Two Ships and a Load of Dynamite

For those that don’t know, the St. Mary’s River supports the shipping for much of this country’s and Canada’s economy. The river connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron and any ships that travel to or come from Lake Superior must travel through its winding course. The waterway is dotted with islands which narrow the travelable route in many places. As long as there has been ships and boats on the Great Lakes, the St. Mary’s River has provided the route for water transportation.

It is not surprising then, like the rest of the Great Lakes, the St. Mary’s River has seen shipping accidents and shipwrecks along its course. This sets the stage for the story of a collision in 1891. Two ships, one downbound and one upbound, collide in the mid-morning hours in a deadly accident.

On July 14 between the hours of 10 and noon, reports vary on the exact time, an ore carrier by the name of the steamship Pontiac, owned by Cleveland Mining Company (eventually Cleveland Cliffs Mining Company), was downbound on the St. Mary’s River when it was rammed by a passenger ship named the Athabasca owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The Athabasca struck the Pontiac so hard, that it tore a hole in the Pontiac’s bow that was nearly 25 feet deep causing the Pontiac to sink within two minutes. The ship sank in 30 feet of water leaving a portion of the top deck above water. The Athabasca sailed on and made it to Sault Ste. Marie carrying a large portion of the Pontiac’s upper decking lodged on its bow like a trophy of conquest.

Eyewitness Account of the Wreck

An account of the collision is given by one of the crew members of the Athabasca in one of the newspapers at the time.

“When approaching the Pontiac, the barge blew two whistles, the signal to pass on the port side. The Athabasca whistled she would do so. As the two steamers approached each other the Pontiac whistled for the Athabasca to take the other side and changed her course with that object. Capt. Foote, of the Athabasca, however kept his course seeing it was too late to avoid a collision and the Athabasca’s bow struck the Pontiac about ten feet from the bow, cutting into her massive frame with a series of terrific crashing reports as the pats gave away. She is said to have penetrated the barge to a distance of twenty-five feet! The unlucky wheelsman, who was in his berth, lay right in the path of destruction and was taken out a few minutes later, with both legs broken and his head horribly crushed. He died after suffering some hours. When the Athabasca was released from the barge, she carried with her some 10 or 12 feet of the upper deck which had been nearly lifted onto her forward deck in the collision. The Pontiac went down within two minutes afterward and lies with all of her promenade deck above water, a most imposing wreck as she is represented in the photographs taken soon after the disaster. She is the largest barge on American waters, a magnificent iron vessel sixty feet longer than the Athabasca and was one of the three monsters built at Buffalo in 1889 for the Cleveland Iron Mining Company. The iron ore with which she was loaded will have to be removed before she can be raised. The shock of the collision on the Athabasca was severe but happily no one on either steamer was hurt with the exception of the wheelsman on the Pontiac.

“It was nearly noon when the accident occurred and the tables on the Athabasca were being laid for lunch. The dishes and edibles were sent flying in every direction, much to the damage of the carpet of the elegant saloon. The noise of the collision was frightful, and those within, especially, those who knew nothing of the danger until the shock came, remember the feeling they then experienced as long as they will live. The Athabasca is said to have been moving very slowly, and it is now reported that she was backing up at the time of the collision. However this may be, it appears to have been the opinion of the passengers that the Athabasca’s Capt. Foote was not to blame. The Athabasca carried the Pontiac’s Captain Lowes and crew to Sault Ste. Marie, except a few men who were left in charge of the sunken vessel. The Athabasca remained there until midnight on Saturday when she left for Detroit where she will undergo repairs.” – Meaford Monitor, July 1891.

There arose considerable controversy over the erratic behavior of Capt. Lowes and the Pontiac. He was known for being a bit of a showoff and felt his ship was hot stuff. He had a reputation for hogging the waterways with his shiny new, larger than everyone else’s, ship. Soon accusations flew from both sides, American and Canadian. Some said that the Athabasca had run into the Pontiac on purpose. According to most accounts, if it wasn’t for Capt. Foote’s quick thinking it might have been the Athabasca that was rammed with all of their passengers aboard. There was one other detail which may have influenced Capt. Foote’s thinking.

A Load of Dynamite!

The Athabasca was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Earlier on the Athabasca was tasked with picking up a small load of dynamite for use on a CPR project. Capt. Foote objected to doing this but the company insisted so the Athabasca took it aboard. This was on Foote’s mind when the encounter with the Pontiac occurred. If the Athabasca would have been rammed by the Pontiac, the possible resulting explosion from the cargo of dynamite could have gave this a much worse outcome. It is very possible the Captain did ram the Pontiac on purpose to prevent the Pontiac from hitting it and setting off the dynamite.

Due to pressure from insurance companies, Capt. Foote of the Athabasca was fired though the company didn’t blame him. He remained on good terms with them until his death. The blame for the collision rest squarely on the shoulders of Captain Lowes and his arrogance with his ship. Capt. Foote had no choices, it was ram or be rammed. Carrying a load of dynamite, it was really no choice at all.

For more information go here: Athabasca (1883): Maritime History of the Great Lakes