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THE EARLIEST LAKE SHIP PHOTOGRAPH? In our issue of November, 1992, we r e p r o d u c e d a photo of the side wh ee l steamer BANSHEE at Bowen's Wharf, Kingston, whi ch was taken in 1856. In the a c c o m p a n y i n g article (Ship of the Mon th No. 199), we r e m a r k e d that a l t hough the BAN SHEE picture was a ver y ear ly view, the earli es t kno wn pho t o g r a p h i c image of a Great Lakes ship was a d a g u e r r e o t y p e of the steamer S O U T H E R N MICHIGAN, w hich was taken in 1853. Since we printed that statement, however, we have come to kno w that the S O U THERN M I C H I G A N vie w is NOT the oldest lake ship photograph! Thanks to membe r C. Patr ic k Labadie, of Duluth, we are able to pres en t on our current p h otopage a picture of the early side wh ee l stea me r MA Y FLOWER. It will be noted that the st eamer is lying close in to a fairly inh o s p i t a b l e shoreline, and her s t arboard smok e s t a c k is cant ed outw a r d at such an angle that it looks as if it soon wil l d i sappear over the side. What could be the ex p l a n a t i o n of this un usual view? The w o o d e n - h u l l e d MAY FLOWER was 288 x 35 x 12, 1242 tons, and was bu ilt in 1849 by J. Lupton at Detroit, Michigan. She was the first ship owned by the M i c h i g a n Central R a i l r o a d Company, and p r o vided part of that line's dai ly servi ce betw e e n Buffal o and De troit in those days whe n di rect rail c o n n e c tion had not yet been e s t a b l i s h e d betw e e n the cities. MA Y FLOW ER was one of the first of the big "palace steamers" that o p e rated b r i e f l y on Lake Erie befor e the rail lines were completed. The key to the c i r c u m s t a n c e s of M A Y F L O W E R ' s di stress i l l u s t r a t e d in the p h o t o g r a p h can be found on Page 141 of E a r l y A m e r i c a n Stea me rs - Volume II by Erik Heyl, 1956. Therein, Hey l notes that MAY FLO WE R saile d from Buff al o at 1 0 : 00 p. m. on De cember 15, 1851, in e x t r e m e l y h e a v y weather. A fter midnight, she was turned and h e a d e d back for Buffalo, but w i t h the seas r u n nin g high, her m a s t e r was afraid to get too close to shore and turne d west again. At this time, a rudder chain parted, a l t h o u g h repa ir s were mad e s u c cessfully. A hog chain also pa r t e d during the storm. Finally, at about 1 1 : 00 a. m. on De cember 16th, M A Y FL O W E R str uc k shore five miles b elow Conneaut, Ohio, near Elk Creek. The steamer q u i c k l y se ttled to the bo t t o m in s h a l l o w water, and all the cre w and p a s s e n g e r s were able to make shore safely. The st eamer's s u p e r s t r u c t u r e began to break up, however, and one of her smokes t a c k s wen t over the side. MAY FLOWER fina l l y was s a l vag ed in May of 1852, and ex tensive rep ai rs la sted unt il 1853, w hen she r e - e n t e r e d service. MA Y FL O W E R la sted u ntil N o v ember 20, 1854, w hen she s t r and ed to a total loss on Point Pelee. A l t h o u g h there are some d i s c r e p a n c i e s betw e e n what we see in the Laba di e C o l l e c t i o n photo of MA Y FL O W E R and the d e s c r i p t i o n of the Con ne au t str a n d i n g r e p o r t e d by Heyl, there can be no doubt that it was w h i l e she was agro u n d that the p h o t o g r a p h was taken. It might have been ear ly in 1852, but beca us e the stack has not yet fal le n over the side, we must assu me that the p h o t o graph was taken v ery soon af ter MAY F L O W E R ' s Dec em be r 16, 1851, accident. As a consequence, the MAY FLOWER photo must pr e-date the S O U T H E R N M I C H I G A N v i e w by almost two years - almos t c e r t a i n l y ma k i n g it the earl ie st k nown p h o t o g r a p h i c image of a lake vessel, and u n d o u b t e d l y done by da guerreotype. It is not, however, the ea rliest N orth A m e r i c a n ship phot og ra ph . That honour goes to "The C i n c i n n a t i D a g u e r r e o t y p e s " , w h i c h is a se ries of eight image s w h i c h form a p a n o r a m a of the C i n c i n n a t i river f r o n t w h i c h were taken on S e p tember 24, 1848. They were mad e from a v a n t a g e point on the K e n t u c k y shore across the Ohio River, and all of the im ages co ntain s p l e n d i d l y sharp and clear views of a s s o r t e d river steam er s m o o r e d along the levee, as wel l as a m a g n i f i c e n t vie w of the city itself. We are indeed i n d e b t e d to Pat Labadie for his extre me the h i s t o r i c M A Y FL O W E R p h o t o g r a p h w ith our readers. * * * * * generosity in sh aring