ONLINE: Underwater Archaeology Survey of the Steamer Converted to Fish Tug Thomas Friant

press release: Register online for this free webinar presented by the State Historic Preservation Office. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

The Thomas Friant was built by Duncan Robertson & Company in Grand Haven, Michigan in 1884. Originally the boat ran as a ferry on the Grand River at Grand Haven, Michigan. Shortly thereafter the vessel assumed lake routes between Grand Haven, Harbor Springs, and Waukegan. By 1900, Thomas Friant was moved to the Keewanaw Waterway and then moved again to Sault Ste. Marie. In December 1908, she burned to the waterline and sank. The damage was so severe that the ship was removed from documentation. The vessel was raised and rebuilt in 1911 as a fish tug. In 1923, Thomas Friant was purchased by Einar Miller and Halvor Reiten of Bayfield, Wisconsin to be used as a coastal steamer hauling package freight on the south shore of Lake Superior. This business wasn’t successful, and shortly thereafter, her decks were enclosed, and a raised pilothouse added, so the boat could be used as a fishing tug. In January 1924, six commercial fishermen from Cornucopia, hired Captain Miller to take them deep water fishing in Lake Superior. They became trapped in ice which eventually crushed and sank the ship. Luckily, the men escaped in the work boat and row twelve miles to Knife River, Minnesota.

The wreck site was located in 2004 by Ken Merriman, Jerry Eliason, Kraig Smith, and Randy Beebe and examined during a survey by Wisconsin Historical Society and Crossmon Consulting LLC in 2018. Discover Thomas Friant history and hear what was learned from the archaeological survey of the site that led to its listing in the National Register of Historic Places.