In Memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early.
And so starts the memorial song, “The Wreck of the Edmund
Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. It is in memory of that
fateful day, November 10th, 1975, when the Edmund Fitzgerald,
or “The Fitz” as she was called, disappeared in a storm on
Lake Superior.
The sinking of this gigantic ship gave rise to one of the
biggest mysteries in Great Lakes maritime history. What
happened that fateful night? Why were they unable to send
nary a distress call? After 31 years of not having any
conclusive answers, we will probably never know.
The day after the wreck, Detroit’s Mariners' Church tolled
29 times in memory of the 29 souls. The church continues to
hold an annual memorial, which includes the reading of the
names of the crewmen and the ringing of the church bell. Her
wreck lies broken in two sections in 530 feet of water in
Lake Superior. The ship's bell was recovered from the wreck
on July 4, 1995 and is now in the Great Lakes Shipwreck
Museum in Whitefish Point near Paradise, Michigan. An anchor
from the Fitz, lost on an earlier trip, was recovered from
the Detroit River and is on display at the Dossin Great
Lakes Museum in Detroit, Michigan.
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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
By Gordon Lightfoot, © 1976
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned,
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'Twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
They may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!"
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When you travel the northern coast of Michigan’s Upper
Peninsular along Lake Superior, you will be in awe of the
beauty of this lake. You will get a feel for just
how big it is. With it’s location so far north, it’s a given
that it is cold, even in mid-summer. It’s hard to imagine
how cold it was that night The Fitz went down. And it gives
you pause. When you visit the Dossin Great Lakes Museum or
Mariners' Church in Detroit, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
in Whitefish Point, or at any of the other locations around
the state with artifacts from this ship, you get a visual
feel for just how large this ship was. And it gives you pause.
Take pause on November 10th, and remember the men, the
wives, the sons, and the daughters of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Thanks to the Mariners' Church and to Gordon Lightfoot and
the song he penned, the memory of this great ship and her
crew will never be forgotten.
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Julia R. Reece
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