MANITOULIN—There’s another Canada 150 event marker that has been tailored to this uniquely sesquicentennial year and is relevant to both Manitoulin and the entire Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes books publishers Cris Kohl and Joan Forsberg have researched and published a book titled ‘Canada’s 150 Most Famous Great Lakes Shipwrecks.’
Mr. Forsberg told the Expositor the couple dived into their enormous archive and in recognition of this special Canadian anniversary year, selected 150 Great Lakes shipwrecks, each of which was selected for some unique feature.
The book is neatly divided into sections: the St. Lawrence River, each of the Great Lakes that has a Canadian side, the Detroit River and the St. Clair River system. It’s interesting to note that more pages (and shipwrecks) are dedicated to Lake Huron than any other region.
In the book’s introduction, Mr. Kohl and Ms. Forsberg recall that the germ of the idea for this particular book came about when the couple (along with friends) had been diving on a well-known but unidentified shipwreck in Lake Erie last summer.
They’re enthusiastic researchers and they were able to finally put a name to the mystery boat: it was the Otanabee which had been freighting lumber from Collins Inlet, near Killarney when it was wrecked in a gale on September 7, 1888 with no loss of life.
Farther investigation revealed that the Otonakee had been built in Quebec City in 1867 and this, according to the introduction, became the genesis of an idea that would “celebrate Canada’s glorious and dramatic Great Lakes maritime history. Working beyond the year 1867, this idea gradually developed into selecting, listing, researching and uniting the stories of our choices for the 150 most famous shipwrecks on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.”
This was a tall order, editing and compiling a representative book with the “150 most memorable” shipwrecks in time for the Canada 150 celebrating year, all from a standing start last July.
Interestingly, the publishers offered sponsorship opportunities as a way of helping to keep the price of the book as low as possible. Three of the 31 sponsors are from Little Current. The Manitoulin Expositor, Turner’s store and the Port of Little Current are individual sponsors, the most from any single community.
Turner’s sponsored the article on LaSalle’s Griffin, thought to have foundered off Manitoulin’s western tip (and the first Great Lakes shipwreck).
Little Current sponsored the article on the North Wind, wrecked off Clapperton Island with a load of grain down bound from Fort William to Little Current. Interesting, she foundered on Canada Day (Dominian Day then), July 1 in 1926 with no loss of life. The first reports of the wreck appeared in the next issue of The Expositor as a copy of that paper’s headlines indicates in the North Wind story.
The Manitoulin Expositor sponsored the details of the wreck of the Asia. This ship, bound for French River from Collingwood, was lost in a severe storm on September 14, 1882 with the loss of 121 lives with only two survivors. The Asia remains Lake Huron’s greatest loss of life shipwreck. The Expositor reported the tragedy of the Asia a few days after the tragedy as breaking news and many of the passengers aboard the Asia were members of Manitoulin Island families so the tragedy was a significant one here in the early days of pioneer settlement.
Stories like this one, each an interesting piece of history, comprise the content of this new piece of Great Lakes history. It will make a useful addition to any bookshelf or library and as a souvenir of this special anniversary of Canadian history.
‘Canada’s 150 Most Famous Great Lakes Shipwrecks’ is available now at The Expositor office. It is priced at $19.95 plus tax.
