The far north's newest museum opened this month in a handsome boat barn that faces Chequamegon Bay and a marina that shelters some of the many pleasure boats that visit Wisconsin's tip each summer. The building displays items owned by the Bayfield Heritage Society and by the two men who have for years collected their own maritime artifacts - Erickson, whose father came from Norway to become a commercial fisherman in Bayfield, and Dave Strzok, who owns Apostle Island Cruise Service and has written several guide books to the state's north coast. The reason for the museum is as obvious as the sleek boats across the street, which speak of today's relentless pursuit of pleasure but reveal nothing about the burly and unglamorous little workboats that once dominated Bayfield's harbor life. In the heyday, there were well over 100 fishing tugs working out of this village. Especially in the 1940s, when the herring fishery was so productive that children would be freed from school to help process the catch, the morning parade of tugs was impressive - but not as impressive as the haul that would be brought home at night.
Memories are important.
Today there are just eight fishermen left here. Erickson took ownership long ago and saved it for the day a museum could be opened. Another display tells the story of the Outer Island, which was very nearly a sad story. A landing craft used in the Normandy invasion in World War II, the Outer Island was brought back to Lake Superior to haul freight. Erickson piloted it for many years, hauling logs from Superior's islands for the Lullaby Furniture Co. and others.