History
The Alta was a schooner-barge that was built in 1884 by F. Wheeler in West Bay City, Michigan. It was constructed using wood and had two masts. The vessel had a length of 198 feet, a beam of 37.4 feet, and a depth of 15.7 feet. It had a gross tonnage of 935 and a net tonnage of 909.
The Alta was initially owned by the Bewick Transportation Co. in Detroit, Michigan, under the ownership of Charles Bewick. Over the years, it changed ownership multiple times. It was owned by McVittie and others in Detroit in 1888, then by Bewick and others in 1890. In 1891, ownership returned to the Bewick Transportation Co. In 1892, Jerome B. Zerbe of Cleveland, Ohio, became the owner, followed by the Ohio & Pennsylvania Coal Co. of Cleveland in 1894. The vessel returned to Bewick’s ownership in 1895, then transferred to Zerbe again in 1896. In 1899, ownership shifted to the Ohio & Pennsylvania Coal Co. in Rockport, Ohio, and in 1900, it was owned by Drake, Bartow & Co. of Cleveland. The Alta Transit Co. in Mentor, Ohio, acquired the vessel in 1902, and J.H. Bartow of Cleveland became the owner in 1904.
On October 19, 1905, while being towed by the tug F.A. Meyers, the Alta broke away and stranded on the east side of Grand Island, near Munising, Michigan, in Lake Superior. The vessel was carrying lumber from Duluth at the time. It was wrecked in a storm and eventually broken up by big waves. There was no loss of life, as the crew of six men and one woman were rescued by local fishermen after clinging to the wreck for over a day.
The wreck of the Alta remained on the Grand Island shoal off Point of Trout Bay, approximately 500 feet from the shore. Winter storms further damaged the wreck. The vessel was owned by J.J. Boland, and wrecker J. Reid purchased it on November 1, 1905, but was unable to save it.
The salvage attempts to release the wrecked lumber cargo of the Alta were abandoned, and the vessel was left in eight feet of water, 25 feet off the shore. The salvage operations were expected to resume in the following spring.
