Exploring the The Montana

Listening to this week's media chatter, one might think that Apple's iPhone antenna problem lays bare the limits of technology.  "If my iPhone drops a call, we must be falling back into the Bronze Age!"

Take a deep breath, people, and be comforted by what happened last Wednesday, July 14, in Alpena.  At 10:00 a.m. more than 100 people gathered in the auditorium at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Museum to participate in a realtime interview with two marine archaeologists diving on the wreck of the freighter Montana, 70 feet below the surface of Thunder Bay.  Online participants from every corner of the country asked questions which the submerged researchers happily answered.  For example:  Q: "Aren't you cold down there?"  A: "Our diving suits keep us warm enough for a 45-minute dive."  Isn't life on the cutting edge fascinating?

Alpena's Museum is the onshore face of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a 448 square mile preserve established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect some 200 shipwrecks in Thunder Bay.  As NOAA's only fresh water reserve, the Thunder Bay Sanctuary supports research into navigation on the Great Lakes.  The Lakes' cold water preserves wooden remains which would quickly disappear in a salt water environment.

Native Americans navigated the Lakes for centuries before all those undocumented aliens arrived.  However, from a Eurocentric point of view, Great Lakes navigation began in the 1600s with the fur trade.  Before long boats were bringing settlers and supplies to the Michigan-Wisconsin wilderness and then sailing home loaded with lumber, limestone, copper, and other commodities.

Venturing out on the Great Lakes in the 18th and 19th centuries had little in common with today's 5-night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean.  No chocolate buffet in the Main Dining Room, no towel-origami elephant on your bed.  The bottom of America's inland sea is littered with thousands of shipwrecks, only a fraction of which have been identified.  As for people, we will never know how many died.  It is fitting, then, that the Museum's centerpiece display is a full-scale replica of a schooner, named Western Hope, which shows how even well-built ships could be overwhelmed by Lake Huron's legendary November storms.

The Western Hope on a raging sea

The schooner is named for the millions who sought a new life on the frontier

Western Hope's deck is empty — perhaps the crew has been swept overboard

Western Hope's bow is submerged


Montana — the focus of Wednesday's interactive program — was typical of most late 19th century Great Lakes vessels: built of wood, steam powered, designed to haul as much cargo as possible.  Launched in 1872 and 235 feet in length, she plied the Lakes for over 40 years, ending her service as a lumber hauler.  On the night of September 6, 1914, while entering Thunder Bay, Montana caught fire, burned to the waterline, and sank.  Her crew of 14 escaped.  Today divers can explore the wreck which is just now being mapped in detail by the NOAA archaeologists.

Montana was built for work, not beauty

Quite a few shipwrecks have been identified near Presque Isle, too, although these sites are outside the Marine Sanctuary


The Maritime Heritage Museum is well worth a visit.  For more information on the Thunder Bay Sanctuary, go to: http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/welcome.html  •••