I AM FRIENDS GOOD WILL ....THIS IS MY STORY....JULY 07 2011.....PART ONE

Hi!  My name is Friends Good Will.  I am a single masted sloop, a neat looking sailing ship.  My home is on the Great Lakes, and my home has varied many times.  My blueprints, I guess you would call them, were began in early 1810, my actual construction in late 1810 and I was launched in 1811.

I was built in Detroit as a merchant vessel.  My owner to be was a merchant.  At that time all the merchandise he sold was carried by horse-drawn wagons over land.  He decided it would be more economical and a lot more profitable for him to invest in a small sloop and have the goods brought by water.  He was a pretty smart cookie.

I was beautiful, sleek and shiny, my sails gleaming white against the blue sky.  I loved the feel of the waves as my bow plowed through the Great Lakes, the breezes being caught by my mighty sales, and I would skim along, flying across the water, spray from the waves keeping me cool, even on the hottest of summer days.

My owner hired a captain who was a fair man, he had a good crew who worked very hard for him as he was very kind to them, as long as they obeyed orders.  He could be very harsh if someone failed to carry out an order, or did  something wrong.  Because the crew really enjoyed working for him, he had no problems. Life was good!  I always had a full load, once everything was placed ashore, I wold sail to another city for a new load.

But then, life changed - really changed.

In the summer of 1812 the U. S. Federal Government chartered me to carry military supplies to Fort Dearborn, you know it as Chicago.  But in 1812 it was just one of many forts lining the shores of the Great Lakes.  The British owned Canada and had their forts on the Canadian side, and America had their forts on the American side.  There were Fort Dearborn, Fort Oswego, and Fort Niagara, just to name a few.

In 1812 the British captured Mackinaw Island from the Americans.  But, boy were they devious - that means sneaky.  Very sneaky.  When they captured Mackinaw Island, instead of raising the British flag, they left the American flag flying.  Why did they do this?  Because the British needed fast sailing sloops and they knew the Americans had these.  Get the picture?  As I said, very sneaky. 

So this fateful day, being fully loaded with furs and skins for trade, we entered the Harbor of Mackinaw Island, and guess what??????

TO BE CONTINUED.

This will be continued on Monday, July 11, as I will be leaving in just a short time for Cleveland Heights and the Cain Park Festival to be held this coming weekend.  I guess you would also call this "being sneaky", but the ship's story is just a little longer than  I want one blog to be.  So tune in on Monday, enjoy your weekend, cross your fingers I have a good one, and God Bless.