A story as big as the Great Lakes comes crashing ashore.  There once were dozens of ships that hauled fresh-cut Christmas trees from northern Michigan to Chicago and other ports, their crews braving the dangerously unpredictable waters of a wintry Great Lakes.  The story of the schooner Rouse Simmons is one of the most tragic tales of ships lost in those often treacherous waters.  Loaded with trees for Chicago celebrants, the ship sailed into the year's worst storm and disappeared on November 23, 1912.  Its beloved Capt. Herman Schuenemann and his crew of 15 were lost with it.  The authors, two of the best-known Great Lakes maritime historians, recall the many ships that carried Christmas trees, and especially this one tragic ship, its jovial captain, his amazing family, the discovery of the shipwreck, and the modern rekindling of the Christmas Tree Ship Tradition.  
 
Softcover, 6 x 9, 128 pages