A Les Cheneaux Tradition for 87 Years, Chief Mackinac Featured in Aug. 13 Show
By Amy Polk

The Chief Mackinac cruises in Hessel Bay.

When Chief Mackinac won the Best of Show and People's Choice awards at last year's Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat show, new owner John Allen said he learned the importance of the boat to local residents.

"What was amazing was the number of people who came up to me and shared stories and remembrances of the boat with me," he said.

Chief Mackinac is one of the feature boats in this year’s boat show, to be held Saturday, August 13.

John and Becky Allen of Gull Lake, Minnesota, and Naples, Florida, bought the launch last year and plan this fall to take it to Gull Lake, where they share a seasonal cottage with their five children.

Chief Mackinac was known as Molly for 85 years of its 87-year history in the Les Cheneaux Islands. The 32-foot, 1918 custom Consolidated launch first arrived here around 1919 or 1920, delivered new to the Hardy family of Chicago, which owned a summer place on Marquette Island near Hessel. The boat was used to transport people and provisions between the mainland and the island. It was subsequently owned by the Seiberling family and Ray Ackerman, and then disappeared into storage in 1965.

The Seiberlings owned the boat for approximately 30 years and the family's memories of the it and its former operator, John Osogwin, are colorful.

Bonnie Stewart Mickelson, author of the cookbook, “Hollyhocks and Radishes,” recalls when her uncle, Karnie "T.K." Seiberling, bought the boat from the Hardys in 1939 for family use at their camp, "SunSands" on Marquette Island.

"John Osogwin had been the caretaker there for years, so it really became his boat to use for hauling people, supplies, and groceries, and to take all of us kids fishing, which remains among our favorite memories," Mrs. Mickelson said. "John knew all the secret fishing spots, and we never failed to bring home a batch of perch for breakfast or supper."

She remembers when she and seven other young family members caught more than 200 perch from the boat.

"There were at least eight of us in the Molly ," she said. "We used bamboo poles in those days, with minnows for bait. We were catching them so fast that day, they were being flung into faces and flapping all over the bottom of the boat, amidst screams and laughter and John just sitting there behind the wheel with a big grin on his face and his shoulders shaking, trying to hold in his own laughter."

Molly was well used by the Seiberlings, and their favorite outings in the boat were to places like Beavertail Point for picnics and blueberry picking or to Mackinac Island "for just the experience" of it.

"The Molly was a superb boat to ride in, with its hull and prow designed to cut through the biggest waves. But, too, John (Osogwin) was a superb boatman, so we always felt safe with him in almost any sea," Mrs. Mickelson said. "John's significance to the family was tremendous. My mother and her brothers had grown up with him at SunSands, and he was dearly loved by us all. He taught me almost all I know about the mysteries of the woods, and shared wonderful secrets, such as the hiding places for stonefish and brown leeches."

Mrs. Mickelson immortalized Mr. Osogwin by referring to him several times in “Hollyhocks and Radishes,” including a sketch of him preparing planked whitefish at SunSands.

"He taught us the method as he had been taught through his Chippewa heritage," she added. "John was a grandson of the last chief of the Chippewas in Les Cheneaux."

Mrs. Mickelson's cousin, Ethel "Prechie" Fox, gave several photographs of Mr. Osogwin and the boat to the Mertaugh family, which restored the boat, as well as her flagpole, that had been tucked away at SunSands all those years, Mrs. Mickelson said.

Jim Mertaugh and his sons, Tom and Dan, all operate Classic and Antique Boats of Hessel, which completed the restoration.

“It was completely restored, from keel to flag pole, though most of the wood, about 99 percent of it, is original," Jim Mertaugh said.

That fact is impressive, considering the age of the boat and how often it was used during the first 40 years of its life. The only thing they replaced was the floor, which was more a cosmetic improvement than a structural one, Mr. Mertaugh added.

Most of the work included polishing and varnishing the darkly stained, chocolate brown hull and polishing the brass and copper hardware.

"Every piece on it is original, except for the transom, floorboards, and one sideboard," Mr. Allen said.

The boat's engine was replaced sometime after World War II, probably in 1946 or 1947, with a 115-horsepower Chrysler, which remains in the boat. The Mertaughs believe its first engine was a 70-horsepower Speedway, installed by the boat's builders, Consolidated Launch Company.

Mr. Allen found out about the boat through a tip Dan Mertaugh passed on to Steve Northius of Cedarville.

Mr. Allen said he purchased the boat without seeing it, "because Dan recognized it as being a very distinct and unique boat."

"We needed a launch, and we had bought another boat through Steve, so we decided to go ahead with it," Mr. Allen said. "We have five kids under the age of 15, so we thought it would be a great boat to spend time on the lake with."

Mr. Allen collects antique wooden boats and automobiles, and has 11 other wooden boats. He professes a longtime interest in wooden boats, fueled by his "love of the lake" in Minnesota.

"So many people on Gull Lake have fantastic wooden boats, and it inspired me to get into them," he said.

He visited the Les Cheneaux Islands at the suggestion of a friend, and later decided to show Chief Mackinac here.

"Anyone involved with wooden boats has heard of the excellence of the Les Cheneaux Wooden Boat Show, so showing the boat here was a natural choice," he said.

Chief Mackinac was the first "local" boat to win the show's top prizes in many years, Dan Mertaugh said, and his family is proud to have a role it the boat's success. The Les Cheneaux community feels a certain sense of ownership with boats that are kept by residents of the Les Cheneaux Islands. Most of the boats that have won Best of Show over the last decade have come from other towns, Mr. Mertaugh explained.

August 12 of 2004 was the first time in 39 years the boat had been in the water, Dan Mertaugh said, and apparently the boat's return to the water was well worth the wait.

Both a critical and popular success, Chief Mackinac went on to win the Best of Show, People's Choice, and First in Class awards at last year's 27th Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show. A panel of judges selects best of Show, while spectators pick the People's Choice. The boat was judged best in the Launch Class by another panel of judges.