks regarding this early Plum Island navigational aid.

Tomorrow, Saturday, August 23, will be day #2 for public visitation, coinciding with the Death's Door BBQ competition taking place on Washington Island's airport grounds.

-  Dick Purinton

KEEPING COUNT, KEEPING WARM

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

You're looking across steaming Death's Door in the above photo, with the Door Peninsula headland on the horizon.   It was 5 degrees below zero when this photo was taken, a gain of ten degrees over dawn's temperature.  Out of the frame and to the west of the old Plum Island Coast Guard facility, the Arni J. Richter made its afternoon run to Northport.

The main reason I posted this photo, though, besides showing the steam and ice, is the bird represented by the black dot seen in line with the tip of Door Bluff.   It's a snowy owl sitting on the ice bank, apparently content with its exposure in the 15-20 mph winds.  At first, I was unsure of the dark mass, but after borrowing a pair of binoculars from the ferry office, both Hoyt and I confirmed it was an owl hunkered down, feathers fluffed, occasionally turning its head from side-to-side.

Another reason for posting this "bird" photo is to introduce results of the recent Christmas Bird Count held on Washington Island December 15th.  Birders pooled their sightings for that day, and for the day or two on either side of that date.  Most observations are made in the field, but reports are also submitted from kitchen window yard feeders.  Sandy Peterson made the final tally seen below, along with supporting information.  This annual bird count activity takes place simultaneously throughout Door County, with Washington Island well represented by both experienced and novice birders.  Due to very cold temperatures, high winds, and ice covering the harbors, the birds seen this year were fewer in number and in variety of species than in years past, according to Sandy.

A snowy owl (or perhaps two different owls) are found in this year's count.

Our youngest son, Thor spotted a snowy owl after Christmas as it perched on the rocky point of Susie's Island.  It's likely this same bird has stayed in our area during this whole time.

Note added 01.09.14 -  Following our sighting of this owl, Melody Walsh was able to photograph the bird with a telescopic lens, and it had brownish feathers.  According to Sandy Peterson, this indicates a young bird, perhaps a young female.  Her email comment: "Snowy Owls are desperately trying to survive this winter all over Wisconsin.  Many are young of the year with no experience with winter or civilization - the ones with darker markings."  

More nature observed

Adding to local birding observations are reports of a wolf - and wolf tracks - sighted by several people on Washington Island.   At one point,  it was seen on Detroit Island, and then just Saturday it was spotted by the Arni J. crew from the wheelhouse as they crossed to Northport.  Seen scampering over broken ice, the wolf appeared to be heading toward to the mainland but was stopped by the open water in the Door.  When last observed, it was headed toward Plum Island.  According to Capt. Bill Jorgenson, it looked healthy and "well fed."


Otter hangs around

On New Year's day I tried to get several good shots as the ferry departed the Island docks, and I located myself at the tip of Kap's point, near the Travelift.   Prodigious piles of otter poop decorated the snow and the surrounding ice shelf.   Belly tracks, where it slid along in the fresh snow, were on both the shore and the neighboring, old barge that's moored there.  This is the same area where, a few years ago, similar signs showed that an otter lived in the area.

Carp or other fish pieces are often scattered about on the ice, among the piles of scat.  This animal makes raccoons seem like great housekeepers in comparison.  About the only thing the otter leaves uneaten from a fish are the boniest pieces surrounding the carp head.  The rest is ingested, and it seems rather quickly chewed.  The results scattered on the ice and snow indicate a quick trip through the otter's digestive tract.



Ferry Line mascot

The only close-up bird photo I can contribute today is of a ring-neck pheasant, taken this afternoon.  This fellow has taken to hanging around the terminal building, and, maybe to relieve boredom, he sometimes jumps to the window ledge to peer at Bill Schutz's computer.  By now he might anticipate the handouts, because I've seen him jump from the ground to the wooden deck by the south door and snatch a cookie or piece of bread offered him.  Some days he's accompanied by a hen, but today he "foraged" alone.

Winter's just begun, but already school has been called off two days in a row, this coming on the heels of a two-week holiday.  The upper and lower bay is locked up with ice, and ore boats still operating will have their share of troubles.

With this ice and cold, it will be interesting to see how wildlife continues to adapt.

  -  Dick Purinton      

WINDS OF NOVEMBER REMEMBERED

Jim Rose took this photo this morning, with Roen work and material
barges moored adjacent to the main ferry pier's
south side.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

The Roen barge alongside our regular ferry pier tells the story today, the second straight day with no dredging activity due to strong SW winds and seas that make maneuvering barges difficult and dangerous.  We've been able to make our ferry trips in the southerly winds, all right, but the work of unloading spoils has been temporarily halted because of high SW winds.  There is a roll that comes into Detroit Harbor, even sweeping around the end of the Potato Dock

On Monday, this most recent Veterans Day, our ferries made only several of the scheduled trips.  Two boats carried cars and passengers at 2:00 p.m., and that was the day's last run.  After the early trip, the other morning trips were cancelled.

Monday's cancellations were, I believe, the first such scheduled runs cancelled in 2013.  That day, because the winds were from NW, sea conditions in the Detroit Harbor channel remained smooth, despite gusts, and the Roen crews continued dredging.  In fact, we had several days of quite tolerable weather early this week - though cold - during which dredging operations went full-bore.  But then, when a warming trend brought swings in temperatures of twenty or more degrees, the southerly air flow increased to the point dredging operations were halted. 

Hazards of trucking typically don't
include deer, butduring his last run of the evening
several days ago a deer tried clearing Dave Hanlin's truck
hood.    This photo by Jim Rose shows Hanlin's truck
at Northport, awaiting a replacement windshield.

In the marine construction business there is always something to fix on a weather day, and the Roen crew busied themselves with a generator project yesterday.  But as the clock ticks and the season advances, production must continue or else we'll surely be looking at a prolonged dredging project well  into 2014.  That's not in anyone's best interest.  

Following discussions with Roen and Foth, we will likely permit the offloading of spoils at our regular dock until working conditions improve.  With the swinging of mud and stone in buckets, and the movement of trucks, there is an associated mess and mayhem, which we prefer to take place at the Potato Dock, out of the way of ferry traffic.  But we also realize the necessity of keeping this project moving along, so our main ferry pier may become the temporary offload site until winds abate. 

Gordon Lightfoot's lyrics that paid homage to the men of the Edmund Fitzgerald, lost in a Lake Superior storm November 10, 1975, and to Great Lakes sailors in general, brings to mind storms of historical proportions.  There was the Armistice Day blow of Nov. 11, 1940, to which Arni Richter often referred, etched into his memory.  The November 1913 "White Hurricane" was another, which carried vessels into dire straits in local waters over a period of several days:  the Louisiana, Halsted, and Plymouth.   Winds were recorded exceeding 70 mph during that storm.

Joan Hansen reminded me last week that this year was the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana coming ashore in Washington Harbor, its crew managing to safely reach shore in a lifeboat after a night on board, while the hull burned, eventually to the water line.  The Louisiana was light after unloading cargo in Milwaukee, enroute to Apena, Michigan, and had dropped into Washington Harbor for protection from the wind and seas.  When the wind direction shifted, it dragged anchor with seas bringing it progressively closer to the beach.  That was November 8th.

On the 10th of November, with the storm still raging, it was the lumber barge Halsted's turn, and it landed after many hours broadside on a ledge near shore.  Later, in calmer weather, it would be pulled to safety with the help of a dredge and steam tug, to continue its service.  No lives were lost on either the Louisiana or Halstead.  

One account reported the boiler of the Louisiana salvaged in 1920 by the Leathem Smith Company of Sturgeon Bay.  The compound steam engine was also removed later that year, it is believed.  

North of Washington Island, however, the barge Plymouth had been towed into the bay, possibly seeking the lee of St. Martin Island, towed by the tug Martin.   The tug's Capt. McKinnon indicated later that he was towing toward Washington Harbor when he determined the strain of the tow cables was too much. The tug had itself already taken on much water through leaks in its hull and was in danger.  McKinnon feared that both tug and barge might go down together, and so a decision was made to let the barge go.  Shortly after the tow cables were cut, according to an account, the barge sank with seven men still onboard.  Another account had the Plymouth anchored for a time near Gull Island, with the tug, helpless, a distance away.  

McKinnon had apparently tried to turn his tug around in order to save the men in the water, but he was blown away from the site of the wreck.  It is unclear why so many men were onboard the Plymouth, an unpowered vessel, while it was under tow in heavy weather.  The helplessness of the men aboard the unpowered barge was compounded when the cables were cut. Their loss of life was reported November 12th, 1913.

This photo of the Robert Noble taken by Peggy Olson several years ago serves
as a reminder that when one of our ferries behaves like a rowboat or small
runabout, it isn't a good time to be underway.  In this instance, winds
were westerly and crossing the Door itself was the greatest, though brief, challenge.
 Each day's conditions - wind direction, sea state,
air temperature, ice  (if any)  - can impact the decision to operate
or not.

   

LOUISIANA - Nov. 8, 1913

The other day at the Archives, Kirby Foss asked, had I ever read the accounts of the Louisiana and Halsted in the Wreck Log from the Plum Island Life Saving Station?  He promptly found them for me, and here are the main portion of neat entries, official accounts for the Louisiana, followed two days later by the Halsted, made by Williamson Robinson, Keeper:

Nor Shellswick with team to haul Beach Apparatus to scene of wreck.

At 6:30 a.m. I received a telephone message from Washington Harbor saying that the steam barge Louisiana had dragged her anchor and was on the shore with the crew on board and that they needed our assistance.  The wind was then blowing a gale form the N.W. with blinding snow storms and it was not practicable to take the life boat to Washington Harbor as it would take hours to reach there.  We loaded the gear of the Beach Apparatus into the life boat and took the boat to Detroit Harbor where I had engaged a team to carry us to Washington Harbor.  We left the station at 7:50 a.m.  It took us some time to load the gear and to launch the life boat in the heavy sea.  We arrived at Detroit Harbor at 8:40 a.m. where I learned that the crew was on shore, that the vessel was on fire and that no assistance was needed.  I was informed that three other vessels in Washington Harbor were in danger of dragging ashore.  We continued our trip overland to the scene of the wreck.  The crew of the Louisiana was ashore and nothing could be done to assist the burning vessel but three other vessels were in danger.  We spent the day & night patrolling the shore. 

 From the Wreck Report entry a few days later, Nov. 10th, 1913, of the Halsted, also entered by Williamson Robinson, Keeper:

Nor Shellswick with team to carry gear of beach apparatus.

We arrived at Detroit Harbor at 9:30 a.m. on our way to wreck of Louisiana.  We learned that the Louisiana needed no assistance but that several other vessels were in danger in Washington Harbor.  We continued our trip overland loading gear of Beach Apparatus on a rig I had previous engaged for that purpose.  On arriving at scene of wreck we found that the Sch. Halsted anchored about 3/4 mile from head of Harbor was dragging ashore.  We patrolled the beach all day and night, building fires for signals to the vessel.  We expected the Halsted to come ashore at any time as at times she would drag a considerable distance and then would hold for an hour or more.  At 5 o'clock Monday morning the Halsted dragged within 60 feet of shore.  We shot a line over her and got the whip aboard.  The water is very bold at that point and the Halsted was hard against a shelf of rock.  We were ready to use the breeches buoy when a heavy seas lifted the Halsted upon the shelf.  It was then so close to shore that the men on  board hung a ladder over her port bow and we assisted them to shore.  When daylight broke we used the whip to bring their clothing ashore.  We could render the Halsted no further assistance but we remained at scene of wreck as a small vessel was in danger of dragging in.  At 3 p.m. the wind went down slightly and as the vessel was in no further danger we came to Detroit Harbor intending to return to Station.  As our boat was covered with ice we remained there overnight, removing ice form boat & returning to station at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning.

-  Dick Purinton

EAGLE SERIES by Paula

Death's Door, near Northport -

The waters of Death's Door are anything but quiet this time of year.  Besides daily changes in ice conditions, eagles are frequently seen in winter, more common in recent years it seems than years ago, along with rafts of ducks.

Last week, during single-digit temperature days, Northport neighbor Paula Hedeen took a series of eagle photos that she kindly shared. She uses a powerful lens with her Nikon camera, and she has patience that is rewarded from time to time with excellent shots from the deck of her home. (You may recall photos of Northern Lights taken by Paula, posted here in early December.)

One series of hers in particular I found  of interest because it shows quite graphically a pair of eagles as they zeroed in on a duck. Then one eagle grabbed it, lifted it from the water and flew to nearby ice that had formed along the shore.

Ducks provide a protein source for these large birds and seem to be as much a part of the eagle's diet as fish this time of year.

At one time, Paula photographed as many as seven eagles within the scope of her lens.  Some were completely white-headed adults, others still had brown head feathers.  Her series gives an excellent opportunity to study their powerful wing action.

This series reminded me of a ferry trip aboard the C. G. Richter many years ago, a gray winter's day when we headed out an ice-filled channel with difficulty.  As we backed up and then rammed ahead, repeating the process time and again, an eagle hovered within 25 yards to our port side in very strong  southerly wind above a ten-foot opening in the ice, waiting for a duck to surface.   Each time it did, the eagle dove, but the duck took air and dove back under.  After approximately ten minutes, during which time the duck tired, the eagle finally grabbed it, then struggled to get airborne with its prize once again. Finally, it sailed cross-wind away from us and over the treetops of Detroit Island.  Our forward progress was almost nil during this time, so we had an excellent vantage point to watch the drama unfold.

There's sometimes a tendency to think that once winter sets in, life will be long and boring, static from one day to the next, sameness all around.  But Paula's photos (and photos I will post in the blog to follow this one) are dramatic, and they help refute that point of view.  If we look around and observe, exciting changes occur daily in lighting, in weather, in observed animal and bird activities, as well as in our own activities that reflect our efforts to adapt, endure, and survive winter in our own way.  The closer we look, the more we see - and the more we see, the more there is to enjoy about winter.  One small observation can make a difference in our day, activity that would be more easily overlooked against summer's busy backdrop.

Thanks to Paula Hedeen once again for these photos.  - Dick Purinton

DEATH'S DOOR AT NIGHT

Paula's view across Porte des Morts Tuesday evening.

Washington Island and Northport -

Paula Hedeen, a Northport neighbor who lives a short distance to the west of that mainland ferry dock, has a vigilant eye, an excellent camera and lens, and stays up late enough in the evening to observe and capture northern lights.   With the expanse of water and Washington Island lights in the background, Plum Island's red rear range light, and the distant glow of Escanaba's lights some 30 miles in the distance, its a scene very few have a chance to observe.

In the progression of photos an isolated white light begins west of Washington Island, getting slightly larger over time.    It turned out to be an ore carrier on a southerly course from Escanaba, and without time to set her camera back on the tripod Paula was able to photograph the ship and the northern lights.  Very nicely done!

She's been generous enough to share a few of her photos in this blog.

Although it's closed for the season now, several of her northern lights enlargements taken a year ago were displayed on the wall behind the customer counter.   Paula's work is not exhibited in a gallery, but if anyone wishes to obtain one of her northern lights prints or cards,  I would be happy to relay your wishes to her.

-  Dick Purinton

OLD CHART BRINGS NEW INSIGHT

This chart was one several purchased on e-Bay by Eric Bonow.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

In the mail the other day was an envelope from Eric Bonow that contained a copy of a chart of Death's Door waters, by the U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office, that was published as a Notice to Mariners in 1895.   Eric had purchased several of these Great Lakes Notice to Mariner charts through eBay.

This mapping effort apparently satisfied requests by maritime interests for more accurate information about Nine Foot Shoals, adjacent to what is now the Waverly Shoals buoy, and the Middle Shoals located midway between Plum and Detroit Islands.  This is referred to locally as the "Middle Ground."

Eric went one better and researched old Door County Advocates to find out more about the two wrecks shown on the Middle Shoals.  His findings are as follows:

Door Co. Advocate, 3/23/1895:  Detroit Harbor Notes. The rocky shoal about half way between Plum and Detroit Islands and marked by a red spar buoy during the months of navigation is made more dangerous since the schooner H. M. Scove went to pieces there.  Her entire bottom is anchored there on the shallowest spot by a lot of cobble stones placed between her frames to stiffen her while sailing.  They now keep the bottom there intact so there is only six feet four inches of water over the bottom with high water, while there would be considerably less with low water or a high sea running.

Door Co. Advocate,  10/3/1919:  MARQUETTE IN TROUBLE

Steamer Brought Here For Removal of Old Schooner Scove Cables Which Were Wrapped Up In Wheel.

   The passenger and freight steamer City of Marquette, owned by W.W. Hill, which has been on the Green Bay run the last couple of years, was towed into port Saturday by the tug Search of Washington Island and docked at the Universal yard for the purpose of having an old shroud cable taken off her wheel.

   The entire top rigging of the old wrecked schooner Scove was wound up in the Marquette's wheel as the steamer lay at the Richter dock at Detroit Harbor.  When the Marquette attempted to swing around the cable was picked up.  Diver Pearl Purdy and assistant Ed. Donovan went to the Island Tuesday of last week to relieve the steamer but the job was too big for Diver Purdy.  There were scores of strands of the cable wrapped about the wheel.  An acetelyne (sic) torch was used to cut the wire away and the job was completed in 55 minutes.  The Marquette left the same day for Detroit Harbor.

   The Scove was wrecked on a reef off Plum Island nearly 30 years ago and when her spars fell several years later fishermen towed the top works  into Detroit Harbor and dropped it near the Richter dock expecting to salvage it at some time.  In recent years it was forgotten and it was thought the ice had taken hold of the old topmast and dragged it off into the bay.

Pearl Purdy was a name I had just become familiar with a day or two earlier, when reading parts of FOUR ISLANDS: A History of Detroit, Rock, St. Martins, and Washington Islands (published in 1984), by former Jackson Harbor resident and island commercial fisherman Raymond E. McDonald.  McDonald recounted an incident involving the steam tug Kate Williams:

"A bad blow came up one day, from the north, and blew very hard that night.  It was too much for the anchor chain and it parted, letting her drift in between Washington Island and Rock Island.  The seas pushed her up quite high on the rocks, and she was soon lying over on her side with not much water under her.
"The tug "Leathem Smith" came up from Sturgeon Bay with a barge and all necessary equipment to release and salvage her.  Although this was a big and powerful tug, they could not release her.  This happened in 1909.  They gave up the attempt but they recovered the steam boiler and the engine and all pumps, etc. that were useful.
"A new tug was built at Sturgeon Bay and all this machinery was used to power it.  They named her the "John Hunsader."
"Pearl Purdy was the diver who was used in the effort to salvage the "Kate Williams."  He was form Sturgeon Bay and quite a young man and of very slight build.  The tug "Leathem Smith" was over 100 feet long - - not a small tug. Hank Tuft was captain.  Ed Weber and Pat Writt were the engineers.  They were all from Sturgeon Bay.  The "Leathem Smith" had living quarters for the whole crew and carried a cook.   She would run up in the mud near McDonald's dock and lay there, no need for an anchor.
"Pearl Purdy had used dynamite on the "Kate Williams" to free some of the shafts, etc.  He would sometimes set off a dynamite cap in the water near the "Leathem Smith" in Jackson Harbor.  This would stun the perch and they would float to the top.  Then they could be gathered in and there was plenty of nice perch for dinner.  One day he made a mistake some place, and instead of perch he blew off three of his fingers.  They brought him into McDonald's, who hitched up the horse to the buggy and rushed him right to the doctor, seven miles away.  The doctor trimmed up the stumps and sewed him up. They did not have much of anything then to kill the pain, but on the way out they stopped in at Mrs. Charlie Johnson's to see if she had some whiskey.  She did and they gave Pearl a generous amount, which no doubt was a great help.
"Pearl Purdy followed shipping for the rest of his life, out of Sturgeon Bay, until one fatal trip on the steamer "Clifton" out of Sturgeon Bay in the fall of 1924, when she foundered in a bad storm on Lake Huron.  The entire crew was lost.  Most of this crew was from Sturgeon Bay."


So, several interesting connections.  But, back to the chart shown at the top of the page.   You might have a hard time reading the fine print, but alongside the dotted line to the north of Pilot Island is this notation (I'm guessing at letters where chart paper is torn):

Track recommended by Lighthouse Keeper for all vessels during strong southerly winds.


The track to the south of Pilot has the note:  General Track


In October of 1892, in the course of three days, three sailing ships wrecked on Pilot Island. The Light Keeper's advisory to sail north of the island in a strong southerly wind may have resulted from that occasion and was subsequently issued as advice to mariners.  From personal experience, I've always been surprised at just how far the lobe of shelf rock extends southward from the island, while to the north it possible to nearly place a bow against the island.

This chart does not show the Plum Island range lights, but that project was in the funding pipeline when this chart was developed.  According to information from Door County lighthouse historian Steve Karges, Congress appropriated funding in 1895, and in August of 1896 a crew of 30 men began work clearing forest in preparation for erection of the range lights and associated U. S. Lighthouse Service buildings.  By May of 1897, the range lights were exhibited for the first time, under the supervision of Martin Knudsen, the same man who was Keeper on Pilot Island during the 1892 incidents, for which he received a commendation.

Our appreciation to Eric Bonow for passing along the Death's Door chart.

-   Dick Purinton

CANOE & KAYAK EVENT 2011

Kayakers on Northport beach after completing group
paddle across Death's Door Sunday morning.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

The 2011 Washington Island Canoe and Kayak Event was a success once again, in that the various activities weren't blown out or rained out, and the quality of each activity appeared to be of a high level.  Participants, for these reasons, appeared well satisfied with the offering of challenges and paddling camaraderie.

Saturday's Around-the-Island Marathon Race of 23.2 miles had 22 participants, and all but two paddlers completed the course.  The first six paddlers to finish were bunched quite closely after more than three hours of racing, and in the flatter Detroit Harbor waters they closed on the finish line with an extra kick.  The open water race course conditions ranged from 15 mph headwinds and 2-3 ft. seas, to a rather light West Side downwind leg from Bowyer's Bluff (where paddlers had encountered a nasty chop from rebounding NNE seas) to Detroit Harbor and the Gislason Beach finish line near the Red Barn.

Marathon race winner Kevin LeRoy, Madison, finished with a time of 3:29:32.  The next three paddlers finished close behind:   John Sandborn;  Greg Green;  and last year's winner, John Abrahams.

Coast Guard Auxiliary members Russ Hoganson and John Davies confer with
race course observer Scott Sonic as the Marathon Race began at Gislason Beach.
Coast Guard Auxiliary craft monitored the entire race course, and Sonic's boat
anchored in Washington Harbor was a mandatory race mark.

A half-marathon event of approximately 12 miles ran within Detroit Harbor concurrently with the full marathon.   Half marathon participants raced around buoys set along the harbor's shallow perimeter.  First place finisher was John Harrington with a time of 1:40:12.

Saturday evening at the Trueblood Performing Arts Center (TPAC), Roy and Charlotte Lukes, Egg Harbor,  narrated a selection of their nature photos.  Roy Lukes is considered foremost among Door County naturalists, and Charlotte is an expert on Door County mushrooms, having identified over 550 different species.  Each is eager to teach and inspire others, passing along their respect and passion for nature.  Roy's slides ranged from close-ups of flowers, mushrooms, birds and mammals to aerials of Door County's shoreline, including the Rock and Washington Island shorelines.

The Lukes presentation drew approximately 75 audience members, and the evening marked the first official event held in the TPAC since the facility was recently awarded State of Wisconsin public building certification.   The interior looked and smelled clean and fresh, owing to much scrubbing and fresh paint on interior wall surfaces.  

Sunday morning's Expedition Across Death's Door went forward as planned when a large rain cell passed  east of Washington Island prior to the 9:30 am launch time.  The winds were NE, 10-15 mph, and the crossing was a piece of cake until paddlers met larger lake swells in Death's Door, south of Plum Island's Rear Range light.

This Expedition, just over four miles in length, is considered open and exposed waters, but it is open to paddlers with a range of skill levels.  As such, Tim Pfleiger and his associates from Team Leadership Center of Door County closely monitored the group.   Pfleiger teaches kayak skills (which he did most of Saturday during the Kayak Symposium based at Gislason Beach), and the abilities of these leaders were put to good use during the Sunday morning crossing.  One participant rolled his kayak in the Door, but chose to continue, rather than boarding one of the safety boats.  With the assistance of Pfleiger and one of his associates,  this paddler reentered his kayak in short order and resumed paddling across Death's Door, fulfilling a personal goal.

Paddlers stop briefly near the old
Plum Island fog signal before setting
course across the Door to Northport.

Plans are already underway to refine and improve upon, where possible, the various events of WICKE 2011.

Mother nature, wind and temperature, are always key factors, and the range of weather conditions encountered during this past WICKE weekend is probably close to the average for mid-June.

The safety and satisfaction of paddling participants (and observers) is a major goal of the WICKE weekend.  A secondary goal is highlighting the economic importance to Washington Island, achieved through the purchase of goods and services over the 2-3 day period, and establishing this area as an inviting place to enjoy water sports.  We know that a number of paddlers chose to stay beyond the weekend, and our expectations are that many  will return for canoeing or kayaking later this summer.
  -  Dick Purinton