Red Iron Ore [Laws D9]

DESCRIPTION: A sailor tells of a trip he took on the E.C. Roberts. They set out from Escanaba with a load of ore, and at last wind up in Cleveland. Life aboard an ore boat was not pleasant, but the sailor is proud of the good time the ship made
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Dean-FlyingCloud)
KEYWORDS: ship travel
FOUND IN: US(MW) Canada(Ont)
REFERENCES (16 citations):
Laws D9, "Red Iron Ore"
Rickaby-BalladsAndSongsOfTheShantyBoy 45, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rickaby/Dykstra/Leary-PineryBoys-SongsSongcatchingInLumberjackEra 45, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dean-FlyingCloud, pp. 12-14, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin, pp. 98-99, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Walton/Grimm-Windjammers-SongsOfTheGreatLakesSailors, pp. 119-122, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fowke-TraditionalSingersAndSongsFromOntario 55, "The E.C. Roberts" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sandburg-TheAmericanSongbag, pp. 176-178, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lewis-FavoriteMichiganFolkSongs, pp. 18-21, "Red Iron Ore (1)," "Red Iron Ore (2)" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 477-479, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 63, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 183-184, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 95, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
Salt-BuckeyeHeritage-OhiosHistory, pp. 93-94, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text, 1 tune)
MidwestFolklore, David D. Anderson, "Songs and Sayings of the Lakes," Volume 12, Number 1 (Spring 1962) pp. 14-15, "Red Iron Ore" (1 text)
DT 612, REDIRON*
Roud #2233
RECORDINGS:
Stanley Baby, "The 'E. C. Roberts'" (on GreatLakes1); "Red Iron Ore" (on ONEFowke01)
Harry Barney, "Red Iron Ore" (1938; on WaltonSailors; a fragment with a chorus probably from a "Sailor's Alphabet" song)
James Putnam, "Red Iron Ore" (1938; on WaltonSailors)
Art Thieme, "Red Iron Ore" (on Thieme02) (on Thieme06)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Derry Down" (tune of some versions) and references there
cf. "Iron Ore by 'Fifty-Four" (tune)
cf. "Joe Livermore" (form, tune)
NOTES [2727 words]: ABOUT "RED IRON ORE"
One of Walton's informants, J. Sylvester Ray, claimed that Billy Clark of Buffalo wrote the song, but a second informant, John W. Green, attributed it to Peter O'Donnell.
Walton lists this as second only to The Bigler in popularity with Great Lakes sailors. And yet, it appears to have been collected from only eight informants: Stanley Baby (Fowke and other recordings), Harry Barney (Walton), Harvey Bonnah (LOC recording), M. C. Dean (Dean, Rickaby, Peters, Lomax, probably Sandburg), Captain James Putnam (Walton; LOC recording), J. Sylvester Ray (Walton), C. H. J. Snyder (Fowke), Asel Trueblood (LOC recording). It's just that Walton found it in as many versions as everyone else combined!
The tune is a bit of a conundrum. Dean/Rickaby (whose version is reprinted by Lomax and Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin) and Sandburg-TheAmericanSongbag use the Derry Down tune. The versions Walton collected do not have the Derry Down refrain, and are in major rather than minor; they seem to be based on "The Dreadnought" [Laws D13]. The by-blows listed in Walton ("Bound Away on the Twilight," "A Trip on the George C. Finney") seem to use the Dreadnought form. This is a matter which perhaps calls for further investigation.
FINDING THE E. C. ROBERTS
When this song was first indexed, I made several attempts to locate the E. C. Roberts, with partial success -- the Great Lakes has ships by that name, but I failed to identify one which was an ore carrier. Solomon Foster, using resources that hadn't been made available online when the Index was started, was able to identify it, but I'm going to leave my 2008 notes so you can know what not to look for:
There was an E. C. Roberts sailing Lake Michigan in 1871; she lost her jib boom in a collision near Chicago that April. An E. C. Roberts also grounded in the lakes in 1865.
Possibly the same as the preceding, and surely the best candidate, is an E. C. Roberts mentioned on page 18 of Wolff. She was carrying ore in 1872 when she stopped at Marquette, Michigan. A major storm blew up, and because she was unloading coal, there was no way to get her moving quickly. She (and one other ship) had to be scuttled on September 18.
Curiously, Walton/Grimm/Murdok, p. 119, says that "The Roberts, 273 gross tones, was built in Cleveland in 1856 for Brown and Reddington of that city for the general carrying trade. It remained on the lakes for over half a century." One of Walton's informants claimed to have sailed on her when she served as an ore carrier. I wonder if this is the right boat, though, since a general carrier would not make an ideal ore boat. And not even Walton can identify this particular trip.
Interestingly, Stanley Baby. who sang this song for Fowke, was the son of James Baby, who reportedly was mate on the E. C. Roberts in 1875, and another Fowke, informant C. H. J. Snyder also knew James Baby. But the data Fowke offers is not sufficient to identify the ship.
If we look for vessels named the Roberts but with variations in the initials, there was a boat the E. K. Roberts which sailed the Great Lakes in the late nineteenth century. According to Oleszewski, p, 100, she was active at the time of the gale of November 10-11, 1883. I do find it noteworthy that a ship named the Escanaba was active at this time, hauling other ships around Mackinac. I would bet a great deal that it's the same Escanaba even if it isn't the same Roberts.
Google searches reveal the E. K. Roberts as a steamer launched commissioned in 1883; renamed City of Windsor in 1890 and Michipicoten in 1910, she burned in 1927; she was originally a fish tug but later carried passengers.
WHAT SOLOMON FOSTER FOUND
Now the solution to the conundrum, which was found by Solomon Foster. What follows is a slightly edited version of what Foster sent me:
I think we can say with some confidence that the E.C. Roberts is this ship -- http://greatlakeships.org/2897492/data?n=64 -- the 1856 one mentioned in Walton et al. According to the database she was owned by one H. Rumage from 1866 through 1873. Given that some versions of the song speak of "Captain Harve Rummage" and that time period overlaps nicely with the periods of service of the Escanaba, Kate Williams, and Exile (not to mention three Minches), it would be a fantastic coincidence if the song were about some other E.C. Roberts.
The other ships:
Tug Escanaba: http://greatlakeships.org/2901197/data?n=1
Schooner Exile: http://greatlakeships.org/2900874/data?n=1
The Minch is harder. I'm guessing it's
Schooner Charles P. Minch: http://greatlakeships.org/2903457/data?n=3
But based on the other dates I'm working with, it could conceivably be
Schooner Anne S. Minch: http://greatlakeships.org/2903457/data?n=3
Schooner Sophia Minch: http://greatlakeships.org/2902718/data?n=7
as they were both built in 1873, the last year H. Rumage was owner of the Roberts. (Though if the song was written at a time there were three Minches sailing out of Cleveland, it would be a bit odd to not be more specific naming her.)
The Exile was built in 1867, so combining that with the time H. Rumage was an owner gives us 1867-1873 as the time period for the events of the song. I don't see any obvious way to narrow it down further.
The 1866 owner is listed as "Rumage & Anderson". I've been assuming that was the same Rumage as "H. Rumage", but there was also a Solon Rummage active in Cleveland shipping. If that's the Rumage of Rumage & Anderson, then we'd have narrowed down the possible timeline to 1871-1873. But that's pure speculation.
(My thanks to Mr. Foster for freely giving me all these results!)
One thing that's worth adding is that this Roberts was a sailing vessel. It was not until 1871 that the first steamer hauling iron ore went into sevice. THis was the R> J. Hackett, which "was the first steamship to carry a cargo of iron ore to Cleveland when it delivered 648 tons from Lake Superior on August 14, 1871. Before that, sailing ships monopolized the bulk cargo trade" (Kohl/Forsberg, p. 175). One almost wonders if this song was intended to promote the older sailing vessels that were in danger of extinction after 1871.
WHERE DID SHE SAIL
Having found the ship, we can try to trace her itinerary to see what it tells us. Based on Dean's text, which is one of the fullest and the most often-quoted, it appears she went Chicago to Escanaba to Cleveland. The ship started on Lake Michigan, went through Death's Door to Green Bay and Escanaba, then presumably back out Death's Door across upper Lake Michigan and down through Lake Huron into Lake Erie and Cleveland.
The fact that the Roberts went through Death's Door on the way to Escanaba is a strong indication that the song dates from before 1881, when the Sturgeon Bay Ship Channel was completed through the Green Bay Peninsula. The whole point of the Channel was to let ships avoid Death's Door (Kohl/Forsberg, pp. 38-41). Sailing all the way down from Escanaba to the Channel was not practical for the trip from Escanaba to Cleveland, but it was a good choice for going from Chicago to Escanaba. The fact that the Roberts went through Death's Door on its way north almost certainly proves the Ship Channel was not yet finished -- there was a toll to use the Channel (Kohl/Forsberg, p. 42), but it was trivial compared to the risk of going through Death's Door.
The path the Roberts took across Lake Michigan is curious in several ways. What was an ore boat doing in Chicago to start with? Spending the winter? The trip to Escanaba at least makes sense; it's on the lower shore of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is mining country.
"Death's Door" is the entrance to Green Bay, the body of water off the western side of Lake Michigan. The name is deserved; it's a shallow opening with many islands, resulting in so many wrecks that Kohl/Forsbert were able to write a whole book about them. The area is so treacherous that no fewer than twelve lighthouses were set up around the Green Bay Peninsula and Death's Door (map on p. 23 of Kohl/Forsberg); Kohl/Forsberg, p. 22, says that Door County, Wisconsin (the county containing most of the Death's Door area) has more lighthouses than any other county in the United States! Kohl/Forsberg, p. 75, quote the May 27, 1889 issue of the Chicago Tribune as saying, "No spot on the great lakes is better named that Death's Door, the entrance from Lake Michigan into Green Bay. The vessels wrecked at that point since there was a lake marine would make a large fleet, and boats continue to go on with a regularity alarming to owners and underwriters...."
Note that the song says the ship crossed the mouth of Green Bay, not the bay itself. It is clearly referring to the body of water, not the town on its shore. But not all of that bay is properly called "Green Bay." Roughly speaking, Green Bay is the area of water south of Death's Door; Escanaba is north of the door, on Big Bay De Noc (also called Big Bay de Noquette). Thus when passing between Lake Michigan and Escanaba, one has to pass through Death's Door, but one never actually enters Green Bay, and never goes to the town of Green Bay.
Most texts of the song, as printed, says that as the ship passed the mouth of Green Bay, "we rounded the sand point." That's not right; it should be "Sand Point," capitalized (and probably without the article "the"), because it's a real place. SailingDirections, p. 45, says "Sand Point Shoal ( off Escanaba). A shoal extends mile northeastwardly from Escanaba light." There are four other references to Sand Point and the Sand Point lighthouse -- which still stands, though it shut down in 1938 (according to the historical plaque at the site). It was opened in 1868, so the light would have identified Sand Point at the time the Roberts sailed. (There is also a Saunders Point in Gladstone, Michigan, just north of Escanaba, but if the Roberts did not go north of Escanaba, it would not have encountered that. But you can't go to Escanaba in a boat without at least seeing Sand Point.)
In any case, once the ship was loaded in Escanaba, it would head back through Death's Door again into Lake Michigan proper, heading for the Strait of Straits of Mackinac into Lake Huron.
The lines "The tug Escanaba she towed out the Minch, The Roberts she thought she had left in a pinch" I suspect refers to a custom on Lake Michigan of tugs, instead of taking one boat at a time through a channel, often hauling several at a time (Kohl/Forsberg, p. 50; p. 151 explicitly mentions a case from 1895 of a steamer taking three older ships out of Escanaba). If the Minch and the Roberts had agreed to use the same tug to get out of the harbor at the same time, the Minch would obviously derive an advantage, if a slight one, in her travel time by going out alone and leaving the Roberts to find another tow.
This is where things get funky. Once the Roberts is back in Lake Michigan, the long Dean version says it went past Louse Island, the Foxes, the Beavers, the Skillageles, then to Thunder Bay. Then past Saginaw Bay and Port Huron through North Passage and into Lake Erie.
Problem #1: There is no "Louse Island" on either Google Maps or a regular map of Michigan, nor is it mentioned in SailingDirections. (I note that Walton's printed text eliminates this reading.) Eventually I found a statement that "Louse Island" is an old name for the island now known as Rock Island. This makes sense -- there are five big islands in the Death's Door area. From northeast to southwest, they are Summer Island, Poverty Island (the smallest of the five), St. Martin Island, Rock Island, and Washington Island. The boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin passes between Rock Island and St. Martin Island, and it appears to be the largest passage between the islands. So the Roberts probably went north of Rock Island, perhaps using the Pottawatomi Lighthouse as a reference. (Kohl/Forsberg, p. 22, says the Pottawatomi Lighthouse was built in 1836, making it the oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin, it was reconstructed in 1858 due to problems with the old structure. Given its age, we can be sure that that lighthouse, at least, was in service at the time the Roberts sailed.)
Then we get to some islands that still keep their names: "The Foxes" are presumably South Fox Island and North Fox Island in north-central Lake Michigan. Then Beaver Island to the north of the Foxes.
Problem #2: "The Skillageles." There is a tiny "Skillagalee Island" (also known as Ile aux Galets) between Beaver Island and the northwest corner of Upper Michigan, about a third of the way from Michigan to Beaver Island. As best I can tell, there is nothing on it but a lighthouse. But there is only one such island; it is not plural. I wonder a little if "the Skillagales" might actually be a reference to St. Ignace on the north (Upper Michigan) side of the Strait of Mackinac.
That question arises in particular since a course by all those islands is shortest the best way to get to the Strait. The logical way to the Strait, once one passes the Pottawatomie Lighthouse, would be roughly east northeast, passing north of Beaver Island and the islands around it such as Garden Island, then more or less due east to the Strait. Instead, to pass all the islands listed, after leaving Death's Door the boat would have to go slightly south of east, to pass between South Fox Island and North Manitou Island, then turn northeast to pass North Fox Island, and then pass Beaver Island to the west and Skillagalee Island to the east, dodge Sturgeon Bay (not the same Sturgeon Bay as the one in Wisconsin!) and the Grays Reef Lighthouse (which probably involves sailing due north for some distance), and then turning east to the Strait. This is a longer course that runs through much shallower water that appears more dangerous to me, and it takes the boat further out of sight of the shore, making navigation harder.
I finally figures it out by looking at the map on p. 107 of SailingDirections, which charts the currents in Lake Michigan. SailingDirections, p. 106, says "Hugging the east shore, the current sweeps through the narrow passage east of the Manitou Islands, and thence by the Straits of Mackinac into Lake Huron, forming a whirl around the Beaver Island group on its way to this outlet.... There is a whirl around Beaver Island in a direction contrary to the hands of a watch. The average speed of the current was found to be 4 to 4½ miles per day. Through Manitou Passage the velocity was from 6½ to 10 miles per day."
To boil this down, in the part of Lake Michigan that is the straight route from Death's Door to the Straits, there is a current fighting directly against you, pushing you west and south. A faster current flows to the east of the Foxes and Beaver Island toward the Straits. In other words, to take the direct route from Death's Door to the Straits forces you directly against the current, Sailing to the south of the Foxes and then turning north to follow the passage between the Foxes and Beaver Island on the west, and the shore of lower Michigan on the east, lets a ship take advantage of a strong current through the passage. Presumably the captain of the Roberts knew that, and so steered the course that was basically two sides of a triangle but had the help of the current. Had the ship been sailing the other way, it doubtless would have taken the course near the north shore of the lake.
Problem #3: Thunder Bay. Thunder Bay isn't even in Lake Michigan; it's in Ontario on the north coast of Lake Superior. Presumably this is either the Sturgeon Bay in Michigan or some point in Lake Huron that got confused with Thunder Bay. As best I can tell, no point in Lake Michigan ever held that name; at least, it's not mentioned in SailingDirections.
From there on, the itinerary makes sense: A ship sailing down Lake Huron would indeed pass Saginaw Bay (the bay that separated the "thumb" of Lower Michigan from the rest of the "hand"), then come to Port Huron just below where Lake Huron empties into the St. Clair River. The song doesn't give the rest of the itinerary, but it's presumably the Saint Clair river into Lake St. Clair, into the Detroit River, past Detroit, into Lake Erie, and then straight on to Cleveland. - RBW
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