Great Lakes Pirates

[Hester]

I'm wondering if there's any historical record of pirates operating on the Great Lakes.

Certainly, piracy in such a confined area would be more dangerous than on the open sea, as there would be fewer places to run or hide when being pursued.

Looking forward to any information people might have about this topic --in either the affirmative or the negative.

Cheers, Hester ... who has always lived in Great Lakes ports

[clambeard]

Certainly no pirates in the style/era of Blackbeard or the like but the Great Lakes have a long history of criminal enterprise. During Prohibition, many bootleggers crossed the Lakes with illicit hooch from Canada. Detroit and Cleveland were big centers of this, as was, I'm sure, Chicago.

[Hester]

Certainly no pirates in the style/era of Blackbeard or the like but the Great Lakes have a long history of criminal enterprise. During Prohibition, many bootleggers crossed the Lakes with illicit hooch from Canada. Detroit and Cleveland were big centers of this, as was, I'm sure, Chicago.

Hi, Clambeard:

Oh, good point! Smuggling is certainly an ongoing feature of Great Lakes shipping, and that activity has piratical overtones.

In Hamilton, the steel town port where I grew up, the dockworkers have been heavily infiltrated by the Hell's Angels and other organized crime, who are on hand to receive illegal shipments of drugs, weapons, and other contraband coming into port in containers.

And I even had a great-uncle who was a part-time bootlegger during the Great Depression. We didn't have Prohibition here in Canada (hence the smuggling to the States that you mentioned), but we did have taxes on liquor that people wanted to avoid.

I assume this modern smuggling on the Great Lakes is nothing new, and must have also taken place during the age of sail.

Cheers, Hester

[the Royaliste]

Actually, for starts there were the Colby Pirates, licensed by George the III, 1760's, and the Privateer Le Revenant, Robert Surcoufs ship ( which will be recreated by a vessel to be launched officially next year).....and in the late 1800's, a Cleveland pirate, Bully Hayes........

[Hester]

Actually, for starts there were the Colby Pirates, licensed by George the III, 1760's, and the Privateer Le Revenant, Robert Surcoufs ship ( which will be recreated by a vessel to be launched officially next year).....and in the late 1800's, a Cleveland pirate, Bully Hayes........

Hi, Royaliste:

Oh, terrific ... I hadn't heard of any of those pirate/privateers before.

I've done Google searches on each of them, but haven't been able to come up with any info about their activities on the Great Lakes. Could you point me towards sources for further reading?

Also, in my searches, I came up with this interesting article on the Canadian-built steamship the Georgian which, during the American Civil War, was intended to be used as a "commercial raider" by the Confederate side (although this strategy apparently never came to pass):

http://greatlakeshistory.homestead.com/fil...es/georgian.htm

Cheers, Hester

[Hester]

Oh, and here's another one -- Roaring Dan Seavey, known as the "lone" pirate of Lake Michigan:

http://www.escanaba.org/History/hispeople4.htm

Too bad that picture link's broken on that page. I would have liked to have seen what he looked like.

Here's another account of his exploits:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?amme...bum08574div63))

Cheers, Hester

[Patrick Hand]

OK.... not Capt. twill.....

But there is a popular (pyrate) song bout a smuggler ( something about the smell of perfume) , and funny song about a pyrate on the Great lakes...... (Pyrate on the Scatuation.... or somethng like that...)

Smuffling has a long and (semi)honnarable history.................................

And isn't there something about Pyrates on the Mississippi on one of Samial Clemins ( Mark Twain) books.......

[Hester]

and  funny song about a pyrate on the Great lakes...... (Pyrate on the Scatuation.... or somethng like that...)

Hi, Patrick:

Oh, yes, I know the song you mean -- "The Last Saskatchewan River Pirate" performed by Captain Tractor and written by the comedy troupe the Arrogant Worms.

However, the Saskatchewan River doesn't actually connect into the Great Lakes. It does connect to Lake Winnepeg, which is pretty big ... but it would be a helluva portage from there to Lake Superior.

Cheers, Hester

[Sir Eric]

But there is a popular (pyrate) song bout a smuggler ( something about the smell of perfume)

This is not quite on-topic, but noticed the mention here from Mr. Hand and thought I'd chip in that at least one rendition of "French Perfume" is performed by Great Big Sea. It's a great song, but I believe in their version it is located off the coast of Newfoundland...(that's where the band is from) but I could be entirely wrong.

"You can still see the sight

On a winter's night

Of his wake in the light of the moon

If the wind turns right

And you don't take fright

You can smell that French perfume"

Great song. Kind of a piratey - smuggly - ghosty story.

[Hester]

In the "What you be eating right this second?" thread [don't ask why], I wrote:

Speaking of the Thousand Islands -- surely there must have been pirates there, where the Great Lakes meet the St. Lawrence river.  You could play hide & seek among those islands forever, on that clear turqoise-crystal water:

If you knew the waters really well, you could lure unwanted pursuers onto rocks.

And indeed, there was at least one such pirate making use of these maze-like waterways in the 1830s:

>>>The heritage of Alexandria Bay and the Thousand Islands includes accounts and legends of pirates who looted passing ships. Perhaps the most famous of Alexandria Bay's pirate stories was the capture of the Sir Robert Peel in May 1838, during the Patriot War with Canada. A gang of pirates led by Bill Johnston boarded the ship, ordered the passengers and crew to shore, grabbed 20,000 pounds in militia payroll, then torched and fled the vessel. Within days, thirteen men were captured and charged for the assault on the ship, but none of them were ever convicted. The remnants of the sunken hull still remain there, and have been a popular underwater adventure for scuba divers and a curiosity for tourists and history buffs. In August, Alexandria Bay comes alive with "Bill Johnston's Pirate Days" featuring reenactments of the pirate ship attack on the village.<<< Source:

http://www.alexandria-bay.ny.us/

Some pics of Alexandria Bay's "Pirate Day" festival on this page:

http://www.alexbay.org/2004/photo-gallery.asp

Cheers, Hester