Thrilling Tales of Tragedy, Humor and Heroism
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In my family’s traveling adventures this summer, we skirted along southern Lake Superior through Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula up to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. With such a route, I wanted to read geographically again, and along the way came across this fascinating collection of true stories from across the Great Lakes.
Filled with info about shipwrecks and iron-ore freighters and with many references to The Soo, this book was a perfect fit for my travels. Every story was exciting and informative in its own way, though I honestly can’t recall much “humor” from any of the accounts.
Story Summaries
As I do with any other collection of stories, I’ll work through this book story-by-story with notes I made as I read. Perhaps you’ll happen upon one that makes the book worth checking out yourself.
- “Tomorrow’s Hero!” The book begins with a retelling of the exciting 109-mile race between two steamers, the Tashmoo and the City of Erie. Quoting newspaper reports as he goes, Boyer makes it feel like we’re watching the race from the shoreline in real time. It reminded me a lot of something I might find in Clive Cussler’s Isaac Bell series.
- “Bonanza at Skull Rock” – This was a very fitting story for me to read today! Just yesterday we went on a geologist’s tour near the mines of Hibbing in Minnesota’s Iron Range, and this story is all about mining (albeit silver mining) in these northern parts. We’re also breakfasting right now in Baraga, MI, just a stone’s throw from Houghton from which all these mining ships originated on their way to Silver Islet. I love reading geographically!
- “Johnny Green’s Date with Destiny” – This was an exciting tale of the very earliest days of deep-sea diving and salvage work. It’s a treasure hunt, too, involving mystery and adventure that with minimal spin could easily become another Cussler novel, or at least the beginning chapter of a Dirk Pitt mystery. Really fun to read.
- “The Sunken Sisters” – This is the story of two similar and early steel ships, the Western Reserve and the Gilcher, both sunk in storms at about the same time. The Western Reserve’s sole survivor, her captain, tells the tale of her sinking, yet the Gilcher disappeared in Lake Michigan without a survivor or trace and to this day has yet to be found. Pretty incredible! One of the most enduring and greatest mysteries of the Great Lakes, apparently.
- “What’s in a Name?” – This chapter is filled with stories of jinxed ships that happened to bear the same names—series of ships christened Racine, Oneida, Queen of the Lakes, Phoenix, and Dean Richmond all tended to face more hardships than the average ship, and many of them still lie at the bottom of these Great Lakes.
- “The Clemson Is Overdue—Again!” – This is a retelling of the loss of The Clemson under Captain Sam Chamberlain and one lad who’ll never forget her.
- “The Christmas Tree Ship” – I want to call it romantic, for it is, but not in the love sense of the word. It’s a romance of shipwrecks and Christmas, and definitely one I’d include in an unofficial anthology of Christmas short stories.
- “Brothers of the Storm” – This is the story of the mystery of The Merida and the Colgate, two ships that went down in one storm and separately, though days later bodies of the crewmen are found floating together in perfectly fine life jackets.
- “The Affairs of Ships and Men” – This is a fascinating recollection of how shipwrecks are handled in the aftermath. Particularly it discusses the loss of the John Owen and the H.E. Runnels in 1919.
- “The Curse of the Copper” – Another super interesting look at the copper trade in northern Michigan and a theory that in shipping and salvaging copper, bad luck tends to follow those who try.
- “The Ship That Smoke from the Wrong End” – This story recounts the sinking of the coal-bearing ship, George Stone, on the shoals along Point Pelee in Lake Erie. Boyer really puts his readers on deck in this one, recounting the terrifying experience from survivors’ testimonies. It also occurred during scuffles with the Union strikers, which again reminds me of Issac Bell books.
- “Ah, Dear Sister…” – Legends of Nanabazhoo, the giant sturgeon that the Chippewa had claimed lives in the center of Lake Superior and sinks ships on clear days. Turns out to be the as-of-yet undiscovered Superior Shoal which sits 22 feet under calm waters but can gut ships in the troughs of rough seas. The story follows the Peary, an iron Minesweeper through her many lives in the Lakes and on the Seas.
- “The Ice Committee” – This is a strong look into the workings of those responsible for clearing the waterways of ice each Spring so that trade can commence on the Great Lakes. It includes a brief look at how salvage crews work to save ships injured by the harsh ice.
- “Of Bones and Men” – The mysterious disappearance of the Griffon in 1679 and the debates it’s engendered over the centuries. Theories abound, and I’ll have to ask ChatGPT if they’ve made any headway after 60 more years of advanced technology. Great way to end the book.
Conclusion
This was a very enjoyable read for me this summer, as we ventured through the northern Midwest. My library of Great Lakes books is wearing thin. What books might you recommend?
©2025 E.T.
Read More about The Great Lakes:
- Great Stories of the Great Lakes by Dwight Boyer (1966)
- The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Frederick Stonehouse (1977)
- Distant Fires by Scott Anderson (1990)
- Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts (2011)
- The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan (2017)