Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates

Waiting in the night, hidden behind a remote island, no lights showing, pirates would lure unsuspecting ships into unknown waters. Then they would silently slide up to them and board the ship. The crew would be killed and the bodies thrown over the side, weighted down with chains. The pirates would take the cargo, sink or burn the ship, and then, just as quietly, sail away into the night. Dead men tell no tales, nor do they testify in court.

Forget everything you've learned about pirates from Johnny Depp films. Instead of chasing down ships laden with gold, the Great Lakes pirates were after commodities. There were fur pirates, timber pirates, religious pirates, and inept pirates. Just about anything that could be sold fell prey to pirates. Cargos could be stolen and then sold at the next port.

"Piracy on the Great Lakes is a swashbuckling treat and fascinating addition to Great Lakes lore. Historical vignettes filled with fur traders, religious extremists, and Civil War opponents bring it to life. You'll be surprised, entertained, and enlightened by the tales of high adventure that await you in these pages." - Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD, award-winning author of The Mysteries of Marquette

"Replete with hair-raising tales of black-sailed ships, desperate and bloody conquests, frontier politics, revenge, and retribution, Mikel Classen's Piracy on the Great Lakes paints a vivid picture of piracy's social and economic role in America's adolescence. Classen contex-tualizes the broad strokes of the Civil War, the late stages of the fur trade, and the timber market with anecdotes of personal detail that are often far stranger than fiction." - J.D. Austin, author of The Last Huck

"I learned a lot about the Great Lakes and was impressed by the extensive research Mikel B. Classen must have done. He has packed a lot of information into less than 100 pages. I would recommend it to anyone seeking a good read about our Great Lakes." - Larry Jorgensen, author of Shipwrecked and Rescued

"This slim volume contains a wealth of information on a subject that seems as reluctant to reveal its history as the historical pirates of the Great Lakes who guarded their anonymity. Piracy on the Great Lakes is filled with photographs and illustrations that complement the narrative. Classen has written a fine survey of pirating on the Great Lakes and even readers with some knowledge of the subject will find it worth their time." -- Tom Powers, Michigan in Books