- [Rob] Coming up: Exploring shipwrecks in two Great Lakes marine sanctuaries.

- We visited 17 shipwrecks in total during this expedition, four of which nobody had laid eyes on before.

- [Rob] And discovering new ones.

- So it's really our challenge to bring those special resources underneath to people.

- [Rob] Plus, how a forest in Canada built a media empire in the US.

- He was willing to think daringly and to look ahead.

(intriguing techno upbeat music) (air whooshing) - [Announcer] This program is brought to you by: The Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at Detroit PBS, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to your PBS Station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(mellow jazzy orchestral music) (air whooshing) - Hi, I'm Rob Green, welcome to "Great Lakes Now."

Thanks to the cold, fresh water, the Great Lakes are home to thousands of well-preserved shipwrecks, but exploring these relics isn't just for historians.

Correspondent Ian Solomon traveled to Thunder Bay, Michigan, to dive in and see for himself.

(air whooshing) (intriguing upbeat music) - [Ian] Home base for my shipwreck adventure is Alpena, Michigan, one of the many beautiful maritime communities along Lake Huron.

My first stop is the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.

My guide is Stephanie Gandulla, an Archeologist for the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Her job is to connect the public to the underwater world and help them understand why it matters for a healthy planet.

So is this size about... - And telling the helms person... The sanctuary was designated in the year 2000 as the very first freshwater national marine sanctuary in the system.

And we encompass today 4,300-square miles off the coast of northeast Michigan.

The sanctuary system was created through an act of Congress in 1972 to protect our country's special places underwater.

And it's really a vast system, over 620,000-square miles of protected areas, protecting deep sea canyons, coral reefs, humpback whale migration routes, and, of course, the shipwrecks that were designated to protect here in the Great Lakes.

(intriguing upbeat music) - The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center features informative and interactive exhibits for all ages.

This place is seriously impressive and the best way to start your own shipwreck adventure.

So which one of these are your hands down favorite shipwreck stories?

- The Cornelia Windiate has a really compelling story, it's known as the Ghost Ship of Thunder Bay.

- [Ian] The ship model gallery features scale models of some of the most infamous shipwrecks, including the Pewabic, the deadliest wreck in Thunder Bay's history, and the New Orleans, the earliest recorded shipwreck dating back to 1849.

- And this is one of my favorite sites because it is so accessible, it sits in only about 15 feet of water, so the glass-bottom boat goes there, you can snorkel, you can scuba dive.

Really neat to see the artifacts from a paddlewheeler in that clear water, you can see what's called the sponsons.

So what goes around those big wheels, you can see that very clearly on the lake bottom.

(water burbling) (intriguing orchestral music) - [Ian] For all us armchair archeologists, the Heritage Center provides a chance to experience what it's like to hunt for a shipwreck, including piloting an underwater ROV, visiting the deep water wreck of a cargo vessel, and examining a collection of recovered artifacts.

So many are everyday objects, and they provide a practical glimpse into the routine and lives of the people onboard.

Connecting to the past is central to the experience at the Heritage Center, and a fun way to do it is to experience what it was like to live and work aboard a schooner on the Great Lakes.

(intriguing orchestral music) - So, remember, safety first onboard.

- Wow.

Whoo!

(Stephanie chuckles) Bit of a tilt on here.

- Yes, indeed.

So it is listing at about 12 degrees- - Wow.

- Really giving you a feeling of what it'd be like to sail on one of these schooners out in the big lake.

- Yeah, and I could even see this light tilting over here- - Mm-hmm, yeah.

- It's really putting me into the space.

I mean, this is pretty tight, and I know they didn't have AC, it's hot, it's cold, it's wet.

Why is anyone coming to stay here for months at a time?

- Well, really because they had to.

This was how goods were shipped back during what we call the shipwreck century.

And it was, you know, a need, there wasn't your semi-truck working on the highway, so we had our schooners delivering goods.

And it's still a very important part of our maritime economy here on the Great Lakes.

- To get a closer look at some of Thunder Bay's famous wrecks, Stephanie and I board the Lady Michigan.

This special boat has a glass-bottom that allows passengers to look straight down through the water.

As we make our way out to the lake, we take a deep dive into the Bay's storied reputation.

(mellow tranquil music) So what makes Thunder Bay such a hotspot for shipwrecks?

- That's a great question, because, like you've heard, we have 200 within this 4,300-square miles.

So, really, there's a number of reasons, of course, the weather, they don't call it Thunder Bay for nothing.

- [Ian] Yeah, I've seen a lot since I've been here.

- I know.

(Ian chuckles) In just a short time, we've seen everything.

So sometimes we'll have sudden fog, terrible storms.

One of those wrecks we were talking about in the Heritage Center went down in the storm of 1913, which had 90-mile an hour winds and 35-foot high waves.

- Wow.

- And then the high traffic.

So, once again, this looks nice and peaceful, and not many boats out here at all, but it still is a very busy waterway.

And what the massive freighters can haul today, it would take hundreds of schooners.

- Wow.

- So high traffic means lots of collisions.

And then the shallow bottom of the lake, especially here in Thunder Bay, the limestone reefs.

And so, if you don't know the area, you very well could run aground.

So we have a lot of groundings as well.

- [Ian] With still approximately 100 wrecks waiting to be found, I want to know how Stephanie and her team go about locating them.

- Is that covered.

- Yeah.

(intriguing orchestral music) - Most of the shallow wrecks have been found.

And so, we're looking in deep water, which takes modern technology.

And so, we have our research vessels that have multi-beam sonar mounted on the vessel.

And what they do is just send out sound waves, and the way those sound waves come back to the instrument paints a picture of what the lake bottom looks like.

In fact, we've only mapped, in all of the Great Lakes, only 20% of the lake bottom has been mapped to high resolution.

- Wow.

Okay, that's a lot of missing information.

- That is, that's exactly right.

So it's important not just for finding shipwrecks, but for managing the Great Lakes, for understanding the geology and the biology of this amazing resource.

- Wow, this is some really extensive work, hitting so many areas.

- Yes, indeed.

(chuckles) - [Ian] So I have to ask, and don't worry, I'm not doing any diving, (Stephanie laughing) Is there any treasure out here?

- Oh, gosh.

Well, you know, what we would call, as the archeologists and the managers of this area, we would call the treasure the history itself, the stories that these shipwrecks contain.

- Man, it's really incredible.

Just there's such clarity in the water, you're able to see such a well-preserved piece of history, feel like I'm expecting it to look a little less recognizable, but it's all there so clearly.

As we return to port, Stephanie takes the opportunity to share some maritime humor with the group.

- What lies at the bottom of the lake and shakes?

What lies at the bottom of the lake and shakes?

A nervous wreck.

- [Audience Member] Ooh.

- [Stephanie] Yep.

(audience cheering and applauding) (ship wailing) (tranquil orchestral music) - One thing you might be surprised by is just how accessible some shipwrecks really are.

In fact, several are near the shoreline and ideal for snorkeling, and some are even washed up on the shoreline itself.

At 40 Mile Point Lighthouse, a short drive from Alpena, I find both.

I'm glad I'm here before it's completely covered by sand.

- I know, and it's really dynamic here, right?

We've got the wave action and sand movements and... - And I'm sure this freezes over every winter.

- Oh, that's right, so you can have ice crashing up against it as well.

- Wow.

The Joseph S. Fay was a wooden freighter that went down in 1905.

It was carrying a full load of iron ore when unrelenting waves broke it into pieces.

So tell me a little bit about this wreck on the beach, and this wreck in the water.

- Yes.

So part of the Joseph S. Fay is right here on the beach.

You can imagine what a violent wrecking event that must have been and how bad the weather really was that night to have most of the ship way out there, we can see the buoy- - Right.

- But then a portion of it here on the beach.

- [Ian] We paddle to a mooring buoy that marks the location of the wreck only 300 yards from shore.

The water is so clear, you can see the wreck from above.

- [Stephanie] Here we are, we're gonna tie up to the tagline.

- [Ian] All right, we're finally here.

We swap our life jackets and paddles for fins and diving masks.

Let me tell you, it's a little tough getting ready in a kayak, but I know it'll be worth it when we finally get beneath the surface.

(water burbling) (mellow orchestral music) The visibility is great today and I can see large parts of the wreck 18-feet down.

Stephanie, an experienced diver, goes deep for a closer look.

(water burbling) (mellow orchestral music) For being 120 years old, it's all remarkably well-preserved.

I need to wear a wetsuit to be comfortable in this water, but it's the cold temperature that keeps these wrecks frozen in time.

This is what I looked forward to most on this trip, seeing a wreck with my own two eyes.

And just imagine, there are hundreds more down here somewhere.

(water burbling) (intriguing upbeat music) - When you think about protecting a special place, it's hard to paint the picture for people when they look out and they just see a beautiful vista of blue water what is underneath.

So it's really our work, our challenge, to bring those special resources underneath to people.

Our job is to connect people to these resources, and not only then do they care about the shipwreck sites themselves, but they care about the entire ecosystem of our Great Lakes.

(intriguing upbeat music) - [Ian] Thanks to Stephanie for showing me around on land and underwater.

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a special place, rich with history and natural beauty.

Whether you stay on shore, take a cruise, or go for a dive, there's something here for everyone to discover and enjoy.

(air whooshing) (intriguing orchestral music) (air whooshing) - There are shipwrecks in all five Great Lakes, and more are being discovered all the time.

For our next story, we take you to another National Marine Sanctuary.

We have several.

(air whooshing) (intriguing orchestral music) - [Adam] The Great Lakes are home to three National Marine Sanctuaries, with the latest addition at the Eastern end of Lake Ontario.

Ben Ioset is a maritime archeologist with NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

- Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary is one of the newest National Marine Sanctuaries in the system.

It was designated in July, 2024, to protect 1,722-square miles of the eastern end of Lake Ontario and a nationally significant collection of historic shipwrecks that lies in that area.

- [Adam] The sanctuary is home to 63 identified shipwrecks and maybe many more unidentified wrecks.

In May of 2025, a two week expedition was conducted to document some of those wrecks.

Jason Fahy, Associate Director of the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute at the University of Rhode Island, was the expedition's leader.

- The four counties that surround the eastern part of Lake Ontario banded together and petitioned the federal government to develop a sanctuary to protect these resources.

Bringing a large research vessel to the lake to do this sort of exploration over the course of two weeks is the first sign that the federal government's willing to invest, and the thing that the communities envisioned is actually gonna come to fruition.

(machine whirring) - [Worker] Check.

- [Worker On Walkie-Talkie] Down.

- [Adam] Using a Remotely Operated Vehicle, or ROV, nicknamed RHODY, the expedition captured high resolution recordings of 17 wrecks within the sanctuary.

- We visited 17 shipwrecks in total during this expedition, four of which nobody had laid eyes on before, and one of which was a completely unknown discovery before the expedition.

So this provided the management tools as well as a lot of wonderful imagery and photo models to help us tell the story of these sites and bring them to the public, because relatively few divers, even in the entire world, would be able to reach some of these wrecks.

(intriguing orchestral music) - We searched and were able to find brand new unique to anyone in the lake shipwrecks that were discovered by students, right, and the excitement of the students to be the first person that has seen that wreck.

- [Jason] So the screen on the right we talked about, which is the forward looking sonar, the image... - It was a really unique opportunity on the 23rd of May where we had that live stream going down to what turned out to be a two-masted Welland Canal schooner that no one had ever dealt before.

So that was really a unique opportunity to get to include the public in.

I'm very happy we did that.

- [Adam] In addition to recording high resolution video, the expedition scanned the wrecks in 3D, and are working on making the models available to the public.

- These sites were deeper than a scuba diver could reach, you know, your typical diver could reach.

And so, the only way for the public to interact with these historic resources is through some virtual means.

And so, the 3D model is the tool to do that.

- [Adam] With these models, researchers and the public can explore the wrecks up close, uncovering details about the vessel's history.

One of these wrecks was the Philip Becker, a wooden tugboat that sank almost 150 years ago.

(intriguing orchestral music) - This wreck is in pretty good shape for having sunk in 1879, it's upright and intact, we have an intact boiler room here.

You can see the boiler here at the forward end, which provided steam to power the steam engine, which is located farther aft.

On the roof here, you have the fallen smokestack.

The primary damage we see to the superstructure is that the wheelhouse, which is fairly lightly constructed, is broken apart.

Here you can see the ship's wheel as well as some doors, sash windows that once kind of adorned that structure.

At the bow here, you have the towing bits and an anchor stowed inside the bow, still on its chain.

(intriguing orchestral music) - [Adam] Another wreck explored during the expedition is a schooner believed to be the EB Gannett, which sank in 1870.

- This is also, you know, a very well-preserved, intact example of a late 19th century schooner, and this one's very unusual.

One of the features, and I'll snap to it here, is this is referred to as a spoon bow, this nice, graceful curve at the bow.

That's not unheard of on Great Lake ships, but is actually quite rare.

Many features in this wreck were somewhat confusing, in that, it seems to use a lot of kind of earlier technology than the date of its loss would suggest, but it provides a really kind of interesting glimpse into local ship building and the technology that was being used to build these local ships that were trading around the eastern end of Lake Ontario.

- [Adam] With these models, the public can explore wrecks that would otherwise be out of reach, and researchers gain a baseline record of their current conditions.

(intriguing techno orchestral music) - Wrecks in the lake are never gonna be in any better condition than they are right now, right?

They're constantly, very slowly degrading.

And so, if we wanna understand the history of that time, or identify, you know, kind of the situation of each of these shipwrecks, now is the best time to go look at them and try to create this baseline.

(intriguing techno orchestral music) - To see unspoiled archeological sites like this in the Great Lakes is really something special.

Also, there's just the fact that we cannot make more historical shipwrecks.

Each of these is tied to a specific moment in time, a specific history.

And once they're gone or they're damaged, they're gone.

(intriguing techno orchestral music) (air whooshing) (intriguing orchestral music) (air whooshing) - More than a few fortunes have been made on the Great Lakes, and those fortunes have built all kinds of things.

One of them built an international empire you probably never knew existed.

(air whooshing) - This is newsprint.

It's cheap, strong, flexible, and as its name implies, it's perfect for printing newspapers.

This stuff used to be so important to the news industry that one newspaper built entire towns just to get more of it.

Before the internet, TV, and radio, newspapers were the most important form of media.

They covered everything from current events to culture and sports and business.

According to Paul Durica from the Chicago History Museum, newspapers in the early 20th century could be compared to how we use the internet today.

- I mean, it really was functioning in a way that in many ways is analogous to the way we use the internet, which is our one source to go to to get all the information we need about any range of topics.

- And newsprint made it all possible.

After all, you couldn't print or sell any newspapers without paper.

Access to newsprint was so important that it was a contributing factor in a conflict known as the Chicago Circulation War.

- The major parties in the conflict were the paper owned by William Randolph Hearst, the Chicago American, he also had a morning paper called the Chicago Examiner as well, and the paper of record in the city, the Chicago Tribune.

- So the conflict was mainly between Hearst and the owners of the Chicago Tribune, the McCormick and Patterson families.

And because Hearst owned multiple newspapers across the country, he was buying more newsprint and getting a better price for it.

In 1911, Robert McCormick, later known as Colonel McCormick or just The Colonel, became co-president of the Chicago Tribune.

And he had an idea to eliminate Hearst's newsprint advantage.

- He was willing to think daringly and to look ahead, you know, "What would the newspaper need to be successful five years, 10 years from now?"

And it turned out, the most immediate, and in the end, the most lasting, expression of that was an independent source of newsprint.

When McCormick took over the Tribune, he convinced the board to dedicate a million dollars to build a paper company that would produce newsprint for the Tribune and no one else.

He brought on Warren Curtis Jr., an authority on paper making, to help lead the effort.

They started with a paper mill in Thorold, Ontario.

- Thorold was on the Welland Canal, it's only 10 miles from Niagara Falls, which meant it could rely on hydroelectric power generated by the falls.

The mill itself combined the pulp making aspect with the actual generation of the paper in vast amounts under one roof.

That was unprecedented.

- The Thorold Mill produced its first newsprint in 1913.

In 1914, they produced more than 31,000 tons of it, and the timing couldn't have been better.

(cannon booming) In July of 1914, Europe was plunged into the Great War.

And even though the United States hadn't entered the fighting yet, wartime headlines were selling lots of newspapers stateside.

- Which meant they needed more than ever to have access to wood, pulp, and paper.

And by that point, the colonel at least knew that the Tribune had what it needed.

- McCormick himself joined the National Guard in 1916, and went off to fight in Europe in 1917 where he became Colonel McCormick.

By the time the war ended, the Chicago Tribune could boast that it had the highest circulation numbers in the city, but McCormick wanted to take things even further.

He started amassing a fleet of ships to work for the Ontario Pulp and Transportation Company, a shipping business he created to serve his paper business.

- The Tribune owned ships that were traveling between Canada and the United States, bringing all the raw materials that were necessary for producing the paper.

So this allowed the Tribune to be produced in a very efficient and cost-effective way, which also helped it in undercutting rivals.

- But McCormick still wasn't done.

He had his own paper mill, but he was still buying the wood to produce the paper from.

he wanted his own timber lands, but the province of Ontario refused to lease to him.

So he turned elsewhere.

- And where could he find it?

He found it in Quebec, neighboring Quebec, remote parts of Quebec.

- Just before his military service, McCormick had secured a lease on 300-square miles of timber lands in Quebec, and began laying the foundation for a lumber mill and a company town called Shelter Bay, near present day Port-Cartier.

After the war, he got to work developing the town and lumber mill and expanding the timber limits.

He tapped Arthur Schmon, who he met in the military to lead the development of the Tribune's properties in Quebec.

In 1936, they began building Baie-Comeau, Quebec, another company town to support a new paper mill.

And these were no rustic outposts.

- [Narrator] Many big city conveniences, such as hot and cold running water, central heat, and efficient sewer system, electric lights, and a well-equipped hospital, excellent educational facilities are provided by a thoroughly modern school.

- By the 1940s, McCormick and the Tribune had spent millions of dollars and countless man hours building a textbook example of vertical integration; when a company owns the entire supply chain leading up to their final product.

Tribune employees in Quebec would chop down and process trees and load them onto Tribune ships that would carry them to Tribune paper mills.

Those same ships would carry newsprint to Chicago where it would become the Chicago Tribune.

They even made some movies about it, which I've been showing you for a few minutes now.

- [Narrator] Before tomorrow's Chicago Tribune can be printed, there must be paper, and to make paper, there must be trees.

Thus, actual production of tomorrow's Tribune begins in a wilderness on the North Shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

- By the time of the Second World War, McCormick could look over his shoulder at Hearst, who was in desperate straits.

And the vertical integration of the Tribune really became the secret to its overwhelming success in the first half of the 20th century.

- By the time McCormick died in 1955, the Tribune had millions of acres of timber land in Quebec, and some smaller lumber operations in Ontario.

The Ontario Pulp and Transportation Company, which had been renamed the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company, stopped operating in 1983.

The Ontario Paper Company was renamed and sold a few times throughout the '90s and 2000s.

The Thorold paper mill closed in 2017 and the Baie-Comeau mill was idled in 2020 because of COVID-19.

But there are still traces of McCormick throughout Canada.

In Thorold, a plaque commemorates the Ontario Paper Company's first mill.

The McCormick generating station, which was built to supply the Baie-Comeau mill with power still operates today.

Also in Baie-Comeau is a statue of the Colonel navigating the river in a canoe.

- I mean, he was always looking for, dare I say, new frontiers.

He laid the foundation.

- There aren't many Chicago newspapers that can boast of actually like creating a community, but that's the case with the Chicago Tribune.

And I think that speaks to the power of newspapers in the 20th century.

(air whooshing) (intriguing orchestral music) (air whooshing) - Thanks for watching.

For more about any of the stories in this show, visit GreatLakesNow.org.

When you get there, you can follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter to get updates about our work.

(air whooshing) (techno upbeat music) (air whooshing) - [Announcer] This program was brought to you by: The Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Richard C. Devereux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at Detroit PBS, Polk Family Fund, DTE Foundation, and contributions to your PBS Station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(mellow jazzy orchestral music) (bright chiming music)