When
Capt. McDonald's body was found, all of his belongings were
present, except for $1,500 of company money that had been
in his pockets. It was later reported that several "undesirables"
were frequenting Bayfield bars and stores and spending battered,
watersoaked bills. Three men were brought to trial, but the
prosecuting attorney failed to appear, and the charges were
dismissed.
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| The deck (left)
and stern of the wrecked Sevona |
The Sevona,
valued at $220,000, was declared a total loss. The same storm
claimed three other ships, including the Schooner-Barge
Pretoria , which foundered near Outer Island.
People began demanding better navigational aids, life-saving
stations, and telephones throughout the Apostle Islands. Some
claimed the ship broke directly at the junction of its new
midships section and said lengthening the vessel had been
dangerous. (Recent site investigations have laid this claim
to rest. The joints between the old and new hull sections
remain attached to this day.)
Only
days after the disaster, the tug Skater took tourists
out to the site. Drinking coffee and eating sandwiches, they
collected souvenirs of the disaster. In October 1905, the
Reid Wrecking Company of Sarnia, Ontario, purchased the wreck
for $5,000 with the intent of refloating it. However, that
winter ice ground down the
hull
, so in 1906 Reid changed plans and only removed light
machinery. In June 1908, Reid recovered the ship's engine,
three boilers -- valued at $10,000 a piece -- and hundreds
of tons of hull plating worth $9 per ton. In July 1909, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, concerned about the wreck as
a navigation hazard, had the vessel blown up with 500 pounds
of dynamite. This produced a water depth of 14 feet over the
site and made navigation safe for smaller vessels.
Despite
the salvaging and blasting, enough steel remained for J.B.
Wanless of Duluth, Minnesota, to salvage more of the Sevona
during the 1917 scrap drive for World War I. He removed 180
tons by that August and intended to have another 800 out before
winter.
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