The Curse of the Schooner Augusta, The Pariah of the Great Lakes

On September 8, 1860, the sidewheel steamer Lady Elgin collided with the schooner Augusta off Winnetka, Illinois, sending more than 300 passengers into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan. While the disaster became one of the deadliest shipwrecks in Great Lakes history, much of the blame focused on the Augusta.

Branded reckless, cursed, and unlucky, the schooner soon earned a reputation as a pariah of the inland seas.

This episode of End of the Road in Michigan traces the tangled story of the Augusta—its role in the tragedy, the bitter legal battles that followed, and the dark superstitions that dogged the vessel until its end. Was the Augusta truly cursed, or simply a scapegoat in the wake of unimaginable loss?