The worst storm in the Great Lakes' recorded history, the 1905 Mataafa Storm, wrecked or damaged 20 vessels including the schooner-barge Madeira. The courageous act of a crew member saved all but one man. Fred Benson's heroism is just one of the stories waiting visitors at a new exhibit that opens May 15, at Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse.

In fact, the lighthouse's story begins where the Madeira's ends. As the storm intensified, the steamer William Edenborn towed the Madeira through raging waters. In an effort to save both ships, the Edenborn's captain cut the towline. Two hours later, the Madeira struck Gold Rock Point. Benson grabbed a line and jumped from the deck of the ship to a rock outcrop at the base of the cliff. With stormy seas crashing against him, he scaled the cliff's 60 feet. Dropping lines to the ship, he rescued eight men, however the first mate was carried down with the sinking ship as he climbed the mizzenmast, attempting to jump to safety. The survivors, suffering from exposure, were rescued two days later.

"Demands for more protection for shipping increased in the violent wake of the 1905 storms. Less than two years later, Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse at Split Rock, just south of where the Madeira rests, " explains Brian Horrigan, the exhibits curator.

It was the powerful iron ore industry making those demands. The new exhibit will cover mining history and detail how the storms and shipwrecks led to the lighthouse's 1910 construction. It also will delve into the lives of lighthouse keepers and local commercial fishermen; explore a time when the Ojibwe Indian's seasonal subsistence cycle brought them to Lake Superior fishing grounds; and introduce visitors to current navigation techniques.

A huge interactive map of Lake Superior reveals facts about the lake, the landscape, and the history of the area. Children will enjoy examining samples of local rocks and puzzling through an interactive display on ore boats, magnets and compasses.

Through historic photographs and postcards, visitors will meet the people whose lives intertwined with a lighthouse that remained in operation for nearly 60 years. People are frozen in time in photographs, proudly taken to document the station' s march of progress. In 1916, construction workers pose near a section of the tramway they built to haul supplies 100 yards up the slope to the Keeper's Quarters. In another scene, the keeper's children welcome the light station's first truck in 1934.

Other images capture more somber moments. The America, a 183-foot steamer, looks ghostly as it sinks off the coast of Isle Royale in 1928. Decades later, divers hover in darkness on the ship's grand ballroom.

Exhibit objects reveal more stories. From a life-vest recovered from the America, to Ojibwe fishing hooks, dozens of items will offer first hand evidence of interaction between the lake and area inhabitants. Drawn from the Society's collections, and loaned or donated by individuals, diving clubs, local museums, and Isle Royale National Park, the items will help visitors imagine how different life was in this isolated setting.

Split Rock Lighthouse is located on Highway 61, 20 miles northeast of Two Harbors, Minnesota. Summer hours are 9am to 5pm daily. For more information on the lighthouse, call 212-226-6372. For a free brochure on Split Rock Lighthouse, which includes information on the state's other historic sites call 1-888-PAST-FUN.

This story appeared in the June 1997 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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