The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (2003) 32.

2: 210–224
doi:10.1016/j.ijna.2003.04.001

Mud box—filled with stone: the wreck of the scow

schooner Dan Hayes
Bradley A. Rodgers and Annalies Corbin
Program in Maritime Studies, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA

Scow Schooners are an important yet largely unstudied vessel type that operated on the North American Great Lakes. At their
zenith in the later 19th century scow schooners worked between the many small harbours and the larger nexus ports such as
Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee. These vessels are virtually undocumented either historically or archaeologically. A project by
East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies Program and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 2001 documented the
wrecked scow schooner Dan Hayes, revealing much information concerning this vessel class and the limestone industry in which it
was employed. Although an ordinary scow schooner, its construction techniques are surprising, showing evidence of prefabrication.
The bottom of the ship was apparently built inverted and flipped over before sides and bow were added, the first evidence that
inverted construction could be accomplished with such large vessels.
 2003 The Nautical Archaeology Society

Key words: Great Lakes; limestone quarry; scow schooner; nautical archaeology; Wisconsin; 19th century.

Introduction Cooper & Rodgers, 1990; Cooper et al., 1991;

Gray, 1998; Rodgers, 2003; Rodgers et al., 2003).
he Great Lakes of North America This is the first time, however, that effort has

T comprise nearly 100,000 square miles

(160,934 sq. km) of fresh water and stretch
inland for nearly 1000 miles (1609 km) (Fig. 1). The
unique properties of these vast inland seas have
shaped their maritime history and led to the devel-
opment of unique craft, as well as the adapting of
ocean-based technologies. This study focuses on a
wrecked scow schooner located in Sturgeon Bay,
Wisconsin, USA (Fig. 2). The wreck represents an
important type of vessel which has seldom been
studied, and for which no examples survive outside
archaeological contexts. Since historical records of
the construction details have not so far been found,
it came as a complete revelation when the archaeo-
logical analysis suggested that these ships were
pre-fabricated in sections and partly constructed in
an inverted position.
The 2001 Birmingham Site Project on Lake
Michigan was a collaborative effort between the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin (SHSW) and
the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina
University (ECU). This successful collaboration
has over the years documented many 19th century
Great Lakes vernacular craft (Cooper, 1988;
focused on the documentation of a scow schooner,
also known locally as a schooner scow. As its name
implies, a scow schooner’s hull is flat bottomed and
slab sided, while its rigging is arranged in the
fashion of a standard schooner, fore and aft with
two or three masts.
Oral tradition in the area commonly referred to
the wrecked vessel as the Dan Hayes. It is one of
four vessels located under water at the abandoned
Graef & Nebel quarry jetty in McCracken’s Cove,
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin (Fig. 3). The remaining
three wrecks were examined in 2002. Existing his-
torical records concerning the Dan Hayes suggested
that a small bay known as McCracken’s Cove,
in Sturgeon Bay, was its final resting place. How-
ever, since McCracken’s Cove is not identified on
modern maps, an easy identification of the wreck
site was not possible. In addition, experience has
demonstrated that oral tradition is unreliable in
naming shipwrecks; they must always be verified by
historical or archaeological means (Rodgers, 1995).
With that in mind, the verification of the site as the
actual Dan Hayes became a primary goal of the
project.

1057-2414/03/$ - see front matter  2003 The Nautical Archaeology Society

B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES
Figure 1. The Great Lakes of North America ( Bradley Rodgers).
The scow schooner represented a cost-effective
19th-century vessel type used to link the small
hinterland port communities to large and growing
port centres such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland,
and Milwaukee. The ubiquitous 19th century scow
schooner allowed smaller communities, without
deep water access, to transport goods to market
before rail lines were built. These vessels were
invariably cheaply-constructed slab-sided ships,
rarely exceeding 100 tons, with a shallow draft, a
flat bottom, an assortment of bow configurations,
and a ramp stern.
According to one Lakes Captain:
the chances that anyone ever fell in love with a
schooner-scow at first sight are rather doubtful—
she was just not built with the kind of lines that
incite romance. It was not that she lacked curves in
the right places, for except for some sheer, she had
no curves at all—period! Deck over an outsized
cement mason’s mud box, add a jib-boom, a couple
of masts, rudder and deckhouse, and the result
will be close to the appearance of the average
schooner-scow (Inches & Parlow, 1964: 289–290).
How these seemingly unwieldy craft were actu-
ally sailed is still somewhat of a mystery—but
historical research reveals some rather surprising
answers.
The first scow schooners on the Great Lakes
appeared in 1825 at Erie, Pennsylvania. They seem
to have been adaptations of the typical scow form
used along the east coast as lighters and work boats
(Merriman, 1997: 34). Perhaps the idea was orig-
inally imported from the continent, but there is as
yet no direct evidence. Rigging scows fore-and-aft
and fitting them with a centre-board produced an
economically cost-effective sailing ship for coasting
and hinterland trade. The consort system, devel-
oped on the Great Lakes in the late 1850s, allowed
for the useful recycling of older sailing vessels and
as will be seen directly affected the lives of many
sailing craft on the lakes including the Dan Hayes.
These vessels were often converted to barges to
211
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
Figure 2. Location of the wreck of the Dan Hayes in Sturgeon Bay ( Maritime Studies Program 2002).
carry high volume, low unit value, bulk commodi-
ties, and were towed one or several at a time in
line astern by a steam-powered vessel, usually a
propeller steam barge or large tug (Fig. 4). Stone,
coal, ore, and lumber were commonly trans-
ported in these barges, as well as salt, vinegar,
flour, salted meat, fish, bagged grain, bricks
212
and tan-bark (Inches & Parlow, 1964: 292).
When the ships were no longer considered suit-
able to work, even as barges, they were usually
sunk, burned, or abandoned in an unobtrusive
location. A notable exception to this rule took
place in rock-quarrying regions of the Great
Lakes. Here, stone-quarry piers were often
B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES
Figure 3. The Birmingham Site at McCracken’s Cove, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin ( Maritime Studies Program 2002).
extended using these hulls filled with stone
(Rodgers, 1999: 41).
The use of ships in landfill and pier extensions is
not unique to the quarry industry. Yet in this
instance the adaptive re-utilization of many differ-
ent types of vessels for this purpose has allowed
archaeologists the luxury of studying a variety of
ship types, concentrated in one area. In this
way, stone barges may well prove invaluable in
furthering our understanding of Great Lakes ship
construction.
Great Lakes barges have received almost no
historical notice despite being responsible for haul-
ing as much cargo as any other maritime trans-
portation system of the late 19th and early 20th
century (Rodgers, 1999: 9). They can also tell us a
great deal about the quarrying industry itself.
Relics of the limestone industry lie half hidden and
seemingly unnoticed all around the small town
of Sturgeon Bay. These artefacts range from aban-
doned ships to century-old buildings, to overgrown
industrial ruins in remote park areas, to hillside
quarries half-glimpsed in the woods.
Sturgeon Bay and the stone industry
Only marine stone commerce explains why so
many different and seemingly unrelated classes of
ships have found the same resting place, in places
such as Sturgeon Bay, including the subject of this
study. Historical records concerning the stone
industry can be found through local newspapers,
government documents, and quarry owner’s
213
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
Figure 4. The Consort System, with steam escort and six consort schooners in tow. Sails conserve fuel and keep vessels from rolling
heavily in a beam sea (reproduced courtesy of the Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin).
reports in local libraries and archives. It seems,
however, that little written evidence remains of the
day to day working life of an average quarryman or
those who manned, sailed, loaded, and unloaded,
the vessels that made up the stone fleet. Records
and plans are scarce concerning the building of
piers or the transferring of stone from narrow-
gauge mine rail cars to the waiting barges
(Rodgers, 1999: 8). Several questions arise when
investigating vessels of the stone industry. What
criteria, if any, were used by mining operators in
their choice of ships for conversion to barges? How
were sailing ships and steamers converted to barges
for carrying stone, how did these conversions affect
their sailing or towing qualities, and how were the
barges sailed, loaded, and unloaded?
These questions cannot be separated from the
overall narrative of industrial operation of lime-
stone mining. Sturgeon Bay is located on a forma-
tion of dolomitic limestone known as the Niagara
Escarpment. Though dolomite possesses many
qualities that are similar to limestone, it is much
harder and denser. Dolomite is most widely known
for its imperviousness to physical and chemical
weathering but it can also be crushed and baked to
produce quicklime and mortar (Rodgers, 1995: 3;
Blake et al., 2002).
The harbour at Sturgeon Bay was created by a
natural rift in the escarpment, forming a protected
inlet off Green Bay (Fig. 2). Though the southern
area, and particularly the city of Green Bay, was
explored and settled by the 18th century, Sturgeon
Bay remained a remote wilderness. Fur traders first
214
settled there in the 1850s but were soon replaced in
the following decades by saw mills and shingle
factories (Rowe, 1979: 2). These industries were
important in the production of building materials
for the growing port cities of Chicago, Milwaukee,
and Green Bay, as was stone and lime. Lumber and
ice were also shipped from Door County (Hirthe &
Hirthe, 1986: 15–32).
United States Indian Agent Samuel Stambaugh
first examined the region’s stone resources in 1831.
He reported in the Quantity and Condition of
the Wisconsin Territory that the stone was of
building quality, and there was a ‘commodious
harbor’ from which to transport the stone (State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, Stone Quarry
File). In 1843, U.S. Army Lt. Douglas Houghton
added that there were also vast stands of hard-
woods and an underlying stratum of Niagara
Limestone (Rowe, 1979: 8; Rodgers, 1999: 17).
Shortly after Stambaugh’s initial report the federal
government began a quarry operation to develop
harbours and docks at Government Bluff, located
at what is now known as the Potawatomi State
Park, near Sturgeon Bay. Government quarrymen
exported the stone via the Lakes to build a
breakwater at Michigan City (Hirthe & Hirthe,
1986: 31).
There are two main types of limestone used in
construction—dimension (squared) stone and
crushed (broken) stone (Currier, 1960:1). The lime-
stone of Sturgeon Bay was deposited in layers that
were generally too thin and fractured for uniform
dressing. It was, however, extremely dense,
B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES
1379 kg/m3 (155 lb/ft3), and was nicely coloured
from buff to grey. Though early on some of the
stone was dressed, finished, and used to construct
buildings, the stone’s hardness, lack of absorbency,
crushing strength, and transverse strength made it
ideal for piers and breakwaters (Buckley, 1998:
340–343; Currier, 1960: 71). Limestone was also
crushed to produce cement (quick lime), became an
important ingredient for beet sugar processing,
made excellent railroad beds, and was added to
steel as a flux (Beck, 1991: 54–56).
In 1879 the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal completed
the link between Sturgeon Bay Harbor and Lake
Michigan on the eastern side of the Door County
Peninsula (Hirthe & Hirthe, 1986: 31). The new
canal shortened the trip into Green Bay, allowing
ships to avoid the dangerous tip of the peninsula,
known as ‘Death’s Door’. Ultimately the new canal
would play an import role in further economic
development between the limestone-rich areas
around Sturgeon Bay and the rest of the Great
Lakes.
In the state of Wisconsin, the number of quarries
doubled between 1880 and 1890, to 119. Two-
thirds of these quarries produced limestone (Aerts,
1993: 6). By 1898 there were several stone quarries
in Sturgeon Bay, including the Laurie Stone
Company, Leathem & Smith, the Green Quarry,
and the Washington Stone Co., also known as
Termensen & Jensen (Day, 1894: 542; Buckley,
1998: 340; Rodgers, 1999: 18). In 1903, the
Sturgeon Bay Stone Company was formed when
Termensen & Jensen were joined with Louis Nebel
and John Graf (SHSW, Quarry File; Rodgers,
1999: 18–19).
The stone industry’s early success was dependent
upon contracts for dimensional stone, but before
the turn of the 20th century the industry switched
to crushed rock. The amount of crushed stone
produced by these quarries was immense. For
example, in 1917 the Leatham & Smith Quarry, at
the mouth of Sturgeon Bay, crushed 1000 tons per
day (Aerts, 1993: Rodgers, 1999: 18).
The development of the stone industry in Door
County is directly responsible for much of the
economic growth of the region in the 19th and
early 20th centuries. For decades, advancements
and modifications in the quarry industry influenced
related enterprises including shipping and ship-
building. Many quarries operated their own
shipyards and several owners or operators of quar-
ries came from backgrounds in ship construction.
In fact, shipboard self-unloading systems were
introduced and perfected at the Leathem &
Smith quarry in Sturgeon Bay (Brehm, 1998:
155–199).
Although several of the quarries operating in
Sturgeon Bay flourished for over 50 years, the
onset of the Great Depression in 1929 signalled the
end of the region’s stone industry. Civic building
projects were curtailed, and the situation was made
worse by cheap and plentiful supplies of Portland
cement and artificial stone products. None of the
quarries in Sturgeon Bay survived the depression.
Their maritime assets were sold or simply aban-
doned at their moorings, a forgotten remnant of
the industrial past (Rodgers, 1999: 23–24).
Over time the wrecks and adaptively re-utilized
vessels in Sturgeon Bay faced a changing environ-
ment that affected their stability and survivability.
A number of non-native animals have inadvert-
ently been introduced in the Great Lakes and
surrounding waterways. One of the most aggressive
species introduced to date is the zebra mussel (Fig.
5). Accidentally transported to the Great Lakes
from the European Black and Caspian Seas in the
ballast of cargo ships during the 1980s, each of
these thumbnail-sized, black-and-white mussels can
filter a quart (1.14 litres) of water per day, and they
multiply rapidly. Unfortunately, zebra mussels
have few, if any, natural predators in the Lakes,
and their ability rapidly to populate vast areas has
not only pushed native mussel populations to the
brink of extinction but has affected fish species by
filtering out plankton, algae, and other nutrients
(Claiborne, 2000: A3; Lewis, 2000: C9; Blake et al.,
2002: 11).
Underwater archaeologists have only recently
expressed concerns over the potential damage
caused by colonies of zebra mussels attached to
historic shipwrecks. Though shipwrecks in the
Great Lakes are known for being remarkably well-
preserved due to cold, deep, fresh waters, they are
now rapidly degrading. Results from a recent
four-year study conducted by researchers at the
University of Vermont and the Lake Champlain
Maritime Museum have determined that the pres-
ence of zebra mussel colonies increases the speed at
which iron corrodes on shipwrecks. Sulphate-
reducing bacteria flourish beneath zebra mussel
colonies, breaking down the iron fastenings of
shipwrecks. Not only do the mussel colonies
encourage growth of harmful bacteria, but the
weight of the colonies themselves, which may con-
tain hundreds of thousands of mussels per square
metre, may be enough to collapse wrecks. Finally,
once these mussels are detached from their
holdings, their tenacious grip dislodges pieces of
215
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
Figure 5. Zebra Mussels on the Dan Hayes ( Maritime Studies Program 2002).
whatever they were joined to. Micro-sections of
ships hulls are torn loose every time a mussel is
dislodged, whether by man or fish. Unfortunately,
no reasonable method currently exists for control-
ling the rapid growth of the zebra mussel popu-
lations in the Great Lakes (Claiborne, 2000: A3;
Lewis, 2000: C9; Blake et al., 2002: 12).
Zebra mussels have made themselves at home on
this shipwreck site. To date, the mussels cover 60 to
70% of the exposed timbers. Detailed examination
of parts of the ship necessitated scraping the
mussels from that area, a difficult and time-
consuming task.
The Dan Hayes
Historical sources pertaining to the Dan Hayes
paint the picture of an average Great Lakes
wooden scow schooner employed in the bulk com-
modities trade. According to the vessel’s Enroll-
216
ment, the ship was built at Fairport, Ohio, in 1868,
at a cost of $14 000, by R. Hayes of the firm Hayes
& Fountain, with the official number 3504. As was
the custom of many shipbuilders, the ship was no
doubt named after a family member. The Dan
Hayes was listed as a scow schooner of three masts,
with a length of 34.17 m (112.1 ft), a beam of
7.38 m (24.2 ft), with a 2.13 m (7 ft) draft (Fig. 6).
Her listed gross tonnage was 145 with a net
tonnage of 138 (Runge Collection, Enrollment: 1).
Scow schooners were notoriously bad sailors
because of their flat bottoms and squarish ends.
Even when new, these vessels could carry no better
than a B rating with insurance underwriters
(Karamanski, 2000: 183). With only a sloping
vertical tuck in the stern for water to pass over the
rudder, and various ungainly bow shapes, they
could not have manoeuvred or tacked with much
efficiency when fully loaded. Historically Great
Lakes schooner scows carried three distinct bow
B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES
Figure 6. The Dan Hayes under sail. Note the distinctive rafee-style topsail on the foremast and the log fenders dangling from the
starboard side (reproduced courtesy of the Manistee County Museum).
shapes. They could have a ramp bow, with or
without a cutwater, a nearly conventional schooner
stem, or a ‘bent bow’ with the planking forming a
V shape, such as the bow on Dan Hayes (Inches &
Parlow, 1964: 290). It appears that being inexpen-
sive to build, with box-like hull configurations and
shorter, less expensive scantlings, and a hull shape
that did not need lofting or the expertise of a
marine carpenter, was more important than sailing
qualities.
Yet when sailors ‘grew sentimental over a
schooner scow and they did it was because of her
character for what she could do in spite of her
build’ (Inches & Parlow, 1964: 290). In fact, when
sailing light and not beating to windward, such
ships were reported to be quite fast, as fast as most
conventional sailing schooners (Chapelle, 1935:
349; Inches & Parlow, 1964: 292). Their box shape
also allowed them to carry more cargo than a
conventional ship of the same dimensions (Inches
& Parlow, 1964: 290). Obviously the centre-board
was the one indispensable piece of equipment, as
without it the ship could not have been sailed at all.
Steering the ship with one unbalanced rudder
undoubtedly took a great deal of skill, as response
time to navigational changes would have been
sluggish at best. But, all in all, the large capacity
and small crews needed to operate the schooner rig
made the vessels cost-effective. Over 700 of these
ships eventually plied the Lakes, their heyday being
the mid to late 19th century.
During her early years the vessel’s only owner
was listed as Theodore Consaul of Milwaukee. The
Dan Hayes apparently hauled lumber for Mr
Consaul and reportedly could carry 170 000 board
feet (Runge Collection: 1). In 1882 the ship was
reportedly rebuilt as a scow. Conversion to a barge
in later life seems to have been a forgone conclu-
sion for most of these ships. Barge conversion
obviated the scow’s poor sailing qualities by adding
the reliability of a steam escort, while maintaining
the usefulness and economy of the scow as a
consort. Typically the conversion involved remov-
ing the main mast to facilitate loading and unload-
ing. It is unclear whether the deck amidships was
removed for the same reason. Archaeological
evidence from other stone barge sites has shown no
signs of midship decking or hatch combings, and
tie bolts and turn buckles were invariably installed
between the port and starboard sides in the
217
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
midships area to keep the ship’s sides from splaying
outward, a duty usually performed by deck beams.
The Dan Hayes’ sailing history illustrates its
relatively poor sailing qualities. On 3 August 1898
the vessel capsized in a stiff north wind off North
Point, near Milwaukee, with a load of lumber from
Manistee. Apparently the ship sprang a leak off
Fox Point and became waterlogged, floating only
because of the lumber she carried. Nevertheless, the
crew battled to save the ship for five hours. Finally,
Captain Ole Oleson and his three-man crew were
forced to take to the yawl boat as the vessel became
more unmanageable. Eventually the Dan Hayes
rolled and was dismasted of all but her mainmast.
The deck load of lumber, valued at $1000, was lost.
Though no casualties were reported, her owner,
Captain Oleson, probably sustained the entire
financial loss (DDFP 3 August 1898; DCA 6
August 1898; DCA 31 December 1898). It seems
likely that the Dan Hayes was under sail when it
capsized, fore-and-aft or gaff sail rigs were used
even on barges under tow in the lakes (see Fig. 4).
Setting sail on a barge under tow lessened the
amount of fuel used by the barge’s escort, and
helped reduce the side-to-side rolling motion of the
barge.
Wreckings such as that of the Dan Hayes were
not infrequent occurrences on the Lakes. Many
ships were reported lost only to have them reappear
repaired and operating out of another port. The
Dan Hayes was no exception. She was eventually
towed into Milwaukee and repaired. By May 1900,
the ship had been purchased by the Graef & Nebel
Stone Company in Sturgeon Bay and refitted for
the stone hauling business (DCA 26 May 1900).
On 6 August 1904 the Door County Advocate
reported that the Dan Hayes had begun leaking
while carrying a load of stone for delivery in
Menominee. Her escort, the tug Duncan City, had
no recourse but to shove the barge close to shore
and let it settle to the bottom (DCA 6 August
1904). This incident was probably the final blow for
the Dan Hayes. She was examined for potential
repair for use in the beet trade, but the archaeologi-
cal record demonstrates that these repairs were
never made (DCA 10 September 1904; 27 May
1905).
Description of findings
Work on this site involved recording it with no
excavation or recovery of artefacts. Phase II pre-
218
disturbance surveys have proven remarkably useful
in Great Lake’s studies as the ships are often
exposed, allowing detailed hull analysis, while
diagnostic artefacts can be recorded and left in
place for the enjoyment of future generations. All
features and diagnostic artefacts at the Dan Hayes
site were left in situ after being examined and
recorded (Fig. 7). This survey provided infor-
mation regarding the wrecking process, artefact
disposition, and the marine environment’s impact
on the site. Of the four vessels in McCracken’s
Cove associated with the Graef & Nebel
Quarry jetty, only the Dan Hayes is a shipwreck.
The other three vessels are clearly examples
of adaptive re-utilisation of vessels for a new
purpose.
The wreck site lies in 1.8 to 2.4 m (6 to 8 ft) of
water, approximately 128 m (400 ft) from shore. A
steel cable baseline and cross-grid system were
established over the site for mapping. Trilatera-
tions of the site were taken at set intervals to create
an overall plan view of the wreck (Fig. 8). The
remains represent the lower section of a wooden
ship’s hull, including the bottom and both the port
and starboard sides, now splayed out and lying flat
on the bottom. The vessel is constructed in the
fashion of a flat or scow, with little or no deadrise,
flat sides with no apparent swell, a ramp for a stern,
and what may have been a modified ‘V’ or ‘bent’
bow (Chapelle, 1951; Inches & Parlow, 1964: 290;
Brewington, 1966).
The keel and keelson structure which formed the
spine of the scow is internal to the bilge of the ship
and does not protrude from the bottom as it would
in a conventional vessel (Fig. 9). This is an obvious
adaptation to shallow-water operation, decreasing
the likelihood of damage should the vessel run
aground. There are cross keelsons which run the
entire beam of the ship and are mortised directly
through the keel. These cross keelsons are pinned
into the mortise in the keel by iron drift pins driven
through them from the bottom of the ship. Since
the pins pass through the keel and cross keelsons,
and into, but not through, the keelson, it is difficult
to conclude that the bottom of the ship was not
built in an inverted position (Fig. 9). Though
named cross keelsons, in flat or barge terminology,
these scantlings are more analogous to floors in
standard wooden ship construction. They add stiff-
ness to the bottom of the ship just as conventional
floors do, strengthening the vessel in cross-section.
No limbers are needed for passage of water to the
pump, as longitudinal stringers are placed between
the cross keelsons and the bottom outer hull
B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES
Figure 7. Archaeologist records details of the Dan Hayes ( Maritime Studies Program 2002).
planking. This allows free flow of bilge water the
length of the ship.
The lack of centre-board trunk and chain plates
makes it difficult to conclude that the ship ever
sailed. Only a single piece of archaeological evi-
dence suggests this vessel was a sailing scow con-
verted to a barge. Approximately 9 m (30 ft) from
what would have been the stem of the vessel the
keel is no longer pierced for the cross keelsons, but
rather contains pockets for a set of discontinued
cross, or half, keelsons. These pockets extend for
8.23 m (27 ft) along the keel and keelson and may
indicate that the vessel once contained a centre-
board which was later removed when it was con-
verted to a stone barge. The pockets do not appear
wedge-shaped as they would on a conventional
centreboard trunk to lock in the half cross keel-
sons. Normally one of the half-frames contains a
dovetail which is inserted into the wedge-shaped
mortise in the pocket. Then a locking half-frame is
pushed in next to the dovetail so it can not back
out. Since the cross keelsons on this vessel are not
paired this locking pocket system may not have
been useful.
The keelson remained intact only near the centre
of the ship where it was apparently protected by the
cargo of stone. Any signs of the fore or mizen
mast-steps have disappeared with the keelson, and
the main mast-step is buried under tons of dolo-
mite. The keelson’s separation from the keel in the
fore and aft sections of the wreck can be attributed
to the fact that the fasteners from the keel are
merely pins—not through bolts. The sides of the
ship are fastened much like other ships of the Great
Lakes with the larger scantlings drift pinned while
the planks are fastened with nails and roves, also
known as compression washers or clench rings.
Construction of this scow, however, is unlike
the construction techniques of a conventional
schooner. The bottom planking runs athwartships
with the planks fastened to longitudinal stringers
located in the bilge. The stringers, in turn, are
219
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NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2

Figure 8. The Dan Hayes as sketched on the bottom of McCracken’s Cove today ( Maritime Studies Program 2002).
B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES
Figure 9. Cross section of the Dan Hayes Scow Site ( Maritime Studies Program 2002).
nailed under the cross keelsons. The cross keelsons
are far fewer in number with wider spacing (1.22 m
(4 ft) intervals) than would be expected of floors on
a conventional schooner. Longitudinal ceiling
planking then covers the cross keelsons to form the
cargo-bearing bottom of the hold.
The nail and fastener heads for the stringers,
cross keelsons, and bottom planking do not show
inside the bilge of the ship even with the bilge
ceiling removed. This has the obvious advantage of
leaving a smooth hold. Any nail heads or projec-
tions into the hold would interfere with removal of
cargo using a square-nosed shovel. The smooth
hold, combined with the fact that the keel and
keelson pins are also driven up from the bottom,
suggests that the bottom of the vessel must have
been constructed upside-down and then inverted to
an upright position for the attachment of the sides.
This is not an unheard-of technique for construct-
ing scows, but would require a substantial effort on
the part of the shipyard to flip the hull over once it
was complete. Despite the extra step in assembly,
rolling the bottom of the hull is no doubt preferable
to nailing upward in order to attach the bottom
planking, stringers, and cross keelsons. Perhaps the
bottoms of these ships were flipped over during a
side launch and only afterwards the sides and ends
attached. One drawback to this construction
method is that the pins, bolts, and nails were not
clenched, peened, or flattened to prevent working
loose or pulling through. Non-clenched fasteners
may be one reason for a B insurance rating.
The sides of the vessel are fastened to the bottom
at a 90-degree chine. The chine log accepts both the
cross keelsons and the king-posts, which act as
frames running up the sides at 0.61 m (2 ft) inter-
vals. This manufacturing technique would make it
easy to attach the prefabricated sides to the bottom
after inversion, simply by raising the sides (barn
fashion) and stepping the king-posts into the chine
log. The exterior and interior of the ship’s sides are
planked much like outer hull and ceiling planking
on a conventionally-built ship, the notable excep-
tion being that there is little or no curvature, swell,
or tumble-home, and the gaps between the ceiling
planks are fairly large.
Planking and scantlings appear to be oak. The
outer hull side planks are 76 mm (3 in) thick, the
221
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 32.2
side ceiling planks are 63.5 mm (2.5 in) thick and
are scarfed to the continuing plank with a simple
flat scarf. Side planking is edge-fastened, though it
is impossible to discover whether the 25 mm (1 in)
drifts extend from sheer to chine or merely connect
two or three planks. Outer hull bottom planking is
5 cm (2 in) thick while the bottom ceiling is only
38 mm (1.5 in). This is an unusual feature in this
ship. Most often Great Lakes craft carry thicker
ceiling planks than outer hull planks. The side
planking tapers to a point at the stern where it
would have followed the incline of the ramp and is
rounded at the bow, demonstrating that this vessel
once carried a ‘bent bow’ (Fig. 8).
Conclusions
The remains at this site represent a well-preserved
vessel approximately 32 to 35 m (105 to 115 ft) in
length with a beam of between 7 and 7.62 m (23 to
25 ft). Depth of hold would have been about 1.5 m
(5 ft) to 2.1 m (7 ft), giving the ship a Morsom’s
Rule tonnage of approximately 120 to 144 tons.
The Dan Hayes’ recorded dimensions of 34.17 m
(112.1 ft) by 7.38 m (24.2 ft) with a 2.13 m (7 ft)
depth of hold at 138 to 145 tons are well within this
projection. The archaeological investigation also
confirmed that this vessel carried stone as its final
cargo. In addition, a grounding is strongly sug-
gested, as the barge was lost in a depth equal to its
draft. It seems that these factors combine to cor-
roborate the historical record. This vessel is very
probably the Dan Hayes, which was intentionally
grounded by the tug Duncan City on its last voyage.
Remarkably, the vessel sank only a very short
distance from the wharf where it loaded on 6
August 1904, indicating that Duncan City very
nearly succeeded in returning it to the dock, or it
was probably taking on water before it even left the
dock.
Evidence suggests that this ship originally con-
tained a centre-board, a necessity if a scow is to
sail, but other sail-related evidence is missing or
hidden as the wreck now lies. Conversion to a
barge probably meant that much of the standing
rigging was removed along with the centre-board.
In addition it appears that tie bolts were installed
athwartship with turn-buckles to reinforce or per-
haps replace the deck beams. There is no sign of
decking or deck beams in the archaeological
remains.
There are few historical references concerning
the operation and construction of Great Lake scow
222
schooners. Evidence collected concerning the Dan
Hayes also suggests that medium or large scow
schooner bottoms were manufactured in an
inverted position and turned upright before the
sides, bow, and stern were added. In fact, the
evidence available suggests these vessels may have
been produced in sections with each of the major
parts produced independently and brought
together for assembly.
Archaeological indications from the wreck of the
Dan Hayes suggest a cheaply-constructed, though
sturdy, working vessel of moderate tonnage and
shallow draft. As built, the ship required neither
expensive lofting techniques nor particularly skilled
craftsmen. This is just the type of ship needed to
serve smaller hinterland communities. Construc-
tion costs were reduced by prefabrication and the
use of smaller scantlings and planks of shorter
length than would have been used for a conven-
tional schooner. The slab-sided construction obvi-
ated the need for lofting and bending of planks and
steelers. Time in the ship yard was saved by con-
structing the bottom of the ship upside-down and
attaching the slab sides after the bottom was com-
pleted and inverted. Additional time and money
was saved by the use of pins over through-bolts.
It seems doubtful that these cheaply-constructed
craft could compete in sailing qualities or dur-
ability with grain- or canal-schooners, yet their
numbers in the 19th century indicate that such
compromises in construction made them economi-
cally competitive, especially in the market they
served. Their shallow draft and flat bottom allowed
them to serve unimproved ports. Eventually, how-
ever, rail services to these small hinterland agricul-
tural communities relegated the last of these vessels
to adaptive reuse, and eventual deposit in the
archaeological record by the early 20th century.
The significance of the Dan Hayes site is that it
represents a converted scow schooner of the later
19th century. Scows and scow schooners have not
been well studied either archaeologically or histori-
cally (see Martin, 1991; Pott, 1993; Merriman,
1997). Yet their contribution to the local economy
and the service they performed for the smaller
communities cannot be overlooked.
In addition, their construction, and particularly
the idea that vessels of this large size could be
constructed upside-down and rolled over for finish-
ing is not well documented or understood histori-
cally. Nor the idea that cheaply-built, but arguably
seaworthy, coasting vessels, such as this scow, not
only provided valuable transportation service to
the hinterland communities, but must have also
B. A. RODGERS & A. CORBIN: THE WRECK OF THE SCOW SCHOONER DAN HAYES

competed economically with larger better known
schooners, bulk-carriers, and consort barges of the
19th century.
Acknowledgements
The Birmingham Shipwreck Project was made
possible through the combined efforts of the State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, particularly the
Underwater Division, and the Maritime Studies
Program at East Carolina University. Special fund-
ing and assistance was provided by the Wisconsin
Sea Grant Program. John Karl ably downloaded
reports and photos sent from Surgeon Bay to
construct daily updates, placing both ECU and
SHSW on line during the project. Jeff Gray, the
Wisconsin State Underwater Archaeologist and his
assistants, Russ Green and Cathy Green, effectively
brought together divergent groups and specialised
programs, in an effort to ensure that Wisconsin’s
maritime heritage and submerged cultural
resources be studied.
Field assistance was provided by the Wisconsin
Underwater Archaeology Association (WUAA),
and special thanks goes to Russell Leitz, Bruce
Burrows, Danny Aerts, Kristy Lingo, and Jim
Ankney for their help in documenting the wreck
site. Visiting Scholar Patrick Labadie was of great
assistance on Great Lakes History. Additional
thanks goes to Brad Birmingham for access to the
wreck site through his property. Shirley Honold,
Dennis Duebner, Willie Schartner, and John and
Donna Thennell, local landowners, also graciously
granted us access through their property. Final
thanks go to Jon Van Harpen for his interest in the
project and the great research he was willing to
share.

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