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HISTORY OF ALPENA COUNTY BY WILLIAM BOULTON IN 1876
Up to 1859 the communication between Alpena and the lower ports had been by means of an occasional sail boat or trading schooner, or by means of the upper lake steamboats. By the latter conveyance a person would be landed on Thunder Bay island, and then he would have to engage some fisherman to take him to Alpena by means of a sail boat. But the business of Alpena had increased to such an extent, and so many supplies were needed for the support of the inhabitants, and for mill operations, that the steamer Forest Queen found it profitable to make occasional trips to Alpena. The same cause induced the owners of the steamer Columbia to place her on the line between Alpena and Bay City, making regular trips. The Columbia, being a small boat, was able to land her passengers and freight on the dock inside the river, while the Forest Queen, on account of the bar at the mouth of the river, was compelled to lie outside, the passengers and freight being landed by means of lighters, boats, etc. We have been unable to ascertain the date of the first arrival of the above boats. The Columbia was kept on the line for some time, when she was replaced by the steamer Huron, the latter making occasional trips.
Mr. Casey, of the Columbia's officials, relates the following laughable incident, which will show the value that was attached to the fair sex by the people "on the shore" in those days. At one of the ports between Bay City and Alpena, they took on board the only pretty girl in the place—the lady in question being about to leave. The people of the town where she had been staying were so distressed at the loss of their valuable prize, that they hung all the flags they possessed at half-mast, in token of their sorrow at the sad event.
Michigan
Page 16
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