• Sunday-What'sUP July 11 - 05:34 pm

The Cleveland Iron Company has had its share of headaches in the month of July. Our Day in History for July 11 tells of labor unrest that erupted into an angry mob - and a nervous manager in Marquette on this day in 1865. Fast forward 26 years to an incident in the St. Mary's river, just north of Sugar Island. Two experienced shipmasters somehow allowed their vessels to ram each other, and a 2,200 ton load of Cleveland Iron Company ore ended up in the drink. Fortunately no lives were lost, but both masters lost their licenses. (And you thought you had problems at work.)

Our thanks to Bayliss Public Library at the Soo for sharing their giant shoebox of memories online at the U.P. Digitization Center. It amazes me how life has changed... When I was a boy, one of my favorite things was to go to the library on a Sunday afternoon to explore the wealth of knowledge there. Now the library comes to us - with the click of a mouse.

There's a lot happening here in the U.P. this weekend with festivals, races, open houses and much more. Just up the road from where I am typing these words, it's the open house at Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Complex, where the J.W. Nara photography exhibit is on display by Keweenaw County Historical Society. Guess there's still some things to do out there in the real world on a Sunday afternoon.

Have a good week :o)

Nobody was hurt, I hope.

That main engine must have been fairly unreliable to have those three masts there for sails? Or were they booms for unloading the cargo? They don't look rigged for climbing. Is that "Gem City" on her bow? Too many question, but curiosity still strikes me now and again.

I see the letters on the bow are for the Cleveland Iron Mining Company (CIM Co.) - so that ship would have been the PONTIAC and was later renamed GOUDREAU and went down at Stokes Bay, Ont. in 1917 on Lake Huron.

The museum at Whitefish Point has interesting information about Superior's shipwrecks. I was surprised to read that, instead of the weather, most shipwrecks were the result of some very dumb decision-making. One captain forgot on which side to pass a red buoy and rammed another ship; another two captains sailed close by to wave hello to each other--and rammed their ships!

Stokes Bay, Ontario; named for some of my relation who lived there at the time (and still do to this day)!! J

shes a lowrider bro.

I had a little boat experience this afternoon. On my way home from shopping in Clinton, Iowa just down river from here, I decided to swing around at Lock & Dam 13 to see what I could see. Even in the sudden downpour while I was parked, it was fun to see a barge and towboat lock thru down river. Never get tired of boat watching any where Great Lakes, the Mississippi whatever. Last weekend there was a terrible incident up river a bit from here in Bellvue, Iowa. A team of horses spooked, ran away and killed lady and injured 23 others, many kids. It's just a small town too.