The Boat

[400brian]

Here's a couple of shots of a boat I made one of the most memorable voyages of my life in. I skipped the second or third day of my sophomore year of high school, paddling this hulk on Lake Michigan!
We hauled the boat down to Chicago in late August 1974, and took part in a Lake Front boat show.

more to come...

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Can't wait to see more!!
DA

[JDGuy]

Brian: Looks like a 2nd generation Viking ship, with steel hull? Apparently the Norski poultry people couldn't afford a lower deck for the rowers?? Cannot believe you took that on Lake Michigan alone!!! Then again, a guy that rides a mid-mount on the challenge might do that!! LOL.

Tell us the story of you and the boats history.

[400brian]

Much of the history of the boat is speculation, anyone who knew the story is long gone now.

The story that I have heard goes something like this:

Sometime around a hundred years ago, this boat apparently slipped its moorings or was abandoned as a derelict. It floated down the Wisconsin River to become half buried in a sandbar near the mouth of Rocky Run creek. This is just up river from Hookers Resort, which is just up river of the I-90-94-39 Interstate bridge, which is the area where the inpoundment known as Lake Wisconsin begins. Many of you have no doubt passed over this bridge, and it is located between Poynette and Portage. At the time the boat came down the river, it is unlikely that any of the dams had been built yet. No one really seems to know where or how far it might have come from. It had laid in the sand for generations, basically a local landmark on the river. A neighbor told me at the time of our trip, that when he was young ( 1920s-'30s ) they had played baseball down by the river, and had used the cabin of the boat for a changing room. My father remembers no hint of a cabin, just a rusting steel hull sticking out of the sand.

As you can see, the boat is constructed of short steel strips riveted together. Seems to me that fact would tend to date it as post Civil War, but that's just a dumb farmer's opinion. Sometime in the 1960s, a local ( transplant I believe ) who lived on Lake Wisconsin just west of Poynette, got a crew together and dug the hull out of its resting place and re-floated it. I think the fellow owned a trailer park near the Lake, and that is where I first saw it. Our family sold sweet corn alongside the road, and the boat was sitting on the property there, and being a young boy, I couldn't resist the urge to check it out. I was maybe 7 or 8 at the time ( late '60s ), and found the rusting hulk spooky and concocted all sorts of stories in my mind to explain its fate, and its coming to being there.

Flash forward a few years...

In the fall of 1974, I was beginning 10th grade. On the second or third day of school, I had been invited to paddle a boat in a boat show in Chicago. I didn't ask any questions, because anything that got me out of school was OK with me. So...I had NO IDEA of what I was getting into. We assembled at the local junkyard owners place ( the one I got my '55 Chevy out of around the same time ) it was his truck that was transporting the boat to Chicago . It was a former farm implement dealer's rig, a tonner Ford, with a gooseneck flat bed trailer. We drove down to the Lake to meet up with the boat which was loaded and ready, and our small caravan of vehicles headed south for Chi-town.

next: in the big city.

[400brian]

The trip to Chicago was uneventful. I remember stopping for lunch at the Oasis at Belvedere, and the Chicago skyline
appearing in the distance. We drove along Lakeshore Drive, and I believe we passed Soldier Field. I learned later, that our head paddlers ( who were Seniors in High School ), got pulled over by a cop for driving erratically. I imagine they were just trying to stay with the convoy. They were driving the boat owner's early IH Scout. I remember it as being a clapped out beater that no way should they have been taking to Chicago. The driver's side door was chained shut, and the floor was rusted out and they had been eating exhaust fumes from the shot exhaust system. The cop thought they were on something as their eyes were all red, and he thought it weird that they also had a large brown dog and a white Rooster in the truck! Eventually he let them go with the warning to never drive such a piece of junk to his town again.

Our destination was a downtown marina, where we were going to launch the boat. Us kids headed into the clubhouse to have a soda, and ask the young guy at the bar really stupid hick questions. Soon we were told to saddle up, we were heading down the road. It seems the marina was a private boat club, and they had declined to let us launch there.

A couple of miles down the road we pulled into a public landing, and started the process of launching the boat. We now were going to have to paddle back up the lake front to the mouth of the Chicago River where the parade was to begin, pretty much where we had just been denied access.

As we paddling through the docks of the public access area, a couple of dudes pulled alongside in a good sized speed boat. They inquired where we were going? When our captain told them, they looked at him like he was crazy! ( this didn't inspire confidence among the crew ). They kept saying: It's real "choppy" out there today. After some discussion, they offered to tow us up to the river. To those of us that were holding paddles, this sounded like a real plan! A line was tossed, and away we went. Everything was going really great until the moment we rounded the end of the breakwater that protected the landing, and found ourselves looking at open Lake Michigan. We were looking at 3 to 4 foot swells, choppy indeed! Suddenly this wasn't looking like such a good idea.

The two dudes were towing us at a brisk pace. The boat was doing what it was designed to do, the bow was cutting through the swells like a hot knife through butter, and the 35 foot boat was giving a decently stable ride. I remember only one small rouge wave lapping over the side and splashing on my leg, otherwise we were staying dry.
I don't think the Junkyard owner's wife was convinced we were going to survive this, as I remember her hugging her 6-7 year old son Kirk to her chest and repeatedly moaning: Oh Kirky, oh Kirky! I must admit, I was wondering if this old rust bucket was going to hold together in the rough conditions we found ourselves in. I don't think our Captain had intended to take the boat out onto the open lake, but there we were...

stay tuned

[joshua16]

[trailfire runner]

[400brian]

OK, I'm back.
Here are a few more details about the boat that I found myself slicing through the swells out in Lake Michigan 40 years ago. According to archived stories from the local newspaper, Robert Mitchell, owner of the Wunder Erd campground on Lake Wisconsin, salvaged the boat from the Wisconsin River in 1964, and the boat was restored in 1973. ( this is a gross mis-use of the term...they fixed it up enough that it would float ). Mr Mitchell has always presented the boat as representative of the big Voyageur canoes that the French fur traders used to move goods around the great lake states. I have always had an issue with this, as the boat was apparently steam powered. Note the deep keel that runs all the way to the very back of the hull. There is evidence of a propeller shaft hole, the boat was no doubt a small steam powered river boat. Wisconsin was the crossroads of river travel before the railroads came in. The Wisconsin River flows south into the Mississippi and on to the Gulf, and the Fox River flows northeast to Green Bay and Lake Michigan, and east to the north Atlantic. The two rivers are separated by 1.5 miles at Portage Wi, where a canal was dug in the 1870s ( just in time for the railroad to make it obsolete ). Small boats like this would have been used to travel up the tributaries that the big paddle wheelers couldn't get to.

The local paper editor tagged the boat with the name: La Bateau Francais ( the French Boat ) and it stuck. I never understood this. During the parade in Chicago, Mr Mitchell had us re-creating Frenchmen, Marquette and Joliet's voyages of exploration. We were dressed in brown jackets to simulate buckskin, and the three cornered hats typically seen from revolutionary times. To restore this boat, I feel it should have a cabin of sorts, and a steam propulsion system, a steel hulled boat is too heavy to efficiently paddle.

Our dude benefactors towed us to the mouth of the Chicago River, cast off the line, and with a wave were gone. We quickly learned that no one really knew what they were doing. There were a number of expensive looking boats moored nearby, both yachts and sailboats, and we were broadside to the wind. We paddled furiously, and I remember Mr Mitchell yelling HORSEPOWER MEN, HORSEPOWER! but we couldn't turn the bow into the wind. We were soon pushed into a pretty white boat broadside. I'm thinking; ooh, that's going to leave a mark! But as we rolled out of the collision, the bow turned into the wind, and we paddled smartly up into the River.

We tied up on the south bank of the river, and got out to look around. I've looked for images of the area, but haven't found anything that looks exactly the way I remember it. The river was contained in cement banks, and the walkway at the sides were brick or tile perhaps. There were small trees, and I'm thinking the streetlamps were made to look like old gas lights. 40 year old recollections, not sure anymore.

I've been trying to remember how many of us were in the boat. I can name six of us who were paddling, Kevin Nelson, Steve Preston, John Jay, Kim Sopha, Bill Hutchinson, and myself, and maybe Ray Higley, but that would mean there is one I don't remember. Mr Mitchell, Al Sopha, Marilyn Sopha, Kirk Sopha were passengers, as were 4 younger guys who comprised the brass band. That totals 15, plus the brown dog, and the white rooster that was lashed to the bow.

We had some time to kill while waiting for the parade to begin. I remember looking for a restroom, and settling for a construction site. Tall buildings were all around, but I don't recall what was in them. One incident I do remember clearly: As we hung out near the boat, I remember an attractive young woman dressed in a one piece swimsuit and heels walking around the area, of course we were checking her out. She also had on a sash that said; Chicago Fire Dept. Ray Higley, our card carrying red neck, was really ogling her as she passed. As she did, he said: "hurrah for the Chicago Fire Dept!" She stopped, looked back, and raising one finger into the air replied: "Hip Hip Hurrah". Without missing a beat Ray replied: "Looks to me more like Hip Hips Galore!" Everyone in earshot cracked up! She just shook her head and sashayed off.

more to come

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Seriously...................she "sashayed" off ??????????????

[trailfire runner]

[joshua16]

[400brian]

As dusk approached, we manned the boat, and prepared to take part in the parade. There was only one other small boat, an Italian Gondola type craft, perhaps a bit larger than we typically see being used in Venice, and I suspect it was powered. All the rest of the boats were Police Dept, Fire, or Coast Guard. The article in the local paper refers to a "Nautical Fleet Review", but I never heard that term used at the time. We were near the front, if not the lead boat.

We headed south, right along shore. As dusk turned to darkness, we must have been illuminated by street lights along the shore. Crowds lined the shore, and I'm sure many photos were taken, but I've never seen any. I remember at one point the rooster got excited and began crowing, which seemed to be a real crowd pleaser. As we paddled along the lakefront, the boats behind us had their search lights on, other lights flashing, and the fire boats were shooting water high into the sky, looking like huge fountains in the light of their search lights.

We paddled along, the brass band playing, the rooster crowing, with a spectacular night view of the Chicago skyline as seen from the lake passing to our side. At one point a guy in the crowd started yelling at us. I have no idea who he was, but we put to shore and picked him up, the fellow stood beside Mr Mitchell at the rudder tiller the rest of the trip.

I believe we passed the Planitarium, but again, many years have passed. I'm thinking there was a boat stationed at the end of the parade route, or maybe the lead boat just stopped, I don't know for sure. But as we came by them, retracing our route back to where we had launched, the Captain of the Coast Guard boat wanted to know where we were going? When he was told of our need to get back to the public landing, he asked if we had any lights? Of course we didn't, and he felt that was totally unacceptable. After some discussion, he was convinced to take us in tow, and help us get back. I remember him saying that if we ever came back, that we were to not take no for an answer from the private landing that had turned us away earlier in the day. He did not want to see this boat out on the open lake again!

The Lake had calmed a bit, and the Coast Guard towed us considerably slower that the Dudes had. We made it back to the landing without incident, but it seemed like it took forever. Loading the boat on the trailer seemed to take forever as well, but we finally were out on the now deserted highway headed north for home. I remember that we stopped at a Truck Stop somewhere and they fed us. We were tired, it had been a long day.

wrap up to come...

[400brian]

This was my last direct involvement with the boat. According to stories written in the local paper, the boat has participated in numerous parades and celebrations over the years. It has been to Chicago a few times since, the last being in 1987, during the city's 150th birthday celebration.

In 1997 the ownership of the boat was transferred to the Portage Canal Society. At that time, they asked the State's Underwater Archaeologist to evaluate the boat. I'd like to see the entire report, but what has been reported is that he estimated the build date to be around 1880. He said it was the only boat of this type existing in Wisconsin ( to his knowledge ). He also suggested that the hull is too corroded to be safely operated in water ( but then what would you expect him to say? ) I had the same opinion 35 years ago as a 15 year old kid! The boat has been outside its entire life, many years buried in a sandbar. When we were on Lake Michigan, they had 2 car battery powered pumps running all day, or until the batteries went dead.

The building the boat is sitting in front of, was the Nehls Boat Company many years ago. They built boats there, and slid them out the back of the building into the river. There are those who would like to make this a museum to house the boat in, but money is of course the issue. The boat has seen no maintenance since 1997 that I can see.

I remember a number of years back, the local paper ran an obituary for the rooster. He lived a surprisingly long life! I wasn't sure he would survive the day back in '74, he was pretty wet and bedraggled looking.

I have often thought about that day in '1974, when we were out on Lake Michigan plowing through the swells in a rusty antique of a boat. For us kids it was a grand adventure, a day we never forgot.

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Great story, thanks for sharing. You have to have some great memories!!!

DA

[trailfire runner]

WOW that would be like the guys that floated on a life raft down a 30 foot wide river just after a rain


Clay