The Sinking
On November 5th, 1869, the schooner Live Yankee was traveling from Milwaukee to Buffalo, loaded with 14,000 bushels of wheat. In the early morning hours, the vessel lost her way in a snow squall. Around 4am, she ran hard aground on the High Island reef, just west of High Island.
Immediately, huge seas began to break over her, forcing the crew into the rigging. The 15-year-old niece of the Captain remained in the cabin for protection from the elements and kept dry for a bit by climbing on top of a table. The stranded schooner started to fill with water as waves pummeled her hull, so the first mate, Thomas Mahoney, suggested the crew take the yawl boat to shore, which was about 1000’ away. It took quite some time to lower the yawl boat due to waves crashing over the stern. When the yawl boat hit the water, it immediately capsized and had to be hauled along side the schooner to be bailed out.
At 9am, Mahoney went down into the cabin and brought out the young lady, who had then been immersed in waist deep in cold water for nearly two hours. She was placed in a sheltered spot near the mainmast while the Mahoney and two other men went into the rigging to bring down the steward, Joseph Furnio. Furnio, mostly dry above his knees, was suffering from extreme exposure and delirium. When the sailors brought Furmo down form his perch on the mast, they were struck by a giant wave of freezing cold water, knocking them down and drenching them from head to toe. They recovered themselves as quickly as possible and picked Furmo up, who, upon being lifted to his feet, exclaimed, “Oh dear, I am gone,” and became insensible. He was lifted into the boat, as was also the girl, and the Yankee’s crew abandoned the storm ravaged sailing vessel.
The sailors avoided capsizing the yawl in the breakers and made it to the beach safely. They spotted a Native American wigwam nearby and carried Furnio and the Captain’s niece to the heated shelter. The Native Americans responded immediately by stoking their fire and wrapping the crew in blankets. The girl was paralyzed from exhaustion and exposure but was slowly revived with no lasting ill effects. Despite efforts to warm and resuscitate him, Joseph Furnio died. Furnio, a Milwaukee resident, left behind a wife and three children. He was buried on High Island the next day.
The LIVE YANKEE first struck about 1000 feet from the beach, in 12 feet of water, but gradually, the wind and waves pushed her to her current position, about 500 feet from shore. The wheat cargo swelled when exposed to water and burst out the sides of the schooner. The captain stayed on High Island for many days after the incident, stripping everything of value from his wrecked vessel.
The Discovery
These days, most Great Lakes shipwreck discoveries are made by shipwreck hunters using side scan sonar and navigation software while they survey vast swaths of the lake bottom. Once in a while, a shipwreck is discovered in an unconventional way. Had the wreck of the Live Yankee not been discovered in this way, it may stay hidden for decades more, or maybe even forever.
In the spring of 2021 United States Coast Guard helicopter pilot Lieutenant Commander Matt Keiper was on patrol over the Beaver Island archipelago, one of the most remote areas of Northern Lake Michigan. While flying over the waters just west of High Island, he scanned the water and a shape under the surface caught his eye. “That looks like a ship,” he thought to himself. He marked the mystery object’s location and continued his patrol.
While discussing the incident with the crew, the rescue swimmer, Ed Bizorik mentioned his neighbor was a shipwreck historian. Enter Ross Richardson. Keiper shared the details of the discovery with Richardson, who was able to come up with a few different possible identities of the shallow water mystery wreck.
Keiper and his son made their way to High Island in August of 2021 and were able to dive and identify the mystery object as a shallow water shipwreck site. In August of 2022, author and shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson and Beaver Island diver Mark Engelsman returned to the wreck site and identified it as the LIVE YANKEE, a schooner that had wrecked in 1869.
The Wreck Site Today
The wreck of the LIVE YANKEE has remained hidden from human eyes for over 150 years. 15 decades of ice and wave have had their way with the hull of the once majestic schooner, and what remains mostly is her broken keel and her identifying features, her two mast steps. There are probably more hull timbers and artifacts in the vicinity, which cover and uncover in this ever-changing environment. Visitors from Beaver Island claim parts of a ship wash up on the west shore of High Island from time to time, fueling rumors that a shipwreck lies somewhere offshore. Those rumors were proven true.
The depth of the lake bottom at the wreck site is 7’, though the keel has created a pocket in the lake floor and rests in 12 feet of water. The western shore of High Island is beautiful, but remote. It is only accessible by boat. The closest port is St. James on Beaver Island. Enjoy!
GPS coordinates for the LIVE YANKEE: N45*44.152’ W85*42.081’