James McBride

The James McBride was built as a brig and measured 121 feet in length with a beam of 25 feet. She was launched April fool’s day 1848. Late in 1848, the McBride sailed to the Atlantic Ocean to pick up a cargo of salt at Turk Island. On her return she stopped at Nova Scotia and added codfish to her manifest. She delivered her cargo to Chicago on December 4, 1848. This trip created a sensation because it was believed to be the first cargo carried direct from the Atlantic to a Lake Michigan port.

In mid-October of 1857, the McBride journeyed to the Manitou Islands, where she took on a cargo of wood. On her return trip to Chicago, on October 19, the McBride encountered a gale and was driven ashore near Sleeping Bear Dune. Though her hull was only 9 years old, she was uninsured due to her deteriorated condition and was abandoned to the elements. Her owner, John Stafford of Chicago expressed little concern, saying the vessel had returned more in profits than his investment of $4000 he had owned and operated the McBride.

Louis Warnes, operator of the Sleeping Bear Dune Rides, reported seeing the outline of a hull from the top of the dune. He believed the wreck to be the General Taylor. Warnes later found an ornate picture frame on the beach, we he claimed was from the wreck. The wreck was likely the McBride.