CAPTAIN ALEXANDER MCDOUGALL
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This portrait was taken when McDougall served as First Mate under Capt. Thomas Wilson on a steamer out of Duluth named the Meteor. Ironically, McDougall was no longer living when his whaleback # 136 was renamed the S.S. Meteor in 1943, and the name change had no correlation. Cleveland Tankers named all of their vessels after celestial objects. |
Born in Scotland, McDougall and his family emigrated to Canada in 1854. Young Alexander was nine years old, with just two years of education in Glasgow schools to his credit. Except for some night school classes as a young man, it was all the formal education he ever got. In 1861 he began his career on the Great Lakes as a deckhand aboard the steamer Edith. By age 26 he earned his Master's papers, becoming one of the youngest captains on the Inland Seas. Two years later he was given command of the new iron steamer Japan, one of the most prestigious vessels on the Lakes.
During his time working on the Lakes, McDougall envisioned a ship with a rounded hull that would easily shed rough seas. Even though the unusual appearance of the whaleback invited criticism and ridicule, McDougall persisted. In 1888 he launched the first whaleback barge 101, which he built with his own capital. His design worked to attract Rockefeller financial interest. In 1889 the American Steel Barge Company was incorporated for the construction of whalebacks. Forty-four whalebacks were built between 1888 and 1898, with the S.S. Meteor being the 36th.
All but two were built at the American Steel Barge Company shipyard in Superior, Wisconsin, which was located just one mile from where the Meteor now rests. Alexander McDougall not only shaped Great Lakes shipping, but the development of the Twin Ports.
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McDougall's expense diary lists the cost of construction of the Frank Rockefeller as $181,573.38. |
The American Steel Barge Company, West Superior. Capt. McDougall is pictured on the right.
Before he died in 1924, McDougall developed dozens of patents in several countries, built seven shipyards and 200 ships, founded the Highland Power Company (later Minnesota Power and Allete), and organized Duluth's Northern City Bank (now part of the Wells-Fargo system). He also lobbied for a new state called "Superior", agitated for the St. Lawrence Seaway, and invented a method of concentrating iron ore that preceded the present taconite process by 40 years. Many of these contributions have faded into distant memory. Even the whalebacks are largely unknown today - people often mistake the S.S. Meteor for a submarine! Explore this unique ship - learn something new and discover the Great Lakes at the S.S. Meteor Whaleback Ship Museum.
