Lighthouse and Falls

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Fall has definitely arrived in upper Michigan, it was in the low 40s this morning, cloudy with a brisk northerly breeze.  So we layered on the clothes and headed for our two objectives today.  The first was the Whitefish Point Light Station which also houses the Ship Wreck Museum.  If you have your Michigan Map handy, look for a point of land in the eastern UP about 50 miles west of Sault Saint Marie.

This little point of land seems to attract ship wrecks, partly because it lies on the course ships take as they position for entrance to the Locks and partly because a northerly blow will send ships onto the shores here.  Due to over 40 wrecks that have occurred here, a lighthouse was erected in 1861. The lighthouse went through several changes during its life.  It is an active light and is now automated with a constant white light.

In 1923, a Lifeboat Rescue Service was established here, partially because the lighthouse keepers were often involved in rescues taking them away from their keeper duties, but also they and the volunteers they summoned were not properly trained or equipped to handle rescues. 

In 1939 the Lifeboat Rescue and operation of the lighthouse came under control of the US Coast Guard.  The Lifeboat Rescue Service was discontinued in 1951, as most wrecks were now occurring too far offshore for a shore service to be of benefit.  In 1970, the lighthouse was automated and all personnel were removed from the site.

As usual, when they automated the light, they trashed the original 4th order Fresnel lens.  No one knows its whereabouts.  The original lamp was a wick lamp burning kerosene.

If it existed, this is what the lantern would look like.

The light station property was leased to Great Lakes Shipwreck Society in 1985 and restoration of the facility has been underway every since.  The Shipwreck Museum was established in 1996.

The signature piece in the museum is the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk in November 1975.  The wreck lies about 17 miles north of the museum.

The museum documents many of the wrecks identified in the Whitefish Point area.  It was surprising to us how many wrecks were collisions.  We were told that the shipping business was crazy around the turn of the century.  Strong competition, reckless operation, and the pure number of ships at sea resulted in many shipwrecks. 

The GLSWS dives and documents shipwrecks in the area.  The equipment they have today to make this possible is amazing.  The Neutsuit makes deep and lengthy dives possible.  The Fitzgerald is in 530 feet of water.  This suit allows divers to go to those depths.

 

Of course we took the climb up the lighthouse.  The view was awesome, but 45 degrees with 25 mph wind made it a short stay.

 

Next stop was Tahquamenon Falls State Park.  The Tahquamenon River was a vital link for the booming logging industry here. Logging occurred here in the winter so they could use sleds on ice roads.  They were then stored on the river banks until spring when they would be floated out to Superior for further transport.  Guess what happens when a whole bunch of logs go over a waterfall.  Yep, they turn into a pile of tangled sticks.  It was not unusual to see a 60 foot high log jam at the base of the falls. How they managed to get the mess straightened out is beyond us.

No logs today, just beautiful falls.  Actually there are several falls.  A high falls shown here.

 

Then further downstream, an island splits the river.  The are five falls, but you need to get over to the island by boat to see the three you cannot see from the mainland.

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That pretty much completed our day.  Tomorrow we are headed to Iroquois Point and another lighthouse.  Time to get home for some hot coffee!

Newberry

Friday, October 2, 2015

Today we left the Munising area to head for Newberry, a small town 60 miles east.  The Munising Tourist Park was a nice campground despite its corny name, we would likely stay here again if in the area.

Since the trip to Newberry was pretty short, we thought we would make quick stop at Wagner Falls which is near Munising and on the way.  It was reported to be a short walk from the road and pretty scenic; it was both.  However, due to dry weather around here, the water volume going over the falls was on the low side, but they were pretty nonetheless.  Here are a couple pictures.

We arrived at the Northcountry Campground, located about 5 miles north of Newberry, a little after noon.  So after set up, we decided to drive to St Ignace, about 70 miles away, to see a museum that has some interesting Ojibwa items and some very old artifacts.  The museum, operated by the St. Ignace Historical Society, is called the Fort DeBaude Museum.  The site was actually the remains of a fort built here at the same time as the forts in Mackinaw City and on Mackinaw Island. Only the front gate remains.

According to information we found, the collection belonged to a Lansing doctor.  When he died, the Ojibwa bought the collection and gave it to the Historical Society.  Probably the most interesting pieces are some clay artifacts, the Newberry Tablet, and some large figures, all found in the Newberry area.  Some research dates these to about 800 AD, and points toward a group of people that may be the same culture as Cypress or Greece.  They were Sun worshipers.

In the museum are artifacts that indicate links between these people and the Ojibwa.  These prehistoric visitors came for the copper and reportedly took home a million pounds of it for use in weapons, tools, and jewelry There were several displays with description of various Ojibwas items.  Interestingly we saw some of the same type of clothing as we saw at the Pow-Wow we attended.

There was also an interesting antique gun collection and lithographs of Indian chiefs.  The interesting thing is the US government did portraits of Indian chiefs, 118 of them.  These lithographs were made of each painting, as a back-up.  Good thing too because the originals were destroyed in a fire in the Smithsonian in Washington.  The doctor acquired the lithographs before the fire.  They serve as the only recorded images of these chiefs.

No photography was allowed so all we have is the front of the museum.

Tomorrow we are headed to see falls and a maritime / lighthouse museum.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

We left Marquette this morning and journeyed down the road about 50 miles to Munising.  The major attraction here is it sets at the western edge of the Pictured Rocks National Seashore.  This rock formation is a series of sandstone and other sedimentary rock that forms high cliffs over Lake Superior.

They are called “Pictured Rocks” because of their multiple colors created from ground water that seeps through and over the face of these rather porous rocks, leaving stains related to the mineral content of the seeping ground water; blue/green is copper, black is manganese, and red/yellow/orange is iron.

We took the boat tour that passes by about 25 miles of the 30 mile long seashore.  It has been quite a few years since we took this tour.  It attracts people from around the world.  As an attraction, it ranks right up there with Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, etc.  The late afternoon ride provided the perfect light to highlight the rock’s features.  We took 250 pictures along our 2 1/2 hour ride.  We have tried to pick out a few of our favorites.

Although the pictures do not show it, it was pretty rough with winds pushing 20 mph.  Going out we were on the top deck, a good 25 feet above the water and we were getting spray up there.  It was in the low 50s, so it was pretty chilly.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

In all the times we have visited Munising and taken this boat ride, we did not realize there is a whole other world connected to this shoreline.  The National Park Service has improved old logging roads, established trails, and set up visitor’s centers all along the interior of this shoreline.  So today we are going to explore a different dimension of the Pictured Rocks, that we, and venture to say, others have not experienced.

First stop was Sand Point, the site of an early Coast Guard Life Saving Service Station.  Inside there is a museum, but it had closed for the season.  This picture shows the ramp they would run their boat down to launch into the lake for rescue.  Not many of these stations still exist along the Great Lakes.

 

Next was a waterfall called Miner Falls.  This is one of the tallest in this region of the UP.  Pretty neat, although water flow was lower than it would be in the spring.

A rock feature visible from both the boat and shore is Miner’s Castle.

The Au Sable Light Station was our final stop for the day.  This is a newer lighthouse, put into service in 1874.  The lighthouse was constructed as a result of several shipwrecks occurring from grounding on a shallow sandstone reef here. 

Au Sable Point is a reference point for ships as they make way toward the Soo Locks, but if they get too close, they will ground.  The light was equipped with a 3rd order Fresnel lens, with a wick lamp that burned kerosene. 

There were three keepers, a head, and two assistants. The second assistant operated the manually cranked foghorn. Each lived here about 6 months of the year with their families.  Access at that time was only by boat.  We walked a mile and half to get to it ourselves today.  So it was pretty remote.

It was fully automated in 1958, no longer requiring a keeper.  The light is functional today, but uses a solar powered LED lamp.  It continues to be a constant white, with no rotation.

There are a few more things to see in this area, particularly in the Grand Marais area at the eastern end of the Lakeshore, but decided to leave that for a future visit.  Tomorrow we head toward Newberry.

More Marquette

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Bundle up Buckeroos!  It’s in the upper 40s with a predicted high of 52, but it is clearing, although windy.

Yesterday, a freighter was to arrive at the Marquette Harbor to take on ore or coal at 9PM.  We were hoping it might still be here this morning, although we suspected it likely got loaded and left.  Unfortunately our suspicions were true, the dock was empty.

The public marina is right near the ore/coal dock and we stayed here many years ago with our boat.  Not much has changed, although there is a nice park adjoining the marina which we do not recall.

From here we ventured back to the Iron Museum to see their 30 minute movie about mining the iron range in Michigan.  We drove around Negaunee looking at homes and buildings of this era, many having been restored and repurposed. 

We then headed a few miles west to Ishpeming to see the site of a Cleveland Cliffs mine site and museum.  They were closed, we suspect for the season, although info we had indicated open until end of September.  We wandered around the grounds before leaving.

This was the longest running underground iron ore mine in the U.S.  They were working at a depth of 1250 ft.

This is one of very few concrete Headframe buildings used by the mines around here. 

Returning home, we traveled Marquette’s Lakeshore Ave. that passes along the harbor with numerous parks and turnouts.  The sun was shining nicely making the views very pretty.

Tomorrow we head to Munising, about 60 miles east.

Michigan Iron

Sunday, September 27, 2015

We left Hancock this morning.  As always, it’s an enjoyable visit to Copper Country and this was no exception.  The history is fascinating and the country is beautiful. 

On the way to Marquette, we stopped at the Ford Center.  It was right off US41 at the town site of Alberta.  You probably will not find Alberta on a map (current population of 18) because it was a planned community established by Henry Ford to support one of his many sawmill operations in the UP.  This one is now in the hands of Michigan Technical University for forestry studies.

Ford used a lot of hard wood in the building of his cars.  It was used in the coach work, in some of the frame components, and even in shipping boxes for parts, etc.  His suppliers of the wood kept raising prices, so he decided to acquire his own wooded tracts so he didn’t have to deal with them.  The UP had lots of hardwood. 

So Ford bought 1700 acres here, about 8 miles south of L’Anse, and built a sawmill.  The surrounding land supplied enough trees to support his sawmill.  He employed 22 people to run the mill.  Since it was in the middle of nowhere back then, he built housing for them and their families.  He named the town Alberta, after the daughter of one of his executives, Edward Kingsford.  Remember that name!

Ford introduced a new line of luxury cars with wood sides, “woodies” as we know them today.  The wood work on them was true craftsmanship.  It took about 250 board feet of hardwood for these cars.  The little sawmill in Alberta knocked out 14,000 board feet per day, but that was not enough.  Ford actually operated several mills in this area, we saw another in Pequaming many years back.

Every bit of the log was used.  Bark and waste hunks were given to the towns people for firewood.  The sawdust was used to fire the steam boilers.  The ash was used for making charcoal briquettes.  Yep, Ford was the inventor of BBQ charcoal.  To sell the concept, when you bought a Ford, he gave you a grill and a bag of charcoal; originally only available at Ford dealers.  He then turned the operation over to his exec, Edward Kingsford.  So what do you think they named it?  Kingsford Charcoal.

 

Alberta also represented Ford’s concept of a company community.  He built schools, churches, community centers, etc.  He felt if the employees were content and there was a good family life, they would be better workers.  Woodies were a trend that died off after WWII, so the mill got shut down in 1954.  Ford donated the land to MTU and in 2009 provided the funds to restore the mill.

 

Monday, September 28, 2015

We are in Marquette at their city campground.  Pretty nice, although pretty lonely.  Fewer then 10 campers here.

Its rainy this morning so a couple of indoor activities are on the to-do list.  First stop was the Maritime Museum.  A few things to share that we found interesting.  You have heard us mention the Fresnel lens used in lighthouses.  They aren’t just pretty, there is a lot of engineering and craftsmanship to them.  Take a look at the next two pictures.  The one on the left is a red bulb inside a 4th order Fresnel.  The lantern is cut away to expose the bulb.  Look at the light pattern.  The one on the right is the same bulb projected through the Fresnel.  Note the light pattern.  The lens has focused it into a fine vertical plane of light, and dramatically increased its intensity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you see why these were so important to the function of the lighthouses.

The was quite a bit about shipwrecks on Lake Superior.  Have a look at this map, the black dots are shipwrecks that have occurred here since commercial shipping got started in the mid-1800s.

You can’t even begin to count all the dots.  Notice the high concentration along the Minnesota coast and around the ports of Duluth and Superior, WI.  With the rocky coast and many submerged islands and reefs, there is no forgiveness like there is with sand or mud.

Unfortunately, the Marquette Lighthouse was undergoing maintenance and no tours until 2016 season.  It is an active Coast Guard Light on Coast Guard property.  This picture was the only angle we had.  We’ll put in another one if we get a better shot tomorrow.

Finally, we stopped at the Iron Heritage Museum in Negaunee, about 10 miles west of Marquette.  This is the site where the first, big, iron strike occurred in 1844.  The first mine was the Jackson Mine Company, which operated from 1860 to 1925, by some guys from Jackson County in southern Michigan.   In that time 4.4 million tons (think about that number for a minute; that is 8,800,000,000 pounds) were removed.  That is from one mine.  In its heyday, there were over 800 mines that produced over a billion tons of iron ore around here.  A couple of interesting tidbits of info.  Often, ore veins were located by using the needle deviation of a magnetic compass and the iron ore in Michigan produced a wealth 50 times greater than the gold rush in California.

Today, only two large open pit mines remain operational, Tilden and Empire.  The use of plastics and competition from foreign iron and steel has reduced the demand and the economics of the Michigan iron.

There is a lot more to learn in Negaunee so we are going back tomorrow.