Bad Years for the Badger State
By James Donahue
If records were kept for the volume of freight and passengers hauled on the Great Lakes, the propeller Badger State might have held one. The two hundred ten-foot long steamer competed on the route between Buffalo and Chicago in 1862. The boat was still going strong forty-seven years later, although by then it was reduced to the role of a tired lumber hooker when destroyed by a fire at Marine City, Michigan, on December 6, 1909.
Four years before it burned, the Badger State fell into a period of disrepute. Still rigged as a passenger and freight hauler, the vessel was chartered by a Detroit gambling syndicate and was refurbished as a floating pleasure palace. The syndicate had been reeling under tough new Michigan laws that made it illegal to bet money on sports events, including boxing and horse racing. To get around the law, the syndicate planned to anchor the boat just outside state jurisdiction, then ferry customers to and from the Badger State’s decks. The upper decks were fitted out with gambling paraphernalia, including a restaurant and bar. The main piece of equipment was a giant blackboard on which the results of the various races and sporting events were recorded. The information was transmitted to the boat on the very latest of communication technology in 1905, the wireless telegraph.
The vessel anchored off the head of Belle Isle, in the Detroit River, where the illicit business went on under the noses of state and city authorities. No law could be found to stop the gambling, so for a few weeks the Badger State was the center of much activity. Then something happened. An unidentified man complained to the district attorney’s office that the floating gambling house with its trailing cables was a menace to navigation. The government agreed. The Badger State was seized and put out of business.
The boat remained docked at Detroit until 1909 when it was sold to the Alpena Cedar and Lumber Company and converted for use in the lumber business. The Badger State wasn’t on this new job very long before it burned. The fire happened at night, while the boat was moored with other vessels at the Marine City dock. Captain Lennon, who was the only person aboard that night, escaped but it was a hasty flight. With normal exits blocked by the flames, Lennon jumped to the deck of a boat tied alongside. To save the other boats and the dock, the mooring lines were cut and the burning barge was set adrift in the St. Clair River. It floated to the Canadian side where it went aground and burned to a total wreck. The remains are still in the mud in the North Channel across the river from Algonac, Michigan. Residents know right where it is because they say the fishing there is excellent.
By James Donahue
If records were kept for the volume of freight and passengers hauled on the Great Lakes, the propeller Badger State might have held one. The two hundred ten-foot long steamer competed on the route between Buffalo and Chicago in 1862. The boat was still going strong forty-seven years later, although by then it was reduced to the role of a tired lumber hooker when destroyed by a fire at Marine City, Michigan, on December 6, 1909.
Four years before it burned, the Badger State fell into a period of disrepute. Still rigged as a passenger and freight hauler, the vessel was chartered by a Detroit gambling syndicate and was refurbished as a floating pleasure palace. The syndicate had been reeling under tough new Michigan laws that made it illegal to bet money on sports events, including boxing and horse racing. To get around the law, the syndicate planned to anchor the boat just outside state jurisdiction, then ferry customers to and from the Badger State’s decks. The upper decks were fitted out with gambling paraphernalia, including a restaurant and bar. The main piece of equipment was a giant blackboard on which the results of the various races and sporting events were recorded. The information was transmitted to the boat on the very latest of communication technology in 1905, the wireless telegraph.
The vessel anchored off the head of Belle Isle, in the Detroit River, where the illicit business went on under the noses of state and city authorities. No law could be found to stop the gambling, so for a few weeks the Badger State was the center of much activity. Then something happened. An unidentified man complained to the district attorney’s office that the floating gambling house with its trailing cables was a menace to navigation. The government agreed. The Badger State was seized and put out of business.
The boat remained docked at Detroit until 1909 when it was sold to the Alpena Cedar and Lumber Company and converted for use in the lumber business. The Badger State wasn’t on this new job very long before it burned. The fire happened at night, while the boat was moored with other vessels at the Marine City dock. Captain Lennon, who was the only person aboard that night, escaped but it was a hasty flight. With normal exits blocked by the flames, Lennon jumped to the deck of a boat tied alongside. To save the other boats and the dock, the mooring lines were cut and the burning barge was set adrift in the St. Clair River. It floated to the Canadian side where it went aground and burned to a total wreck. The remains are still in the mud in the North Channel across the river from Algonac, Michigan. Residents know right where it is because they say the fishing there is excellent.