• Friday-What'sUP February 23 - 12:35 am

Brenda Leigh told me that the Mission Hill Cemetery in today's photos, sits up behind her home in the Brimley area. You cannot drive there in the winter, so she strapped on her snowshoes and made the climb up the hill for a tour. At the highest point, it is 984 feet, so it's actually more like a mountain.

Once on top and inside the cemetery gates, Brenda found an interesting memorial to the Sailors of the Steamer Myron. According to the sign that Brenda uncovered in the snow, the S.S. Myron went down on November 22, 1919, off Whitefish Point during a violent storm. The crew tried to save themselves in lifeboats, but didn't make it. While the Capt. of the Myron chose to stay with the sinking ship and was later found clinging to a portion of the wreckage. The following spring, 8 bodies of the crew members, encased in ice, washed ashore and they are buried in this plot. Brenda said she chipped away at the pennies on the top portion of the sign, to see if any of them were dated 1919, figuring they were a bit too shiny to be that old and she was right. Note that whoever left them there, put 8 for the crew members found dead and one for the Captain, too.

Brenda's last photo is that of a two seat-er cedar bench that was in a fenced in plot at the cemetery. She thought it was pretty neat that people could go and visit their relative and sit down for a comfortable "chat" with them, so she snapped a photo of that to share with us, too. With the snow piled up on those seats, it looks like it will be awhile before anyone will be sitting there for a visit.

Benda must be ready to compete in a triathlon. Interesting story and nice pics!

Don't ask me why, but I was certain, before I saw her name, that these were Brenda's adventures again.;)
Good show!

Very interesting to read about the S.S. Myron and her crew.

I took one look at the first picture and told my husband that I'd bet money that these were Brenda's pictures. Sure enough, she did not disappoint. I have to say that so far, this is one of my favorite sets of pictures and the story to go with it, from Brenda. Nice job!! Very interesting for sure. That darn November is NOT a very good month for ships of any kind on the greatest of Great Lakes!

Thanks again for sharing your adventures with us, Brenda!!

WOW, WOW, WOW....Brenda! WOW! These are so awesome and what a cool story indeed! Well done my friend!

Click onto the S.S. Myron link Mary provided and read the rest of the story. Sad.

There is a very interesting article on Wikipedia about the "Myron". Criminal charges were filed against the captains of two other ships, Adriatic & MacIntosh (?sp) for failing to rescue the captain of the Myron, even though they were close enough to help him.

Wow, thanks Shirley. I was not aware of that even though I did read several articles on the Myron sinking, after my journey up that hill.

Thanks to all for the comments.

Sorry, Mary, I have to confess that I didn't notice nor click on "S.S.Myron" you posted. So what I posted about Wikipedia was the same thing. My excuse....age.;)
So, Brenda, the 'thanks' belongs to Mary.

Very interesting photos and story this morning. It looks like the cemetery site for the "Sailors of the Steamer Myron" has been wonderfully improved since the photo on the Wikipedia page was taken.

Thank you, Brenda and Mary, for bringing this bit of history to light for us. The pics are wonderful, and the story they tell is such an important reminder to always pay proper respect to those who've lost so much doing the every day hard work that makes the rest of our lives that much easier. Those pennies are really a touching tribute, and I commend the thoughtfulness of their mysterious payer.

What awesome and interesting photos today! You can find so many interesting sights on snow shoes!

When I first glanced at the last photo I thought
there were two wooden baskets or trash bins. Great
optical illusion mask created by the snow and
photographer.

Good catch, D.A., I was puzzled myself. I could not understand why someone would want to sit in wooden baskets. Now I see it's the back of the bench.
Well, we had our 2-3 inch snow storm today and what a mess. At lunch time I saw a semi tipped over on its side and emergency vehicles going to and fro all over the place. It was like the end of the world.

Pasty com last visited this cemetery in November of 2010. Quite a bit of maintenance has been done since then.
https://www.pasty.com/discus/messages/5765/6475.html?TuesdayNovember920100123pm

Wow! I'll say, Bob!
I remember that from the past but didn't make the connection. Thanks.