Historic Shipwreck

— Wisconsin's Maritime Trails —

Type: Wooden schooner, three-masted
Built: 1868, Allen McClelland and Company, Milwaukee
Sank: November 23, 1912
Length: 124' Beam: 27'
Cargo: Lumber, wood products, Christmas trees
Depth of Wreckage: 165'
Lives lost: 16
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

About 12 miles northeast of this spot, 165 feet below the waves, lies one of the most celebrated shipwrecks in Lake Michigan. The three-masted Rouse Simmons spent her career like many lumber schooners of her day, hauling forest products from isolated towns on Lake Michigan to the hungry markets of Milwaukee and Chicago. She disappeared one late November day with a special cargo in her hold, and ever since she has been fondly remembered as the "Christmas Tree Ship."

On November 22, 1912, the Rouse Simmons departed Thompson, Mich., with her annual load of Christmas pines and firs. Two captains (each one-eighth owners) shared command of the vessel, Herman Scheunemann and Charles Nelson. Scheunemann intended to sell trees in Chicago, from the ship's deck directly to his customers, as he had done from several vessels for 20 years.

On her second day out, the Rouse Simmons encountered a northwest gale. She was spotted flying a distress flag at about 3:00 p.m., as she passed the Kewaunee Life-Saving Station. The station telephoned the life saving crew in Two Rivers, who set out to help the struggling vessel. However, by the time the crew rounded Two Rivers Point (now Rawley Point), the Rouse Simmons was nowhere to be seen. She was lost without a trace.

For many years afterwards, Christmas trees from the "ghost ship" washed up along this beach. The Rouse Simmons was discovered by divers in 1971. She is celebrated today in songs, stories, and plays, her myth and mystery growing with the passing years.

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