FRANKFORT, MI - It was 145 years ago this fall that a schooner hauling iron ore met a violent end during a sudden squall in northern Lake Michigan. The wreck still litters the lake’s bottom near Frankfort - and sparked a haunting mystery that continues to be part of Great Lakes lore: A woman who died lashed to the sinking ship’s mast.

Boaters have floated over the waterlogged timbers offshore. They’re all that remains of the J. Hazard Hartzell. That, and a U.S. Life Saving Service annual report that goes into great detail about the 1880 wreck and its controversial rescue effort.

The story itself is that of an extraordinary effort. Townspeople and surfmen from the nearby Life Saving Station worked together under grueling conditions for more than 12 hours to save the seven men aboard. But

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