Autos Across Mackinac: Sainte Ignace and Mackinaw City Join Service at Straits
PART 6 THE FIRST FULL SEASON
By Les Bagley

When the State Ferry first started, the Ariel in 1923, and the Mackinaw City (shown here) and the Sainte Ignace for most of 1924, landed on the north side of the Railroad Dock in Mackinaw City. But switch engines loading the Chief Wawatam could block auto access to the state boats. When a passenger train was also in at the same time as the Algomah in her new guise as a Mackinac Island ferry, the congestion became chaotic. (Postcard view, photographer unknown, from athor's collection)

November 1, 2007, marks the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Mackinac Bridge, and the end of Michigan State Ferry service across the Straits of Mackinac. In his book, "Autos Across Mackinac," author Les Bagley relates the 34-year history of America's first state-owned and operated auto ferry service. In Part 5, the first ferry Ariel, was quickly replaced in 1924 by a modified vessel, the Sainte Ignace. In Part 6, another boat, the Mackinaw City, joins the fleet.

The Mackinaw City (left) and Sainte Ignace were, for nearly all purposes, identical. When they first arrived at the Straits, C.C. Eby of the St. Ignace Bureau of Information posed both boats just off the St. Ignace State Dock, and used the panoramic photo on post cards, in advertising pieces, and in the early "Lure Books" he published for tourists. He also distributed framed prints of the photos to VIP's across Michigan. (Author's collection)

After delivering the Sainte Ignace on May 12, 1924, Captain May and a crew of three or four local men left Monday night to finish fitting out the Mackinaw City, which was still in Detroit. Captain Ivers took over the Sainte Ignace, with a crew including Capt. Duncan McGregor as first officer, "a purser from Lansing, and the same engineer as had sailed with him on the Ariel the previous year." May's crew on the Mackinaw City would include Albert Murray as Purser and M.F. Madden as Chief Engineer. P. Murray Quinn, the purser on the Ariel's other watch the year before, was named Dock Manager for both boats. His office would be in St. Ignace.

The former Chambers Dock in St. Ignace, which was later to be known as "Dock 1," was quickly improved with more sturdy pilings, a reinforced plank surface for cars and trucks to drive on, and a storage area for the ferries' coal supply. The warehouse in the center of this view from the shoreline was remodeled to include restrooms and a passenger waiting area. (Michigan State Archives)

By June, the Mackinaw City had also reached the Straits. She was tied up at the second slip in St. Ignace awaiting heavier traffic, which so far that year had yet to materialize. Alate June report published in The Republican-News (which occupied an office near the dock) stated the one operating boat apparently averaged loads of about 100 cars a day, with some days a little better and other days not as good. The paper reported the average was slowly starting to go up. Dockman Elmer Rapin told a reporter the largest load of the season so far had been 28 cars coming into the U.P. from the lower part of the state.

On June 25, the Sainte Ignace was found to need some minor repairs, so while she was taken to a machine shop in Cheboygan, the Mackinaw City finally got a chance to take over the run.

The new, long, rock-fill causeway and dock in Mackinaw City wasn't finished until 1925. It extended nearly a quarter-mile into Lake Huron and offered a narrow turning area for autos to enter and leave the side-loading ships. One ferry could land on the north side of the dock and use both a forward and after loading ramp, and a smaller slip was cut into the south side of the dock, with only a single loading ramp for ferry access. (Michigan State Archives)

The one boat schedule, however, lasted only another week. With travel increasing for the long Independence Day holiday weekend, both boats were pressed into service on Friday, July 4. Trips were made departing each port simultaneously, beginning at 7 a.m. and then every 90 minutes until the last departure at 8:30 in the evening. Each boat averaged between 40 and 50 cars per round trip, with capacities determined primarily by the size of the automobiles and trucks being carried. The two-boat schedule would be maintained for the rest of the summer. But with both boats now in operation and running at near capacity, the traffic arriving at the docks only continued to grow.

Tourism promotion had become big business in Northern Michigan. In early August, G. E. Bishop of the Upper Peninsula Development Bureau helped organize a conference of similar organizations from across the state.

"We feel it's high time the people of Michigan awaken to the tremendous possibilities of tourist traffic," he said. "Other states are going after it on a big scale."

He cited Wisconsin and Minnesota organizations designed to lure tourist dollars.

"The tourist business is a revenue getter," he said. "It's the newest and biggest industry developed in recent years, but . . . it's purely competitive. We've got the goods, we should capitalize that resource."

After their meeting at Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel, Bishop and other tourism promoters asked the state administrative board to set aside $100,000 specifically for tourism promotions.

But even without funds to advertise the area, more and more tourists came to Cloverland. August also saw the start of one of the first tour bus schedules into the region. A group from Chicago paid $100 each to circle Lake Michigan. The fare included all accommodations and meals, plus a trip to Mackinac Island while the bus crossed over empty on the State Ferry. The only hitch in the plan was when the group's lunch reservation had not been received in the mail by a local restaurant. Otherwise, everyone had a good time, and the company announced plans to bring another group into the area every other week for the rest of the summer.

By mid-August, the State Park in Mackinaw City was operating at capacity with more than 150 automobiles camping there each evening. Early ferries departing for St. Ignace left cars on the dock for subsequent trips, and some days it was afternoon before the backlog could be handled, even with both boats running.

Throughout Michigan, newspapers regularly carried columns with titles like "Good Roads" and "Road Trips." The authors reported progress on paving routes across Michigan and places drivers could visit along the pavement. The Straits of Mackinac was a very popular subject in print. Tourist Association figures for just July and August showed that 11,240 cars came across the Straits. Travel continued to be heavy well into September. Finally, as fall arrived, traffic levels dropped to the point where only one boat was needed to carry the demand.

The last Monday of September, the Sainte Ignace was pulled from the run and only the Mackinaw City operated to maintain a scheduled departure every three hours. The ship left St. Ignace at 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. She sailed north at 7:30, 11:30, 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30. The Sainte Ignace was taken to Cheboygan for lay-up under the command of Captain McGregor. She was maintained in ready condition, however, should she be needed during the upcoming November hunting season.

In the first full season of operation, summer traffic and the income the ferries had generated exceeded State Highway officials' wildest expectations. During the rush in August, revenues had averaged from $6,000 to $7,000 a week. Governor Groesbeck even suggested that a third ferry might be needed the next year to handle further traffic increases. He also announced plans to reduce the charge passenger autos paid just as soon as the first two boats were paid for.

But the 1924 rush was not over.

In November, hunters responding to publicity about the area descended by the thousands. With snow falling, the decision was made not to activate the second boat for the few days the rush would require. By herself, one boat managed to transport more than 1,300 cars and trucks. Some trucks carried as many as a dozen hunters, and nearly 8,000 hunters used the State Ferry to reach the Upper Peninsula that season. Rather than wait for the state boat, still more drivers took the railroad ferry at its higher fare. In all, more than 1,700 vehicles were transported in just one week.

Local business people remarked at the huge increase in business they experienced. Some attributed it to the wait for the ferry. Others believed it was caused because more hunters came by auto than ever before, and they'd done so because the ferry was now in service. There was only one sour note. On Friday, November 7, one trip of the State Ferry* was eliminated when a heavy sea slammed the boat into the dock at Mackinaw City. The sudden jolt loosened the brick foundations under a boiler. The ship was able to limp back to St. Ignace for repairs, but the last trip of the night had to be canceled. Otherwise, the single ferry ran the entire hunting season on time.

*(There is some discrepancy as to which vessel was involved in the accident. While newspaper reports from both before and after the event say the Mackinaw City was the only boat on the run during the 1924 hunting season, the report of the incident and the follow-up from it indicate the damaged ferry was the Sainte Ignace. It is possible the reporter was wrong, as both boats were identical. The confusion may have come when Captain May, who was known to be the Sainte Ignace's master, reported the incident to the press. By this time he had also assumed charge of the rest of the Straits State Ferry operations, as Capt. Stevenson had resigned to take a post on the Detroit Common Council.)

Without question, state officials considered their new ferry service an outstanding success. In total, for the 1924 hunting season, 5,618 vehicles had been carried, generating $13,071.50 in revenue. Some 3,039 vehicles were carried northbound, while 2,579 were taken south. Motorists who didn't want to wait for the state boat and took the railway ferry one way were blamed for the discrepancy between north and southbound loadings. In addition to the vehicles, the State Ferry had transported 1,376 deer, 28 bear, 22 foxes, and lesser quantities of lynx, coyote, moose, and caribou. It was one of the largest hunting seasons on record. But for the State Ferry, November was 1924's last hurrah.

By early December, the one boat in service was omitting trips when no cars arrived at the dock at either side by sailing time. Captain May awaited orders to discontinue the service, and on Friday, December 5, those orders came. After one last Saturday of crossings, the Mackinaw City sailed for Cheboygan to join the Sainte Ignace in winter lay-up. Since the railway yard engine was out of town and the Chief Wawatam was across the Straits at the time, the only thing left in town to blow a salute to the departing ferry was the ferry dock's own fog siren. Captain May answered on the ship's whistle, and then sailed the boat to "snug quarters" for the winter, wishing his send-off party a "Merry Christmas" as he went. The crews were paid off, and the state shut its ferry down for another winter.

In the 1924 season, the state boats had carried 38,600 autos into Northern Michigan, nearly double the total carried by the combination of state and railway boats in 1923, and an unthinkable amount compared to the 700 vehicles carried on the Chief just six years before. The U.P. Development Bureau pinned the increase entirely on better roads, better ferry service, and better tourist promotion. Director George Bishop calculated that if each car averaged three tourists, each tourist stayed an average of five days, and each one spent just $5 a day, the ferries added $2,901,000 to the Upper Peninsula economy. And the ferries, he added, were only responsible for about half the tourists that traveled to the U.P.

Highway Commissioner Rogers suggested that to adequately meet the ever-growing demand for cross-straits travel, a third ferry would have to be added to the run before the 1925 season. But as winter took hold of the lakes, talk of tourists and ferries faded into the snowdrifts and ice windrows. The state ferries wintered peacefully at Cheboygan, the Chief Wawatam ferried rail cars and the occasional automobile across the straits, and as usual, the Sainte Marie was called out to go ice breaking.

But all was not quiet everywhere during the winter of 1924- 25. Politics have a way of heating up even the coldest Michigan winters, and in December, after announcing he would not seek another term, State Highway Commissioner Frank P. Rogers surprised even his friends when he proclaimed his candidacy to succeed himself in a fourth term as Michigan State Highway Commissioner. That threw Governor Groesbeck's campaign a curve, as his insiders had hoped to appoint a friend to the top highway spot in a three-way move to have another Republican land the plum position of Auditor General. The governor assured them that such a deal had never been made, and Rogers again emerged from the Republican State Convention as Michigan's Highway Commissioner.

NEW SLIPS, DOCKS, A-PIER:

English language purists have conniptions when inland people misuse nautical terms like "slip" and "dock." Conventional purist wisdom holds a "pier" to be the thing built out from land and supported over the water, such as on pilings. The "dock" is the area of water adjacent to the pier where a vessel rests while loading or unloading. When that area of water is between two piers, it becomes a "slip." They say "ships" are large vessels that can carry small vessels called "boats," but "boats" can never carry "ships."

People on the Great Lakes tend to turn conventional wisdom into so many generalities. To them a "dock" can be the pier, including any buildings on or around it, the water near it, or even the entire terminal with the adjoining real estate that encompasses it. To them, "slip" is the surface of the dock where the vessel ties up.

On the Great Lakes, what conventional wisdom calls a "ship," sailors stubbornly call a "boat," no matter how large it is, or how many other "boats" it can carry. Ferries are always "boats," even if the ferryboat is large enough to be considered a "ship" anyplace else.

On rivers, ferries usually operate with their bows pointed upstream. The additional speed of the current over their rudder gives them more maneuverability, meaning easier landings. At Detroit, the ferries landed with their sides to the shore. Passengers and autos crossed hinged ramps carried on the ferry to bridge the gap between deck and dock. The ramps were usually used on the port (or left) side in Detroit, and on the starboard (or right) side in Canada. By alternating sides, autos could also drive on, across the boat, and off more conveniently.

With only minor modifications, the Ariel arrived at the Straits in this configuration. When the ramps from her car deck were found to be hinged too low to match the car deck with the pier surface in St. Ignace, the pier was modified. Holes or "pockets" were cut into the planking and inclines were built so autos could drive down, across the ramps, and onto the car deck at the proper level. Since the boat slid along the pilings to line the ramps up with the pockets at each arrival, the pocket and incline also became known as the "slip." The inclines also helped alleviate differences in vessel loads or changes in lake water levels.

When the Col. Pond and Col. Card were lengthened and converted to carry automobiles over the winter of 1923-24, they were constructed with loading ramps in a similar fashion. While the Straits railroad ferries loaded only from the bow, and Lake Michigan carferries loaded only from the stern, side loading would be used exclusively on the State's auto ferries at the Straits for the next 14 years.

Even before the two new vessels were purchased, Michigan took steps to improve docking conditions for them. Contracts were let late in the summer of 1923 to upgrade the State Dock in St. Ignace by widening the roadway, making more ferry slips, and converting a warehouse into a waiting room for passengers. On the east face of the dock, the northernmost loading pocket was designated a "high capacity" ramp for trucks and other large vehicles. It was reinforced and heavier planking was installed over the existing deck leading to it.

Over the winter of 1923-24, engineers took advantage of the natural ice platform, walking out at water level to conduct a complete photographic survey of pilings along side and under the pier. Additional work in 1924 involved reinforcing the north side of the structure and adding wooden sides to part of the deck, making a coal crib to store fuel for the new steamers. By buying fuel in bulk, the state realized significant savings, though the coal pile soon contributed to the increasing congestion on the St. Ignace dock. The deck surface and much of the dock's understructure would be completely rebuilt beginning in 1925. Also in 1925, the State purchased a small State Street residence used in earlier times as an office for Doctor Young. The building was moved down onto the dock, where it became an office for Richard Jones, the new ferry Shore Manager who took office that year.

On the Mackinaw City side, weather continued to plague the landing at the Railroad Dock, so a contractor was hired to build an entirely new facility for the state boats nearby. For $550, the state purchased a parcel on the waterfront somewhat south of the Railroad Dock. From there, the contractor created a rock fill causeway, extending 1,409 feet out to deep water. Hand built rock and mortar guardrails edged a two-lane paved roadway atop the causeway. The guardrails were decorated with unique elevated rock light fixtures housing round glass globes. These were spaced at regular intervals down both sides of the roadway. At the eastern end of the fill, a single ferry slip was constructed of concrete and wood.

Construction of the new Mackinaw City landing continued for more than a year. As with the Railroad Dock next door, the ferry slip was located on the north face of the landing. At the seaward end, a four-legged steel mast held illuminated navigation markers and the dock's fog siren. While most of the fill and the rock guardrails were in place by springtime, apparently the roadway surface had to wait for warmer weather and was not completed until after the 1924 season.

By March, 1925, the facilities were nearly complete and the small office building formerly on the St. Ignace dock was hauled over the Straits and installed temporarily near the mast at the end of the causeway. It would provide shelter for dockworkers and passengers until a more permanent structure could be designed and completed.

At the end of the month, Commissioner Rogers visited to kick off the new road construction program in the U.P. He also inspected the new dock facilities, but discovered the Mackinaw City landing area was too narrow for cars to safely turn after exiting from the boats. News reports suggest at the time he conferred with the contractor, Thomas Derusha of DeTour, about widening the landing area. That work was expected to begin as soon as the 1925 navigation season opened. The work also apparently included cutting a new landing pocket on the south side of the dock.

For most of their first year's sailings, the Mackinaw City and Sainte Ignace continued to land at the Railroad Dock in Mackinaw City, as the Ariel had done the year before. They apparently made test runs to the new facility that fall, but it was not used regularly. Yet, as traffic increased with the tourist season, conflicts became more frequent at the Railroad Dock between switching railcars, lines of autos, and loading and unloading ferries for both services. Continued landings by the passenger ferry Algomah only compounded the congestion. While it was convenient for cars to board either the state boats or the railroad ferry, which landed right across the same dock, the congestion simply was too much for one dock to bear. Officials eagerly anticipated that construction to be completed in 1925 would answer the overcrowding and growing traffic conflicts.

But when the 1925 navigation season got underway, it soon became apparent that even with a new dock in Mackinaw City, and upgraded facilities in St. Ignace, more drastic measures would be needed to handle the ever-increasing auto traffic wanting to cross the Straits.

Next week: The second full season.

Copyright 2007 by Les Bagley. All rights reserved.