Celebrate the wonder of Lake Champlain at ECHO. Help ensure that future generations are able to utilize this resource as we do today. All it takes is one drop …
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In this video Art Cohn, founding director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, tells the exciting story of the sinking of the General Butler, which sank in the Burlington harbor over a hundred years ago.
The General Butler was built in 1862 in Essex, New York. The boat was named after Benjamin Butler, a Massachusetts lawyer and businessman. Who was also a general during the Civil War. General Butler fought in some important battles at the start of the war. The ship was a typical Lake Champlain sailing canal boat – designed to sail on the lake and when masts were removed and centerboard raised, could travel though the Champlain Canal.
She was under the command of her third owner, Captain William Montgomery of Isle La Motte on her last voyage on December 9, 1876 when a powerful winter gale struck while sailing up the lake. Upon approaching Burlington, the Butler‘s steering mechanism broke. The captain rigged a tiller bar to the steering post in an attempt to maneuver the ship around the breakwater. But the attempt was unsuccessful and the schooner crashed into the breakwater. The force of the water was so great that the craft was repeatedly lifted on top of the ice-covered stones. One by one each of the ship’s crew made the perilous jump onto the breakwater. The captain was the last to leave the ship which immediately sank into the 40’ of water where she now rests.
Sonar image of General Butler. from LCMM
After narrowly escaping death by drowning, the Butler‘s survivors now risked freezing to death on the breakwater. They all would have perished but for the heroic intervention of Burlington ship chandler James Wakefield and his son, who rowed out in a 14’ boat and took all five to safety. The Butler was declared a total loss. Artifacts from the General Butler are now on display at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Basin Harbor facility.
This 128-page softcover book features stunning historical images from the archives of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and other regional collections, and includes chapters on Patriotic Sites and Celebrations; Commerce in the Canal Era; The Age of Steam; Crossing Lake Champlain; Recreational Boating; Summer and Summer Folk; Hunting and Fishing; and Winter. ‘Lake Champlain’ tells the story of this historic, busy commercial corridor and recreational destination.
More About Lake Champlain History:
Lake Champlain has a long history of being a major smuggling route between the U.S. and Canada. From the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through Prohibition and beyond smugglers have used this natural water highway to try to avoid government taxes, tariffs and embargoes.
U.S Revenue Cutter, Pickering
Smugglers moved contraband both north and south to markets hungry for products that were in short supply, banned or too expensive. Early smuggling operations after the wars included the infamous Black Snake Affair in which two people were killed and resulted in the execution of one of the smugglers.
This video presentation of ‘Whiskey on the Lake’ from the Milton, VT Historical Society deals with more recent events as Dr. Scott McLaughlin tells how Lake Champlain was important thoroughfare for smugglers during the Prohibition era.
More About Lake Champlain History:
Video (2006) from America’s Wildest Places on Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge
Missisquoi, ‘The Land of the Flint’, to the Abenaki people is home to a variety of plant and animal species. The Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 1943 and is maintained by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Its main purpose is to provide a haven for migratory birds on their annual trips north and south.
This beautiful video shows features of the MNWR, as well as, photos and video clips of many of the different creatures that call the MNWR home.
The Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge is located at 29 Tabor Road (just off Route 78) in Swanton, VT, telephone = (802) 868-4781 http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Missisquoi/
Visitor Center hours:
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturdays (May 19 to October 27) 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Other Articles About Missisquoi:
Lake Champlain Drone Video features Burlington breakwater, Colchester waterfront, and the North Hero-South Hero drawbridge. Video filmed from drone aircraft.
(Lake Champlain in Vermont filmed with my DJI Inspire 1 Drone Music compliments of www.Jamendo.com.)
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