Posted by Jeff on October 01, 19103 at 08:58:04:
In Reply to: Re: Annie M. Peterson posted by Jeff Vos on September 30, 19103 at 09:24:50:
: : Has anyone heard that a wreck has risen to the
: : surface in the U.P. and they think it is the
: : Annie M. Peterson? Whats the story on this?
: Where did you hear this information? I dove this wreck 20 years ago and soon after it was buried in the sand. This was amazing to me since it was in 35 feet of water and the boiler rose to a depth of 10 feet. That's a lot of sand. I looked for it this summer and could not find it. I figured it was still buried in the sand. Safe diving. Jeff
Thought some of you would like to read this. This was forwarded to me from Steve. It comes from a U.P. newspaper.
"Here's some of the article
Grand Marias_ With the drop in greatlakes water levels over the past few
yaears, the inland seas are giving up relics thought long lost and forgotten.
ONe suck antiquity is the wooden schoooner-barge Anne M. Peterson, which came
loose from a two line, broke up and sank off the mouth of the Two-Hearted
River in northern Luce County. The tragic sinking, which claimed the live of
all nice men on board, took place during the violent autumn storm on Lake
Superior on Nov. 19, 1914. For almost 90 yrs., the ship was missing.
But, now, with the shifting currents and sand of the a Lake Superior, the 3-
mast schooner may have resurfaced along the shorline, about six miles east of
Grand Marais. "Everybody in twon was talking about it, asking us if we've seen
the shipwreck," said Rober Hughes, a Grand Marais residen who went with family
memebers to visit the wreck, first from shore then by boat. The wreck was
discovered this past summer by local residents, who began visiting the site on
the a regular basis. "With the tide changes, the waves started hitting just
to moves the sands," Hughes said.
Hughes photographed the shipwreck in July, thinking, when he'd frist heard
about it, that it must be near the remains of an other ship that sunk in the
area call the Starucca. He knew about the Starucca, a wooden passenger and
freight steamer that sunk in nov. 15 1887, because he used to dive on the
wreck. He previously beleived the Starucca to be the Annie M. Peterson. Each
year, the ebb and flow of the lake surrents would expose or bury parts the
Starucca's wreckage, Hughes said. Some years, large portions of the Starucca
would be visible. Other times, only cant traces were apparentof what had been
seen previously. Those same forces worked to expose what Hughes and other
beleive to be the Anne M. Peterson. "It could well be the annie
Peterson, "siad Fred Stonehouse, a well-known Great Lakes maritime historian
and author who lives in Marquette. "It's possible it could be any of a couple
of other shiwrecks." Until more information on the shipwreck is available -
calling it the Annie Peterson is a good guess, Stonhouse said. The shipwreck
is protected by state laws, even thouh the wreckage lies outside the Alger
Underwater Preserve. However, it's unlikely any state agency or group will
travel to the boat to try to definitively determine its identity. If anyone
does examine the remains and takes measurements, it will likely be a private
citizen or group of individuals. "It would realy be up to somebody's ambition
to do so," Stonehouse said. Once measurements were otained, historians could
match up specifications for the Peterson, or other ships lost in the area, to
identify the shipwreck.
For now, the shipwreck has become a local curiousity for the those living in
and visiting the small lakeside village of Grand Marias. Others outside the
area have also visited the shipwreck to offer their spculation about the
boat's name. Stonehouse said the discover of "new" shipwrecks on the Great
Lakes has become fairly common recently, as lake levels have plummented. Lake
Superior's water level, for example, is down about a foot below
normal. "There's probalby been halfa dozen (shipwrecks) that have popped up
in the past couple of years."Stone house said. "Especially along Lake
michingan. A lot of these ships ran up on shore and were then just kind of
ground down into the saind." The Annie M. Peterson, built in 1874, was once
the property of the Edward Hines Lumber Company of Chicogo, Ill. Now, washed
up against the superior shore until perhaps the lake's icy water and sand
clame the boat again, the Perterson has become a historical footnote.
"Just a pile of (wooden) bones, " Sonthouse said, "NO gold here!"