Early Fleets and Organizations

The owners of the earliest vessels on the lakes were usually individuals or companies of large financial resources. Lake commerce began with the desire to create vast enterprises, of which transportation by water was only a part. The Griffin was built, partly for the fur trade, and partly to advance the great scheme of territorial conquest. The early fur trading companies, extended operations far beyond the lake region, by building large pioneer vessels.

Next, in the progress of lake fleets, came government ownership. Squadrons sprang up at the command of nations, contending for mastery of the Great Lakes, and, when peace finally followed, the individual lake carriers began years flourished in ever increasing numbers. During the first half of the present century, masters were usually owners or part owners of the craft they commanded, especially of the sailing vessels.

By the mid-19th century, sailing ships were carrying on profitable commerce on the lakes. Real growth in commercial traffic began around the time of the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825.

To mark the occasion of the opening, DeWitt Clinton, who was still governor of New York, rode a canal boat from Buffalo, New York, in western New York, to Albany. Clinton's boat then proceeded down the Hudson to New York City.

As both competition and technology developed the need for larger vessels became apparent.

Soon after steam became established as a motive power, the vessel owners began to form associations for mutual advantage. The principal commercial lines in operation on the lakes in 1853 were the American Transportation Company, Western Transportation Company, New York and Lake Erie line, Northern Transportation Company, composed of twelve steamers; Troy and Western line; Lake Superior line, between Cleveland and the Sault, and Detroit and the Sault, three different lines; Detroit and Sandusky, steamer Bay City; Detroit and Port Huron, steamers Pearl and Ruby, E. B. & S. Ward, proprietors; also a line of boats between Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago.

Many of the iron ore mining companies on the upper lakes purchased vessels, and transported their own ore to lower lake ports.

Iron Ore Shipping Docks, Duluth, Minn. Length of each 2,304 feet; total capacity 100,000 tons; time required to load 5,000 tons of ore into a vessel, one hour.

The Cleveland Iron Mining Company

his company was one of the first to mine iron ore in the Lake Superior district. It was organized for the purpose of mining ore in Marquette county, Michigan, where they owned about 3,000 acres of land. The ore was transferred from the mines near Ishpeming to the port of Marquette, where it was loaded on vessels, and then brought down to Lake Erie ports, Cleveland, Ohio, being one of these ports.

The first cargo of iron ore ever shipped from the Lake Superior region was transported by the steamer Ontonagon for the Cleveland Iron Mining Company in 1856, and consisted of 269 tons.

a new corporation was formed, taking a controlling interest in the stocks of the two companies, and was named The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company.n 1893 the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company built the steel steamers Pioneer and Cadillac. The Pioneer was constructed by the Detroit Dry Dock Company.

Hanna, Garretson & Co.

began business in 1851, and boat building in 1857. They also became interested in Lake Superior copper mines, and in 1857 built a twin-screw propeller, named the City of Superior, being intended for the Lake Superior trade, and running between Cleveland and Superior City, then an important point, Duluth not having been thought of.

In 1858 this firm built the Northern Light to take the place of the City of Superior, which had been lost. n 1865 Hanna, Garretson & Co. built the Lac-La-Belle, a much larger and far superior boat to any then on the lakes. The Lac-La-Belle was sunk in St. Clair river by coming in collision with the steamer Detroit, the sunken steamer being afterward raised and repaired and again put into commission.

In 1874 Marcus A. Hanna and H. M. Hanna organized the Cleveland Transportation Company in connection with the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, and in that year built two steamers and two schooners.The schooners were the Genoa and the Verona.

This line of boats ran for many years, engaged in carrying the products of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company under contract with the Cleveland Transportation Company. This company went out of existence in 1889

The Minnesota Steamship Company

was organized September 3, 1889, for the purpose of doing a general freighting business, but more especially for freighting the ores of the Minnesota Iron Company on the Great Lakes. The Minnesota Iron Company was perhaps the largest ore mining company on the lakes, its only rival being the Rockefeller-Carnegie interests.very heavy annual output, is moved by the fleet of nine steel steamers and five barges owned by the Minnesota Steamship Company. These vessels are capable of moving probably close to 1,000,000 tons in a season of navigationThe five ore-shipping docks of the company at Two Harbors, Lake SuperiorFrom 15,000 to 40,000 tons of ore are handled daily at Two Harbors.

The Republic Iron Company

The company was organized in 1870 for the purpose to handle the iron ore of the company at Republic, Mich., and the shipping of the ore to Lake Erie ports. The first boat loaded by this company reached Cleveland in 1872,.The business was carried on in this way, the ore being carried to market in other people's vessels until 1881, when they brought the schooner Grace Holland, and built the steamer Republic, the later being known as the steamer Marquette. In 1882 this company built the steamers Continental and Colonial, and next, in 1890, built the steel steamer Republic.

The Menominee Transit Company

This company was organized in 1890 as the Menominee Transit Company with the view of building about ten steamers for the purpose of carrying the ores of the Chapin mine, and of carrying on outside business, when there should not be ore enough to be handled to keep the steamers busy.

An order was at once placed with the Globe Iron Works Company for the building of six steel steamers, the first of which steamers, the Norman, came out in the fall of 1890. She made six or seven trips that fall, and was lost in collision with the steamer Jack, on Lake Huron, May 30, 1895.

The other steamers were all ready for business and all in commission by August 1, 1891. These steamers were, in the order in which they were completed, the Saxon, German, Briton, Grecian and Roman. These boats continued to carry the ores of the Chapin Mining company until the failure of that company in 1893, when the Menominee Transit Company and its six steamers went into the control of the builders of the boats.

The Bessemer Steamship Company

It was the most powerful transportation company on the lakes. It represented the Rockefeller interests, and was closely affiliated with some of the largest iron-mining properties in the Northwest, and with the Carnegie Steel Company, the largest producer of steel in the world. The Bessemer Steamship Company was organized in 1896 with 21 vessels being owned. Their actual carrying capacity per trip is about 100,000 gross tons. They averaged 20 trips per season between Duluth, Chicago and Lake Erie ports, and therefore, carried annually about 2,000,000 gross tons. As a rule they did not carry cargoes up the lakes. This magnificent fleet was named for 21 famous inventors, as follows:

Largest Vessel on the Lakes -- Propeller Samuel F. B. Morse
Steamers -- Henry Cort, James B. Neilson, Sir Henry Bessemer, Sir William Siemens, James Watt, John Ericsson,Sir William Fairbairn, Robert Fulton, George Stephenson, Samuel F. B. Morse. Barges -- Sir Joseph Whitworth, John Scott Russell, George H. Corliss, Sir Isaac Lothian Bell, Alexander Holley, James Nasmyth, Alfred Krupp, Sidney G. Thomas, Wm. Le Barren Jenney, John Fritz, John A. Roeb-ling.

The propeller Morse is the largest vessel on the lakes.

Once the largest Vessel on the Lakes -- Propeller Samuel F. B. Morse

THE LINE COMPANIES

The Union Steamboat Company.

The Union Steamboat Company, organized in 1869 by Jay Gould, was the formal beginning of the Erie Railroad Company's connection with the steamer business on the Great Lakes (although the road had operated steamers under charter arrangements as far back as 1851, and later had even built and operated its own vessels). Union Steamboat's initial schedule, using owned and leased steamships, had lines between Buffalo, Chicago and Milwaukee (seven steamers assigned); between Buffalo, Cleveland and Toledo, (six steamers assigned); between Buffalo and Detroit, (six steamers); and between Buffalo and Lake Superior, (two steamers).
In 1872, Union Steamboat along with the Atlantic, Duluth & Pacific Lake Company, the latter organized by the Erie & Western Transportation Company, made a coalition to run a joint line between Buffalo and Lake Superior. This line consisted of 11 steamers mainly contributed by the two interested parties. This foray into Lake Superior was not entirely successful, as the service was discontinued in 1873 and returned in greatly diminished fashion (three boats) in 1874. Later, in 1878, the Union Steamboat became a partner in The Lake Superior Transit Company, contributing ships in an arrangement that lasted until 1890.
By 1878, Union Steamboat boasted a fleet of 16 steamers and two schooners, with a carrying capacity of 19,478 tons.
On June 30, 1896, however, the Union Steamboat Company became extinct as a corporation upon its formal merger with the Erie Railroad Company, from which time it was called the "Union Steamboat Line," until Jan. 29, 1913, when the name was again changed to Erie Railroad Lake Line, to more clearly identify it with its owner, the Erie Railroad Company.

The Western Transit Company

The Erie & Western Transportation Company,

The Northern Steamship Company

The Lehigh Valley Transportation Company

The Union Transit Company

The Lake Erie Transportation Company

Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company

The CLEVELAND & BUFFALO TRANSIT CO. (C&B), a popular steamship line , was established by Morris A. Bradley in 1885 and incorporated in 1892, with Bradley as president. Passenger and freight service was initiated between Cleveland and Buffalo on the "State of Ohio" and the "State of New York," leaving Cleveland from the foot of St. Clair Ave, and in 1896, the "City of Buffalo" was added. The "City of Erie" replaced the "State of Ohio" in 1898, providing night service from Cleveland to Toledo.

CITY OF BUFFALO

In 1914 Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay were added to the C&B route. As passenger service became increasingly popular, the luxurious "SEEANDBEE," a costly sidewheel passenger steamer, began regular trips between Cleveland and Buffalo in 1913. At that time, the C&B and the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) line obtained a 50-year lease from Cleveland for property at the foot of 9th St. for $55,000. There the two companies built the E. 9th St. Pier and a new lake terminal, dedicated in 1915; in exchange, the city built a bridge over the E. 9th St. railroad tracks, paved the E. 9th St. approach, and provided a street railway to the pier.

The popularity of passenger excursions in the 1920s led the C&B to buy the "City of Detroit II" from the D&C line. Rebuilt as the "Goodtime," it offered excursions and "moonlight rides" on the Cleveland-Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay route.

Automotive transportation began to erode the profitability of lake shipping, and in 1930 C&B began tractor-trailer freight service during the winter months to improve its revenue. The destruction of the "City of Buffalo" by fire in 1938, along with the Depression and increasing competition from trucks and railroads, caused the bankruptcy and liquidation of Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. in 1939. The E. 9th St. Pier was transferred to the Lederer Terminal Warehouse Co., and both the "Goodtime" and the "City of Erie" were sold for salvage.

The encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company

In its heyday, the D&C Line was among the most well-known shipping companies in business on the Great Lakes, with its vessels being among the largest and most palatial ever seen. Two of them, the Greater Buffalo and the Greater Detroit, were both built in 1923, and, being 7,739 tones and 518 feet long each, were known as the largest side-wheeler passenger ships in the world. Frank E. Kirby was the noteworthy naval architect who designed many of the D&C ships. As ferry and cruise ships, all of the ships of D&C were a success, with various civic groups and companies often chartering each ship on account of their reputations for excellent services and good cuisine. Upon reaching Buffalo, happy honeymoon couples would connect to Niagara Falls. In the late 1930s, the increasing use of the automobile caused passenger numbers to slowly fall.

During World War II, the Greater Buffalo, along with the Cleveland and Buffalo Line ship Seeandbee, were both converted into training aircraft carriers for use on the Great Lakes. In the meantime, the Greater Detroit and her fleetmates saw an increase in passenger revenues, with the ships being reasonably full as Americans rationed gasoline for the war effort and therefore chose to travel between cites on the D&C liners, among other lines operating then.

By the end of the war, revenues fell again. The Greater Detroit and her fleetmates, the City of Cleveland III, City of Detroit III, Western States, and the Eastern States, were all that remained. On June 26, 1950, the 390-foot-long City of Cleveland III was struck abaft by the Norwegian freighter Ravenfjell, and was severely damaged. Five passengers were killed in the collision, with dozens injured. The two ships survived and returned to their ports, but this incident, along with the dramatic resurgence of the automobile and truck traffic trades, finished the company. The company was formally dissolved in 1951 shortly after their old harbor terminals were condemned by the city of Detroit bacause of old age, and by 1959, most of the line's remaining ships had been scrapped.

One vessle built in 1883, the 203 foot long and 807 ton "City of Makinac", (later renamed in 1893 the "State of New York" under the Cleveland and Buffalo Line) was sold back to D&C in 1909 to run from Detroit to Saginaw and other nearby way ports. Early in her life, the ship served the famous amusement park Crystal Beach in Ontario, Canada near Buffalo, New York. It was here on Lake Erie she was best known. In 1936, she was retired and stripped of her upper fittings and strutures and sold to the Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago for use as a permanently mored club house, with a new one-story struture being built on top of the older hull. The rebuilt liner, now renamed "Florida", served well for these owners as their primary meeting locale. Only a fire in 1954 interrupted her stationary service, but, with repairs and the name "Columbia" painted on the old ships bow, she endured further good use. In 1982, the "Florida" was sold for scrap.

THE ASSOCIATION OF LAKE LINES.

At the opening of the season of navigation of 1895 the association was formally organized. At that time the membership comprised the following lines: The Western Transit Company, Union Steamboat Line, Erie & Western Transportation Company, Northern Steamship Company, Lehigh Valley Transportation Company, Lackawanna Transportation Company, Union Transit Company, and Minneapolis, St. Paul & Buffalo Steamship Company.Beginning with the season of 1897 the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Company and the Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Company became members of the association, thus practically extending the jurisdiction of the association to all carriers engaged in the package freight service.

LAKE CARRIERS ASSOCIATION.

By the opening of the 1880s, the Great Lakes had become a vital conduit for resources directed to the burgeoning industrial centers of the United States. Methods of regulating numerous aspects of the transportation industry to maintain stable costs and profits were discussed in a variety of business organizations. As traffic increased, safety concerns mounted among vessel owners and crews.

The Lake Carriers' Association developed as an important professional body concerned with the shipping trade. On September 1, 1880 the Cleveland Vessel Owners' Association (one predecessor of the L.C.A.) was founded as the initial organization of vessel owners attempting to regulate Great Lakes shipping activities. In February 1881 a meeting was held in Chicago by representatives from the Cleveland Association and other local organizations in order to discuss common interests. Resolutions were passed and lobbying delegations were sent to Washington, D.C. to voice concerns held by vessel owners. Systematic means of reporting navigational hazards were prepared to be shared by all local organizations.

The various local organizations worked in a loose alliance for several years. In 1885 the Lake Carriers' Association was founded by local vessel owners in Buffalo, New York. Duplication of lobbying efforts led to a series of meetings in 1891 to discuss creation of a single organization.

On April 28, 1892 the attendees at a meeting held in Detroit, Michigan agreed to merge the active Cleveland Vessel Owners' Association with less active local groups and the original Lake Carriers' Association from Buffalo. M.A. Bradley served as the first president. The L.C.A. of today dates from this 1892 merger.

During the years leading to World War I, the expansion of L.C.A. to include nearly all the major freight carriers helped stabilize economic conditions important to the success of Great Lakes shipping interests. Establishing a method for setting freight rates at levels acceptable to vessel owners and their customers occupied the L.C.A. for much of the pre-war era.

A marked thoroughness of analysis in forming position statements established L.C.A.'s reputation as an able representative of Great Lakes shipping interests and increased the L.C.A.'s political power. L.C.A. files document activities in numerous labor negotiations and political battles.

During periods of American involvement in twentieth-century foreign wars, the L.C.A. actively participated in planning the delivery of resources for the defense industry. World War I era files document the L.C.A.'s involvement in attempting to alleviate grain shortages by working with the Grain Clearance Corporation to improve shipping procedures. Correspondence with the Office of Defense Transportation from the 1940s illustrates L.C.A.'s role in improving the carrying capacity of ore freighters involved in supplying the steel industry with raw materials. Discussions regarding the impact of the selective service system on the availability of vessel crews reflect L.C.A.'s involvement in wartime planning in the 1950s.

In its early years the L.C.A. intended to find means to achieve "prompt and amicable" adjustments of issues of interest to the Great Lakes vessel owners. Today, the L.C.A. continues to pursue this goal in its relations with vessel owners, labor organizations, domestic and foreign political bodies, and other groups sharing interests in the economy and environment of the Great Lakes basin.

LUMBER CARRIERS ASSOCIATION.

At Detroit in February, 1898, there was organized a Lumber Carriers Association for the purpose of fixing minimum rates for carrying.

CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION LINES

Among the principal Canadian transportation companies may be mentioned the Canadian Navigation Company, of Toronto; Canadian Pacific Steamship Line, of Owen Sound; Northwest Transportation Company, of Sarnia; North Shore Transportation Company, of Collingwood; Great Northern Transportation Company, of Collingwood; Montreal Transportation Company, of Kingston; Merchants Line and G. E. Jacques & Co., Montreal and Hamilton; Mathews Line, of Toronto; and the Kingston & Montreal Forwarding Company, of Kingston.

The Canadian Navigation Company

t would be wrong to label the collapse of John Hamilton's business interests a classic tragedy, with the protagonist succumbing in the end to the overwhelming power of the forces aligned against him. The finality implicit in such an interpretation would be a dangerous oversimplification. Indeed, the elements of continuity are striking In 1861 and for years thereafter the same personnel ran the same fleet on the same routes.

Despite the startling news of Hamilton's insolvency, some cautious optimism seemed justified in the spring of 1861 Other steamboat proprietors were finding solutions to the problems which had beset them over the previous few years. The Ontario Steamboat Company was repairing its aging steamboats rather than replacing them.(1) This strategy succeeded because its American rival had gone out of business.(2) A few, like Capt. Thomas Dick, were shifting their steamboat investments out of the lower Lakes and away from their railway competitors.(3) For those remaining in the lower lake and upper St. Lawrence a new market was emerging: the excursion and 'pic-nic' trades. In the maturing Upper Canadian economy, twenty years aft a the development of the New York-centred 'Northern Tour, a similar phenomenon was appearing. The Canadian objectives were the bathing beaches of the lower St.. Lawrence and the sporting grounds of the Saguenay River.(4) Not only was the passenger trade resurgent by 1861, so too were the traditional freight trades, with one experienced observer exclaiming that 'Kingston was never so full of shipping and produce ... even in the great forwarding days of John Macpherson

The Merchant's Line

The Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Marine Association

was organized February 18, 1885, for the purpose of protecting the mutual interests of Canadian vessel owners. At first the membership was composed of the principal steamboat lines and vessel men, the membership being about forty.