Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Hook, Blackbeard . . . these are the images you probably see when someone says the word pirate. And you probably picture them some place with clear waters, palm trees, and lots of sand. But from the 1700's through the turn of the twentieth century, pirates terrorized the Great Lakes too. They didn’t have peg legs or parrots perched on their shoulders. They wore sweaters and wool caps and retired for the year once the lakes froze over, only to return the next spring.
Timber Pirates
The timber pirates were known to raid the forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They didn’t care if the land was privately owned or government owned, they would illegally cut down the trees and sell the timber on the East Coast, using the Great Lakes to move their illegal merchandise.
James Jesse Strang
James Jesse Strang saw himself not as a pirate, but as a religious leader and king. In 1855, Strang and his gang of Mormons pillaged an island in Lake Michigan, burning down sawmills and looting the local stores. The crew terrorized not only Beaver Island, but would sail around the lake robbing fishing boats as well. Strang did not shy away from flogging or killing men and women. He’d also send his men to rob non-Mormon businesses. Even his own crew did not like him, and when Strang was shot in the back on Beaver Island, no one mourned him.
Dan Seavy
Without a doubt the most infamous Great Lake pirate was Dan Seavy, a.k.a Roaring Dan. He was the only person ever formally charged with piracy on the Great Lakes. He began his career as a sailor. However, when he left the Navy, he had no money, just his ship, Wanderer. It turned out that was all he needed. He took to the lakes and began robbing other ships that carried venison and alcohol, which he would later sell. If the ship tried to fight back, he’d point his cannon at them.
His cannon wasn’t his only weapon. He would also put up fake lights on shore so that incoming ships would think they were coming into a port, but they would really be headed for the rocky coastline. The ships would crash, and Roaring Dan would steal their cargo.
However, his most famous heist took place on the docked schooner, Nellie Johnson. Seavy got the boat’s crew drunk, threw them off their own ship, and sailed the Nellie Johnson to Chicago where his sold its cargo himself.
Unlike Strang, Roaring Dan did not meet an untimely death. He ended up giving up piracy to work with the United States Marshal Service in order to stop poaching, smuggling, and piracy. He then retired in the late 1920's and settled down in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. He died at age 84 in a nursing home.
The Bloody Maiden
The pirates of The Mysteries of Ravenrock may look a bit more like your Caribbean pirates of old. Tricorne hats, eye patches, and parrots—well, ravens—are a lot more fun than sweaters and knit caps. And treasure is just a bit more exciting than tree theft. However, Ravenrock never would have had pirates at all if I hadn’t read about the fearsome seadogs of the Great Lakes.