The Rouse Simmons, a three-masted schooner built in Milwaukee in 1868, spent years carrying lumber around Lake Michigan before becoming famous as the Christmas Tree Ship serving Chicago’s holiday market. Under Herman Schuenemann, known as “Captain Santa,” it sold trees from the Clark Street Bridge and became a seasonal local legend. In November 1912, after loading 5,500 trees near Manistique, it sailed into worsening weather and sank in a violent storm with all hands. Found off Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in 1971, the wreck remains an important archaeological site and a lasting link between Great Lakes shipping and Chicago holiday traditions.