The Storm

Storms on Lake Michigan in November can be fierce, with wave heights sometimes exceeding 35 feet and, unlike the ocean, spaced a mere few hundred feet apart. The storm which sunk the Marinette and the Menekaunee destroyed 30 ships and close to 40 people were drowned, over a dozen of them just off the beach at Watervale.

It was November 18th, 1886, and both ships were being towed by the steamer Manistique (who burned and sank 47 years later) with a load of lumber headed for Chicago. Each ship had a crew of 7, and in addition the Marinette had a stewardess, or cook, Mary Laffrey. She and her thirteen year old daughter, Minnie, had signed up to work the short voyage of the Marinette. During the trip, Mary’s husband sent messages to them to please come home, but they declined. Mary wanted to finish the job and collect her pay. She did neither.

The wind was high and the water rough. A full-blown winter gale was in progress with winds blowing near 40 miles an hour and gusting up to 60 miles an hour. The waves were huge as they crashed onto the beaches and threw spray beyond the top of the Frankfort lighthouse, which the ships passed going south about noon on Wednesday. By midnight they were 6 miles west of Luddington, and the storm had worsened with both rain, snow squalls and near hurricane -strength winds. The ships struggled on, heading southwest in hopes of running out the storm, but the wind and waves were so strong that they made very little progress. The towlines were taut and were continuously strained as the force of the storm worked against the ships. Around 2:30 a.m. the tow rope for the Marinette broke with a tremendous snap that sounded like a gunshot, followed shortly by the line to the Menekaunee. As the steamer headed off into the snow storm to find safe harbor, both ships desperately signalled her, pleading with her to stay. She ignored them and left them to their fates.