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About a week ago now I came across this photo by Mark Lindsay. I asked former Park Ranger Bill Herd, and he told me what has since come out in the media. From 140-year-old shipwreck piece washes ashore on remote stretch of Sleeping Bear Dunes beach in mLive:

Sleeping Bear Dunes historians believe the schooner fragment, estimated to be about 40-feet long and peppered with twisted metals spikes, is part of the ship’s bilge keelsons, which the Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archeology says were long timbers running most of the ship’s length, strengthening the keel.
It’s one of several fragments of the wreck to wash ashore over the years, said Laura Quackenbush, museum technician with park service. In fact, wreck fragments from the Jennie and Annie, as well as other ships which foundered off the dunes coastline, wash ashore once or twice a year.
“It’s a very dynamic shoreline,” she said. “It’s a common occurrence around there.”

Over the weekend photographer Ken Scott made the hike and posted the video below of the Jennie and Annie and also of the other (as yet nameless) wreck that we reported on last year.

Photo credit: Sleeping Bear Point Wreck by Mark Lindsay

Taking a truck loaded with people tearing around the Sleeping Bear Dunes would land you in jail. But long before the days of endangered pitcher thistle plants and piping plovers, back when most people thought that a fragile ecosystem was something you better pack with extra styrofoam, there were the Dune Rides.

It all began, according to the brochure:

"In 1935 Louis C. Warnes equipped a car with special motor and giant tires for personal pleasure trips into the vast sand lands near his home. Friends begged him to take passengers. Soon he added other cars and trained drivers...."

The website Oh Ranger! adds more detail, noting that Marion Warnes (D.H. Day's youngest daughter) was a gig part as well of Sleeping Bear Dunesmobile Rides out of Glen Haven.

They started the rides with a used 1934 Ford that took four people at a time to the crest of the dunes and back for 25 cents each. By the time the rides ended in 1978, there were 13 dunes wagons each carrying 14 passengers on a 12 mile, 35 minute excursion.

I haven't been able to find anything specifically on the "Dunesmobiles" themselves, but to the left is a photo of a Travelalls made by International Harvester. The book A Nationalized Lakeshore by Theodore J. Karamanski notes that Warnes, backed by his new ten-year concession agreement, purchased ten brand-new Oldsmobile 88 in 1956. They used balloon tires and the two that I've seen around Leelanau are both Olds 88s.

For over 40 years the Dunesmobiles rode over one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world, bringing those to young, old or lazy to walk closer to the beauty that dwells in the heart of the Sleeping Bear. With the coming of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the days of the dune rides were numbered and in 1978 the dune rides ceased altogether.

Today, the trucks have been pressed into service by Manitou Island Transit and far fewer people get back into the "real" dunes. The result is certainly best for the health of the dunes, but it also means that for folks who won't journey more than a few hundred feet from their cars, memories of the Sleeping Bear Dunes will consist of a few runs up and down the dune climb.

There's a couple of photos from the brochure below and you can see some more (with a few from the dune rides at Silver Lake Dunes thrown in) from Don Harrison's postcards of the dunesmobiles. The photo above is Sleeping Bear Dunesmobile by Seeking Michigan (click to see it bigger!)

Sleeping Bear Dunesmobile Headquarters by UpNorth Memories

The Bear -- which has since disappeared

A "Dunesmobile" on the specially constructed gravel road

 

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore invites you to join them at the Visitor Center Auditorium in Empire this Saturday, December 17 at 1 PM for a shipwreck program presented by diver/historian Ross Richardson.

The shipwrecks of the Manitou Passage have attracted underwater explorers for decades. Today, the underwater photography of these explorers allows landsmen to visit the shipwrecks from the comfort of a warm, dry chair. Ross Richardson has spent the last decade searching for and documenting shipwrecks off the coast of west Michigan. He is credited with discovering the location of the legendary steamer Westmoreland, which sank south of Sleeping Bear Point in 1854.

Offshore of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore lies the Manitou Passage. Although this 36-mile long waterway offers some protection from the open waters of Lake Michigan, even the waters of the passage can be treacherous. Many ships seeking shelter sank in this passage, hitting shoals and sandbars and running aground before being destroyed by the waves of Lake Michigan. There are 16 known shipwrecks in the passage and around the Manitou Islands, but there may be as many as 45 wrecks still undiscovered on the bottom. Many wrecks are well-preserved and offer clues on how they surrendered to the strength of the big lake in the days before advanced navigation when ships relied on basic tools like a compass, clock, and chart.

For more information, please call the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore at 231-326-5134 or visit their website at www.nps.gov/slbe. Also, check out their Facebook page!

Our feature today is an interview from Michigan Magazine TV with the authors of Vintage Views of Leelanau County, one of the neatest books on Leelanau history out there. See information about the book and ordering it below the video!

Click to order Vintage Views of Leelanau County from Huron Press (or one of Leelanau's great bookstores).

Authors M. Christine Byron and Thomas R. Wilson share images from their collection of 1,400 postcards collected over the past 15 years. Vacation sentiments accompany the cards, imparting an original voice to each respective era, from the 1890s to 1960s. It's a historic travel guide from a traveler's perspective. Visit Glen Arbor, Glen Lake, Leland, Northport, exclusive Northport Point, Omena, Suttons Bay and the Manitou Islands. Each page offers a masterful blend of vintage scenes and contemporaneous comments from newspaper articles, ads, and travel brochures. Includes never-before-seen photographs of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, pictures of what was to be the permanent summer residence for the President of the United States, and golf courses that have since disappeared. A marvelous mix of vintage fun and facts of a time you'll cherish.

Details surrounding the history, legend and exciting 2010 discovery of one of the Great Lakes’ most sought-after shipwrecks will be disclosed during the Empire Area Heritage Group’s Dec. 2, free public program at the Empire Township Hall TONIGHT at 7 PM. Ross Richardson, a Lake Ann diver and a 10-year former board member of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates, will share his extensive research on and incredible discovery of the Westmoreland. The 160-ft. passenger steamer sank more than 150 years ago in the icy waters off what is known now as the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The ship, with 34 passengers and crew, was rumored to have been carrying whiskey and gold coins when she went down in December, 1854 – a tale that launched over a dozen expeditions in the ensuing years to find her and her treasures. Only 17 people were saved during the tragic event. Richardson solved the mystery of the ship’s whereabouts using history books, old newspapers and what he calls “a little bit of hard work.” He found the wreck in July, 2010 – sitting upright, bow and arches intact – in an uncharted hole. Read more about it and see photos in this Leelanau.com article on the Westmoreland's discovery!

For more information about Friday’s program, email empiremuseum@centurytel.net

Here's a great photo posted in the Friends of Sugar Loaf group by Scott Hedberg. Left to right they are Peppi Teichner, Jean Sweeny Raymond, Pixie Hoffman, Corky Beals, Bruff LaVan, Tom Kuhnan & Art "Major" Huey.

Peppi Teichner was a legendary figure in the the development of Michigan's ski industry. The Leelanau Conservancy's Teichner Preserve honors him and explains:

Hans “Peppi” Teichner is best known locally for having taught a region to ski – everyone from Helen Milliken to children with disabilities – and as one of the founders of Sugarloaf. But his history before coming to this country is equally as compelling. Peppi was a national ski champion from Germany – and a Jew –who was coaching the Spanish Olympic Team when Hitler rose to power.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he helped guide those who were fleeing Franco’s fascist regime over the mountains to France. A patrol spotted him, but he managed to out-ski his would-be captors. Still, his face ended up on wanted posters in the Pyranees Mountains, which forced him to seek haven in the U.S. When World War II broke out he helped train U.S. Army troops in the 10th Mountain Division.

Ultimately, after the war and stints teaching skiing in Sun Valley and Aspen, he settled in Leelanau. An army buddy had convinced him to come help plan a ski area that would one day become Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Teichner also was instrumental in developing Holiday Hills in Traverse City. I'm thinking that his army buddy was Stanley Ball. Anyone? See another photo of him right here, read a little more about the early days of skiing in Leelanau from the Enterprise,  and share and see photos of Sugar Loaf through the Sugar Loaf Mountain Club.

The Sugar Loaf Mountain Club is hard at work, getting the Loaf ready for skiing this winter - connect with them on Facebook!

All November on Absolute Michigan we are featuring shipwrecks.  Leelanau is not without its own shipwrecks stories, and the tale of the wreck of the Rising Sun is one of these (be sure to click the pic for a larger view too!). Pyramid Point - Shipwrecks of the Manitou Passage from Life Along the Manitou Passage probably tells it best:

The remains of a shipwreck can be seen if you stand on top of Pyramid Point with the sun at your back. In the water below lies what is left of the iron boiler of the steamship RISING SUN.

The date was October 29, 1917. Coming south through the Manitou Passage, the steamship RISING SUN was going south for the winter carrying farmers and their harvest from Summer Island. She strayed off course in high winds and snow and went aground at night on the Pyramid Point shoal. Passengers and crew struggled ashore through the frigid surf and sought help from farmers living in nearby Port Oneida. The Sleeping Bear Point Coast was alerted and arrived by surf boat the next morning to find only an elderly man still on board. He slept through the ship's grounding!

An interesting side note is that the Rising Sun was owned by the House of David, a religious organization based in Benton Harbor that is a fascinating story as well! You can also check out the location of the Rising Sun and other Leelanau shipwrecks on this diving map of Leelanau.

The photo comes from the excellent online photo collection of the Traverse Area Historical Society. It was taken on October 29, 1917 by Carrie (Labare) Craker. (From the left) Martha (Popa) Craker is shown holding her daughter Julia Craker, W. A. Craker and Clifford Craker. The remainder are unidentified.

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that this week the 90' champion cottonwood near the corner of River and Lake streets will be taken down. The tree is estimated to be 109 years old, and clones of the tree have already been planted on north Lake Leelanau at the John Suelzer Memorial East Leland Park in East Leland.

According to the Leland Report, the operation starts today and Annie at Aurora Borealis Designs shared the photo to the right.

Trish P has a great memorial. She writes:

Yes. We are tree-huggers. People stare and point but we don't care. For years we have hugged our favorite tree in all of Michigan. A Champion in Leland, well over 100 years old. Think about it. This tree was likely here during WWI! It has stood the test of time against savage Lake Michigan weather, pavement and a boardwalk over its water-gathering roots, and droves of people walking by without even noticing it!

There was talk a few years back of taking it down. A foundation was formed, an arborist hired and it was given a little more time. Lately though, it's been losing more and more branches and struggling to leaf out. It's really at the end of its life and sadly, next month it will be taken down. Downtown Leland will not look the same.

It's really something to see in person. Hope you had a chance!

Someday there may be another Champion due to science!

Group Prepares Champion Tree Clones.

Again I am reminded that we are not just taking photos. We are recording history. Perhaps not earth shattering events, but history nonetheless.

The Grand Traverse Insider has a cool feature on Bernie Rink of Boskydel Winery, who they rightly name Grandpère du Grape for Leelanau County and the northern Michigan wine industry. They look at Bernie's early years on a farm in Ohio and explain that:

Later in life, surrounded by books and with a tannic tinge in his blood, it seemed inevitable that wine would become a part of Rink’s life. The family was growing. There were now five sons and he found the book, “American Wines and Winemaking,” by Phil Wagner. It might be more accurate and prophetic to say that the book actually found him.

“I began testing wines for hardiness and disease resistance,” Rink said. “I tested 35 varieties, and settled on the six to eight we still have today. I began planting for commercial purposes in 1970.”

...With testing done, the Rink’s original, large scale planting in 1970 launched Leelanau into a new viticultural era. The workhorse was the de Chaunac grape, a French-American hybrid for red wines first developed by Adhemar de Chaunac in Ontario around 1860.

Extension reports describe the grape as having “good vigor and productivity along with disease resistance, producing a robust, colorful wine.”

Early success reinforced Bernard Rink’s evaluation of the land and decision to move forward.

“The plants thrived in this soil, a mixture of sand and gravel,” he said. “They like the glacial moraines. Grapes are actually pretty hard to kill. I saw the success that farmers were having with peaches, and that was a good indicator. Where peaches grow, grapes grow.”

This is a great feature on Rink, one of the driving forces behind the wine industry in not just Leelanau, but the entire state of Michigan. Go read it.

Our photo  is courtesy Sharon Kegerreis of Delicious Michigan. You should also check out the Michigan Uncorked column by Sharon and Lorri Hathaway at Absolute Michigan entitled Northern Michigan's wine pioneer keeps it simple.

If it's not too much reading, Bernie's son Jim has a wonderful recollection entitled Field of Dreams in Leelanau County about the establishment of Boskeydel's first vineyard ... and the loss of a ball field. Also get photos and updates from their Facebook.

This photo shows Bill Carlson tending the smoker in Fishtown, sometime in the 1970s. It was taken by Paul Serratoni, and the funny thing is that it's not all that different today.

One of the reasons for that is the work of the Fishtown Preservation Society. You can help support their work through the Benefit Brunch at the Bluebird next Sunday (October 23) from 10 AM - 2 PM.

For $30/person, you can enjoy a buffet brunch with your choice of mimosa / bloody mary / wine, plus door prizes, music and fun – and all while supporting Fishtown preservation efforts! Click the link above for more information and ticket locations or to purchase your tickets online.