Click to view a video clip from The Wreck of the J.H. Hartzell An original movie by Brauer Productions The slogan above reveals a nagging truth that all sailors lived with. This is a true story about the rescue of the crew of the schooner J.H. Hartzell. This rescue did not involve the Sleeping Bear Station, but the station to the south at Pt. Betsie. Near Empire Bluffs, the Hartzell ran aground with a crew of eight: a captain, six men, and a woman cook named Lydia Dale. At anchor off Frankfort, the wind shifted in the early hours and a storm drove the ship aground. Waves battered the ship as it lay floundering, eventually carrying away its lifeboat and deck cabin. The crew climbed the rigging. Lydia Dale was hoisted up to the crosstree and lashed to the mast. The nearest U.S. Life-Saving Station was 10 miles away at Pt. Betsie. When word of the accident reached the crew, they mobilized and towed the beach apparatus with a horse. Because of the wreck site (off a very steep, high bluff), local people helped to clear underbrush to make way for the cart. When they reached the top it had to be lowered down almost a cliff-like hill. The Lyle gun was set up and the first shot tangled the line in the rigging, the second shot was clean and the rescue line was attached to the boat. Because of the strain on the line, the life car was used. During this time, a crowd had gathered on the beach and started a fire to warm the rescued crew. The service personnel and people gathered became increasingly restless of word that a woman was on board but had not been rescued. The crew claimed she had been dead for some time. They decided to leave her. The next day, the ship had completely broken up. After the body of Lydia Dale was recovered later, the coroner claimed that she had died of drowning. Click here to view a video clip from Brauer Productions

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