The ''Superior'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

that operated on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

in the early 19th century.

History

The wooden schooner was built in

Ashtabula Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city ha ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, in 1816 from "the best materials". The following year it was enrolled at Presque Isle,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. On April 13, 1824 it was purchased by a joint group of parties in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The following year, on May 17, it was sold to Reynold Gillet of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. In 1825, an advert was placed with the ''Buffalo Emporium'' showing that the ship was to make voyage from Buffalo to Detroit on March 24, weather permitting. The advert invited interested travellers to apply to the captain "for freight or passage

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

good accommodations". On May 9, 1825 the schooner ran aground near

Cedar Point, Ohio Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and ope ...

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. Three years later, on January 29, 1828, it again ran aground on the lake near Buffalo.

Over the falls

In 1829, the ''Superior'' was purchased by businessmen for use in a stunt. A planned dive by

Sam Patch Sam Patch (1799Johnson, Paul. ''Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 2003) . – November 13, 1829), known as "The Jersey Jumper", "The Daring Yankee", or the "Yankee Leaper" became the first famous American daredevil after su ...

into the base of the falls was advertised as a major public event, occurring on October 7. A side-attraction was to have the schooner sail over the falls and crash spectacularly in the lower

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

. However, on October 15 the ''

Cleveland Weekly Herald Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

'' reported that the ''Superior'' stunt "eventuated in a perfect failure". The story described how the ship should have "precipitated entire, into the gulf below", but that it became caught on a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

. Over a month later, on November 23, the ''

Fredonia Censor Fredonia may refer to: Places Colombia * Fredonia, Antioquia, a town and municipality United States * Fredonia, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Fredonia, Arizona, a town * Fredonia (Biscoe), Arkansas, a city * Fredonia, Indiana, an uni ...

'' announced that a severe gale had dislodged the ship and that it went over the falls, having "reached the brink of the Falls without breaking".

References

{{reflist Schooners of the United States 1816 ships Ships built in Ashtabula, Ohio Great Lakes freighters