Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2019 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== VESSEL NAME: Calumet OTHER NAME(s): - OFFICIAL NO: 126237 DATE OF LOSS: 27 November 1889 CAUSE OF LOSS: Stranded LOCATION: Lake Michigan, off Fort Sheridan, IL RIG TYPE: Propeller, steambarge HULL TYPE: Wood BUILDER: Union Dry Dock Co., Buffalo, N.Y., 1884 OWNER(S): James Ash, Buffalo, N.Y. MASTER: Capt. O. M. Green TONNAGE: 1,526 gt, 1,180 nt DIMENSIONS: 256.66 x 37.16 x 19.66 CASUALTIES: 0 of 18 The CALUMET was bound from Buffalo to Milwaukee with her cargo of coal when she ran afoul of an anchor on the bottom of the Detroit River and sprung a leak. She put in at Detroit long enough for quick repairs and to take on board a steam pump. A furious gale came on after she passed through the Straits of Mackinac and pounded her as she proceeded down Lake Michigan. The repairs made at Detroit failed and the steam pump, working at full capacity, could not keep the inflow of water under control. Capt. Green attempted to reach Chicago when wind driven sleet and blinding snow obliterated the lights of Milwaukee Harbor. The pump gave out and, with the water now gaining rapidly, the decision was made to run her ashore. Heavily laden with coal, and with so much water in her hold, she didn't go very far before she grounded heavily on a shoal about 1,000 yards from shore. Eighteen men spent a terribly long night as the gale screamed around them. The next morning found the Evanston lifesaving crew joined by soldiers from nearby Fort Sheridan and a determined group of civilian volunteers working together in a concentrated effort, and in true heroic fashion, to rescue all eighteen souls from the stricken CALUMET. ======================================================================== Sources: Annual Report of the U.S.L.S.S. - 1890 Chicago Tribune, 29 & 30 November 1889 The Buffalo Express, 29 November 1889 Merchant Vessel List - 1887, 1888