By James Heinz

              Photo above is the USCG MACKINAW sailing past Racine to deliver Christmas trees to Chicago.  Photo by Bob Jaeck.

One of the enduring legends of the Great Lakes is the story of the schooner ROUSE SIMMONS, the famous Christmas Tree Ship.  Her captain, Herman Schuenemann, became a legend by sailing the 1868 built schooner down Lake Michigan from Upper Michigan through Gales of November weather to deliver Christmas trees to eager buyers at the Clark Street bridge in Chicago. Captain Schuenemann became known as “Captain Santa” because of his habit of donating Christmas trees to those too poor to buy one. 

Unfortunately, on November 22, 1912, the Gales of November came for Captain Schuenemann and the ROUSE SIMMONS.  They both sailed into legend when they disappeared off Two Rivers, Wis. Christmas trees washed up onto local beaches for a year.  Her wreck was discovered in 1971 in 165 feet of water by legendary shipwreck hunter Kent Bellrichard. 

       Christmas trees delivered from Cheboygan to Chicago.  Courtesy of the MACKINAW Facebook page.

Fortunately, as I wrote in an earlier story https://wmhs.org/the-christmas-tree-ship-lives-on-in-memory-and-deed/ public minded citizens re-established the tradition of bringing Christmas trees to Chicago to distribute them to the poor.  Instead of a leaky 44 year old wooden schooner, the ship that brings the trees these days is the Coast Guard icebreaker USCG MACKINAW, which I have also written about previously https://wmhs.org/icebreakers-captain-commands-a-unique-powerful-ship/

Thanks to WMHS member Bob Jaeck, we have photographic proof that the tradition of Captain Santa continues.  He recently photographed the USCG MACKINAW sailing south past Racine loaded with Christmas trees on her buoy deck, carrying out her mission of bringing Christmas joy to all the poor children of Chicago at Navy Pier. 

         The MACKINAW docked in Chicago.  Photo by James Heinz

When Captain Santa failed to deliver his trees in 1912, a little girl named Ruthie was reported to have said, “It’s not Christmas without a Christmas tree.” Thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard, we can now say,

“Yes Ruthie, there is a Santa Claus.”

The ROUSE SIMMONS is remembered every year at the WMHS Christmas Tree Ship dinner held at the Milwaukee Yacht Club.  In front of the club sits one of the anchors from the ship, recovered by Kent Bellrichard.  It is also remembered by a ceremony at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.  Many of the ship’s artifacts are on display https://wmhs.org/the-christmas-tree-ship-lives-on-in-many-places/ at various places, including the North Point lighthouse where the ship’s nameboard is on loan from WMHS.

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James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.