Guiding Lights, Tragic Shadows: Tales of Great Lakes Lighthouses

A peaceful lighthouse at Prescott, Ontario, was once the flashpoint of American invasion in an undeclared war. Robbers called "Blackbirds" preyed on Lake Erie shipping, using false beacons to confuse their victims. The lighthouse at Oswego, New York, was the site of one of the worst disasters in the history of the United States Coast Guard. A Lake Huron lightkeeper wiped snow off the window of his lamp room, and inadvertently caused a shipwreck. A 14-year-old Detroit River lightkeeper's dau...