Just when it was that Mother, Dad, Bob and I made our first trip as a family to visit Aunt Jo on her farm near Benton Harbor, Michigan, I have only to guess; 1922 perhaps. Mother of course, had been there many times, when she was growing up. Getting there was quite an adventure, but we did go in style. On those first trips when we had no car, we took the train
from Elmhurst to Chicago, then by steamboat on the Goodrich line across the lower end of Lake Michigan to Benton Harbor-St. Joseph in Michigan. At one time there was a fleet of these grand old ships operating out of the major ports around the Great Lakes. They were side-wheelers of wood construction which began operating in 1856 carrying freight and
passengers.. In the early days, the ships were coal burning, wooden, side-wheel steamers, later they were  propeller driven. Aunt Jo shipped tons of melons, and other fruits every year on these ships,  much of it to the Chicago market. These lake ships carried most ot the freight and passengers around the lakes until the 1920's, gradually roads improved and trucks and
railroads began to replace the ships. There were more than 60 of these grand old steamers named for the ports around the Great Lakes where they made scheduled stops. Some of the names I do remember; like the The City of South Bend, the City of Saugatuck, The City of Grand Rapids and of course The City of Benton Harbor, which we usually took.

Travel brochures advertised that they were "Constructed of the finest material" and the company called them "Floating Palaces" which is the way I remember them. The huge dining salon tables were set with the finest of crystal, silver, and china. The company a advertised that they employed the best chefs money could hire. The state rooms rivaled the best hotels of the day. The cabins, main saloon, passage ways, and grand stair-case all seemed elegant with their red plush interiors They were very popular with honeymoon couples throughout the region. One couple that I know of, were my father's parents, following their wedding in Cleveland in 1889 they took the night boat to Detroit, perhaps they were headed for Niagara Falls?
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These ships were easy to identify with their white top sides, black hulls and deep red smokestacks. They were just as colorfuI as the river steamers with all of their gingerbread and ornate styling. The river steam boats were sternwheelers, that is the paddles were in the rear and so  could run onto the bank of the river for loading and unloading. .The lake steamers had paddles one on each side and had regular docks for this purpose so didn't look quite the same viewing them from the front end.

 On more than one occasion we were the guests of the captain, an old friend and former employee of Aunt lo. In good weather he invited us to enjoy the trip from the small deck above the wheelhouse where the view was spectacular. From this vantage point we could see the ship, stem to stern and Lake Michigan as far as the eye could see. How long the ship was, I don't  All we know is that it was registered at over 700 ton capacity .There were lots of places to explore and I was fascinated by the huge side wheels churning up the water. From the lower deck one could easily walk around the shield that was the
housing for the paddles, which seemed to me to be about thirty feet in diameter. It was so noisy, you couldn't carry on a conversation. The ship being of wood did make creaking sounds which harmonized with the thrashing of the paddles and  water rushing past us There were many pleasant smells about the ship;  fiuity from the cargo,  mouth watering from the galley, burning coal from the engine room.

Our last trip was probably in 1931, but at the age of   fourteen, I didn't realize that I was seeing the end of an era, never giving much thought to what was changing about me. The big depression was taking its toll; even so, many people now had cars and were in a hurry.

Traveling by car had its advantages, but that wasn't the case last year. We drove our car from Illinois to the farm and experienced the frustration of inching along behind hay wagons on a two lane road (the main highway, across much of the state of Indiana). How we wished we were back on one of the lake steamers. After we left Illinois for California I often wondered what had happened to those old side-wheelers;  rumor had it that they had been scrapped or converted by the Navy for practice landings and take-offs. A sad end for those grand old ladies of a bygone day, I am glad to have those memories of how it was and to realize how lucky I am that I didn't miss it.