Rouse Simmons Shipwreck

[LKunze]

Last update: November 29, 2004 at 7:45 AM
Ghostly legacy of Wisconsin Christmas Tree Ship lives on
Associated Press
November 29, 2004


MUSKEGON, Mich. -- It's been 92 years this month since the Rouse Simmons, loaded with more than 5,000 Christmas trees, sank in a raging winter storm on Lake Michigan, but the legacy of what's known as the Christmas Tree Ship continues.

The location of the ship's wreckage was unknown until 1971, when a diver found it near Two Rivers, Wis. Now the ship is being remembered in plays, a cable television documentary and limited edition prints this year.

For years after the sinking, sailors reported seeing a ghostly image of the 153-foot schooner in the moonlight - its sails in tatters, Christmas trees glistening on the deck. The sightings have faded with time, but interest in the ship remains strong.

``It really is a remarkable story about a majestic three-masted schooner, brimming with fresh-cut Michigan trees, heading ... toward Chicago, until bad weather and cold temperatures encrusted ice over the bow,'' Mark C. Gumbinger, a Kenosha, Wis., historian who produced a video documentary on the sinking, told The Muskegon Chronicle for a Sunday story.

Each year, a memorial dinner is held in Milwaukee by the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society to honor the ship's 17 crew members and Capt. Herman Schuenemann, who all died in the sinking. In addition, the holiday musical ``The Christmas Schooner'' will be performed in theaters in Alpena and Petoskey in December. And the story is included in Gumbinger's just-released video ``Great Stories of the Great Lake.'' The Weather Channel is airing ``The Christmas Tree Ship: A Holiday Storm Story'' through December.

One of the most recent tributes to the Rouse Simmons is a limited edition print by folk artist Carol Dyer commissioned by The Museum of America and the Sea in Connecticut's Mystic Seaport.

Built in 1868, the ship was sold two years later to Charles Hackley of Muskegon, and for more than 20 years was a fixture there, hauling virgin Michigan white pine to Chicago.

Schuenemann was known in Chicago for his Christmas Tree Ship, which would arrive each year shortly after Thanksgiving fully loaded with the pines. They were sold directly to residents for 50 cents to $1. He also gave away trees to needy families. Schuenemann soon became known in Chicago as ``Captain Santa,'' and the Christmas season in Chicago would not start officially until the arrival of Schuenemann's Christmas Tree Ship.

According to historians, the Rouse Simmons was crammed with about 5,500 trees as it set sail south on the lake Nov. 21, 1912 in deteriorating weather.

It was spotted more than a day later near Two Rivers, its sails in tatters, flying a distress flag and riding low in the water. But a rescue boat couldn't reach it, and it disappeared until 1971.

``This story is important not simply because it keeps history alive, but because the story remains relevant to modern day Chicagoans,'' said Michael O'Farrell, publicist for the Mystic Seaport. ``A testament to this is the fact that the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, arriving at Navy Pier just before the holidays, delivers 4,000 Christmas trees a year to disadvantaged Chicago families.''