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Department of History
Program in Maritime Studies


Field School - Summer 2004
Alpena, Michigan

This summer, I was one of the six students from the Program in Maritime Studies who traveled to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve in Alpena, Michigan. The purpose of our trip was to document the Great Lakes Bulk freighter Monohansett, one of more than one hundred vessels contained within the sanctuary. Led by Dr. Brad Rodgers (principal investigator) and Nathan Richards (co-principal investigator), the crew of eleven students and assistants gathered their gear and archaeological equipment from storage in Greenville, NC, and with boats in tow, headed off towards Lake Huron. The drudgery of the two-day cross country trek was alleviated by a hospitable overnight at the Ohio home of ECU professor Dr. Annalies Corbin. The group arrived in Alpena the following evening where the group quickly settled into our temporary residences - town homes typically reserved for students of the local community college.

The group spent the first day at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration building in Alpena, where they were greeted by several staff, a number of whom are graduates of the SCU Maritime Studies Program. The NOAA staff included; Jeff Gray – Director of the Sanctuary, Wayne Lusardi – Archaeologist, Cathy Green – Educational Coordinator and Russ Green – Archaeologist. After our introductions and welcoming, we unloaded the gear into the storage facilities at the NOAA building, and launched the two research boats. Students then split into three research teams, which for the duration of the field school, took turns alternating tasks so as to ensure that each member of the field school had an equal opportunity to participate in the three major tasks at hand; the documentation of the Monohansett, the documentation of the fishing vessel Katherine V, and the installation of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve exhibit at the NOAA building.

Among the tasks at hand was the documentation of the fishing vessel Katherine V, housed in an outside shed at the Jesse Besser Museum. The vessel is a unique example of vernacular fishing craft of the Great Lakes. The vessel has a tin deck-house with large bay doors at port, starboard and stern to facilitate paying-out and reeling-in fishing nets. A full length iron keel-shoe protected the hull from ice and severe groundings, and the completely enclosed deckhouse enabled those working the ship to operate in extreme conditions. Both characteristics intimate the harsh conditions which can be experienced on the Lake. Students created a scaled drawing of the vessel, illustrating the ship's lines, a plan view of the deck and appurtenant features, and a detail of the stern shaft and rudder assembly. The recording of the Katherine V, served to be a terrific preliminary exercise, in which the students were able to practice and hone techniques for mapping that they would later employ on the less predictable site of the Monohansett. The map was later given to the Jesse Besser Museum, and was well received by several representatives before the students departed from Alpena.

Student tasks involved assisting with the installation of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve exhibit. This was an opportunity for students to participate in the creation of a unique museum exhibit dedicated to the natural and cultural resources of the Sanctuary and Lake Huron. Students assisted with the set-up of several elements of the exhibit including artifact displays, and the installation of a large fresh water fish tank highlight- ing the many marine species that can be found in the Lake. The exhibit was a success. It was received by the Governor of Michigan in late June during her stop in Alpena to promote regional tourism.

The primary task of the field school was mapping the Great Lakes bulk freighter Monohansett. Built in 1872 by Linn and Craig Shipbuilders of Gilbralter, Michigan, the Monohansett was built of wood and driven by a single four-blade propeller under steam power. At one hundred sixty-five feet long, a thirty-two foot beam and a nine foot draft, the Monohansett was a large vessel, built for the lucrative Great Lake's bulk freight trade. For many years she plied the waters of Lake Huron, making port in Alpena numerous times, until on November 23rd, 1907 when she burned while inbound to Alpena. She is now located about 8 miles from Alpena and just 500 feet from Thunder Bay Island's southern shore. She lies in a mere twenty feet of crystalline water. The large boiler, now located off the port stern of the wreck, rose to within ten feet of the surface. The large propeller was within fifteen feet of the surface. It scoured the limestone lake-bed when the ship had dragged to a halt.

Two of ECU's twenty-four foot research boats were brought to Alpena for the field work: the center console Sea-Hawk and the Carolina Skiff. The two boats were moored on site during each dive day, and ferried the groups and gear between Thunder Bay Island and the NOAA dock in Alpena. Divers conducted their field work on surface-supply scuba and conventional air cylinders. In the cold 40 degree water of Lake Huron, divers donned heavy 7mm john and jacket wetsuits, others opted to wear dry-suits or semi-dry suits to keep them warm for the long two-hour dive times. The teams conducted baseline offset and trilateration measurements to plot the wreckage. After each day of diving, the dive team rallied around a large conference table in the basement of the NOAA building to plot their data and create a scaled map of the wreck site. Days were long and tiring but the results were well worth the effort. Before their departure, the students and staff of the Maritime Studies Program were able to present the staff of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve with a map of the Monohansett wreck site.

Despite its vast size and ease of accessibility, the Monohansett is remarkably well preserved. Due to natural factors: Lake Huron's cold temperatures and fresh water. These factors create an environment well suited to archaeological preservation. The sites location of the vessel in a relatively well protected body of water along Thunder Bay Island's southern lee, protect it from severe weather. Ideal environmental conditions alone, however, cannot protect all wreck sites, and if it were not for the monitoring work performed by the NOAA office at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, the condition of the Monohansett and other wrecks, might not be what it is today. Among the many cultural resource management tasks the office performs is the maintenance of on site mooring buoys to prevent destructive anchoring practices while encouraging cultural tourism in the area.

This field school was a unique and mutually beneficial partnering of the NOAA office at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve and the Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University. Despite chilly Michigan weather and frigid lake temperatures, this summer's field school was a great success. A special thanks is extended to the people of the NOAA office at Thunder Bay, especially to Russ and Cathy Green, Pat Labadie, Jeff Gray and Wayne Lusardi for their tireless support in our endeavors. We look forward to our return to Thunder Bay in the summer of 2005

.- Matthew De Felice