Yesterday was the 51^st anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  Good grief, how can it have been that long?

The EF was commissioned in 1958 and was a taconite hauler from the northern Minnesota mines to various iron works in ports on the Great Lakes.  When she was launched, she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there as well.  She was carrying over 26,000 tons of taconite on that last voyage and she lies 530 below the surface — just 17 miles from Whitefish Bay, where she was headed.  Although life rafts were found deployed, no one survived.  Only one body was found on the wreck itself, no others have been discovered.

I found this interesting animation online:

Of course most of us remember the Edmund Fitzgerald because of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot.  I’m guessing that it’s cemented in many of our minds because it was a staple on the Late Great Morning Show.

He wrote it in early 1976, after having read about the tragedy after it happened.  Lightfoot was up for two Grammys, best song and best male pop vocal, but was beaten out by I Write the Songs and Stevie Wonder.  I’m pretty sure that all of us here on the Trail would have voted for one of our classics.  I still tear up when I hear it.  And then after I play it again, I usually put on The Mary Ellen Carter as well!

Any other good historical ballads that you like?