Perseverance (pre-1814)

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Perseverance
• Type: Schooner
• Year Built: Pre-1814
• Builder: Unknown, built specifically for the North West Company
• Dimensions: Length: 50-70 ft (15-21 m); Beam: 15-20 ft (4.5-6 m); Depth of hold: Unknown
• Registered Tonnage: Estimated 50-75 tons
• Location: St. Mary’s Falls (Sault Ste. Marie), Ontario
• Coordinates: Approximate vicinity: 46°30'N, 84°21'W
• Official Number: None recorded (pre-registry era for Upper Canada vessels)
• Original Owners: North West Company
• Number of Masts: Unknown

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

Schooner

The Perseverance was a typical early 19th-century schooner, designed for service on the upper Great Lakes, specifically Lake Superior. These vessels were versatile cargo carriers, capable of navigating open water as well as the challenging shallow rivers and narrow channels common to the fur trade routes.

Schooners like Perseverance were ideal for the North West Company’s needs — combining sailing efficiency for long lake crossings with a shallow draft for navigating the St. Mary’s River and other tight passages in the fur trade network.

Description

Perseverance was built for the North West Company, one of the most powerful fur trade enterprises operating in the early 19th century. The company’s network extended across the Great Lakes, up the St. Mary’s River, and into the vast inland territories accessed via Lake Superior.

By 1814, the War of 1812 had engulfed the Great Lakes, and control of vital supply routes became a strategic priority for both British and American forces. The Perseverance, caught in the crossfire, was captured by the American squadron operating in the upper lakes during the campaign to retake Mackinac Island.

After her capture, the Americans attempted to run her down the St. Mary’s Falls (modern-day Sault Ste. Marie Rapids) to move her into Lake Huron. This proved disastrous — the schooner stranded in the rapids and, unable to recover her, the Americans burned the vessel to prevent her recapture by the British.

History

Cause of Loss: Stranded in the St. Mary’s Falls, then intentionally burned by the Americans.

Final Resting Place: Somewhere within the turbulent waters of St. Mary’s Rapids, near modern-day Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Status: Completely destroyed, with no intact wreckage reported.

Significant Incidents

• Never officially located.
• Historical records document her loss in August 1814, during the American retreat following the failed recapture of Mackinac Island.

Final Disposition

Given the violence of her destruction, any surviving remains would likely consist of:

• Charred timber fragments
• Scattered iron fittings, nails, and fastenings
• Possible cargo remnants, if any fur trade goods survived the fire and dispersal.
• All heavily disturbed by 200+ years of riverbed scouring, development, and dredging in the St. Mary’s River system.

Current Condition & Accessibility

Depth: Likely less than 5 metres (16 feet), given the shallow nature of the St. Mary’s Falls and surrounding channel.

Bottom Composition: Rock, gravel, and fast-moving water typical of rapids zones.

Visibility: Highly variable, often poor due to turbidity and flow rates.

Condition: Presumed completely destroyed, with only burned fragments or fittings potentially surviving, if anything.

Resources & Links

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The Perseverance exemplifies the turbulent intersection of commerce and conflict that defined the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. A simple fur trade vessel, she became a prize of war, only to meet her end in a combination of military necessity and navigational disaster.

Her loss at St. Mary’s Falls is symbolic of the struggle for control over the inland waterways, a struggle that shaped the development of both Canada and the United States in the aftermath of the war.