The snow was blowing around during stronger gusts of winds today. Old windmills, like this one, will “furl” in high winds which prevent a turbine from spinning too quickly by turning the blades out of the wind. This Aermotor windmill uses an adjustable spring to select the speed point at which to furl the windmill out of the wind and to return the windmill into the wind as the wind speed decreases. It can be manually turned out of the wind also as this one might be.
Furled Windmill
Tonight held a treat of a total lunar eclipse, one referred to as Super Blood Wolf Moon lunar eclipse. “Super” refers to the fact that the Moon will be closest to the Earth in its orbit when the total eclipse takes place. The reddish hue the Moon takes on during the eclipse gives it the “blood” name. The Old Farmer’s Almanac contributes the “wolf” name, as full moons in January are known as Full Wolf Moons. Course when the skies are clear for the full moon in January, it normally means a cold night and very true tonight with below zero temperatures. So I didn’t stay outside to take a picture every few minutes like I have done in past even though I will have to wait until May 2021 to try again.
Super Blood Wolf Moon
The sun was out on this very chilly and crisp day after some snow overnight. Even the moon appears bright to light the snow but with the temperature below zero, I’m not a moonlight walk especially when I didn’t stay outside long during the daylight either.
Chilly Pine Cones
The officers quarters were a bit more cozier than the enlisted married men log housing and definitely fancier than the general enlisted men barracks at Fort Wilkins.
Officer Quarters
The log houses for the married enlisted men’s quarters were found just outside the wooden stake wall at Fort Wilkins. Since none of the soldiers were stationed very long at the fort, I doubt the wives and children liked moving from one location to the next in the 1840s any more than present military families do.
Married Enlisted Quarters
With the early 1840s copper rush to the Keweenaw Peninsula, the U.S. government was concerned about possible disorder and violence with miners and the Native Americans so in 1844, Fort Wilkins was established at the direction of Secretary of War William Wilkins. Some of the 27 structures built can be seen in this picture including officers quarters, sulter’s store, hospital, company quarters, kitchen and mess room. The fort proved to be unnecessary as the area remained peaceful and by 1846, the companies stationed there were sent to the Mexican–American War leaving one sergeant at the fort. When the remaining soldier died in 1855, the fort was leased to a doctor who hoped to open a health resort but that plans fell through with his death in 1861. After the American Civil War, the U.S. army reoccupied Fort Wilkins for three years in 1867–1870 as a place for men to serve out the rest of their enlistments from the war. The army permanently abandoned the facility at the end of August 1870.
Fort Wilkins
The shelves in the bake house at Fort Wilkins were rather empty the winter of 1844 after the sinking of the John Jacob Astor. The fort didn’t receive its normal winter’s supply even though some supplies was rescued from the wreckage. Flour was in low supply as well as other critical rations until the one remaining ship could deliver additional cargo.
Bake House at Fort Wilkins
In the 1840s, the very frail frontier mining communities along Lake Superior relied on ships to bring supplies. The Sutler’s Store at Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor was one of the few stores not operated by mining companies in that area and offered competition to the mining stores. The stores also competed for very limited cargo space on the ships and so when the John Jacob Astor sank late in the shipping season, it created a winter supply shortage throughout the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Sutler’s Store
Across the bay from where the Copper Harbor Lighthouse sits, the brig John Jacob Astor was wrecked on the rocks at the end of cove in 1844 when a terrific gale came up and the Astor lost one of its two anchors. Repeated attempts were made to free the Astor from the rocks, but she broke up in the severe winter weather conditions. There was only one other schooner left on Lake Superior that fall so the loss of the Astor created severe winter food shortages across the Upper Peninsula including Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor.
Shipwreck Site
Cloudy days look better in the fall than in the winter and the view is always better when a lighthouse is in the scene. The Copper Harbor Lighthouse aided in the transport of copper from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and was built in 1866.
Light in Copper Harbor
