A precious cargo. A deadly storm. One Christmas, an aging schooner cast off for Chicago … and sailed into legend.

On November 23, 1912, a three-masted schooner bound for Chicago vanished in a ferocious gale off the coast of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. All 17 crewmembers were lost. This tragedy, like so many on the Great Lakes, might long ago have faded from memory. But the story of the Rouse Simmons has reached almost mythical status. Ballads immortalize her final hours. Modern-day ships retrace her last route. Sightings of ghost-like Rouse Simmons, her sails in tatters, have been reported by Lake Michigan's sailors for decades. What gives this shipwreck such an enduring legacy? In short, it was her cargo- over 5,500 fresh-cut Christmas trees, piled deep in the hold and lashed to the deck, prompting observers to dub the Rouse Simmons "a floating forest." Yet this same cargo that brought joy to so many in Chicago would ultimately bring the Rouse Simmons to her doom. This is her story.

Written by Lori Jacobson-Tews for Pier Wisconsin