The Great Lakes’ One True Pirate: ‘Roaring Dan’ Seavey

Pirates have long been a curiosity of the modern world, with names like Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, and Jack Sparrow (technically) powering the glorified legends of swashbuckling piracy in the Caribbean. Though in reality, pirates were all around the world, like Madame Cheng in China and the Barbarossa Brothers in the Mediterranean Sea.

Where there was maritime trade, there were pirates (and this is true today), and considering the role the Great Lakes have played in trade, it comes as no surprise that there were pirates on the Lakes. Though nowhere near as much as other spots around the globe, there was one true pirate in the Great Lakes: Dan Seavey.

⬇️20 GREAT LAKES SHIPWRECKS VISIBLE FROM GOOGLE MAPS⬇️

Information on Dan Seavey also comes from the books Great Lakes Crime: Murder, Mayhem, Booze & Broads by Frederick Stonehouse and Great Lakes Pirate: The Adventures of Roaring Dan Seavey by Gavin Schmitt.

Roaring Dan & The Wanderer

Dan Seavey was born in Maine but spent his sailing days going around Lake Michigan, taking up port in Escanaba. He started a freight service on his schooner, the Wanderer. This ship would be Seavey's vessel around Lake Michigan as he grew his fortune not through transporting goods, but rather stealing anything that wasn't nailed down from other ships in the port.

Roaring Dan had multiple strategies for his piracy, but his bread and butter was sneaking onto other ships at night, stealing their goods, and sailing to Chicago or Escanaba and selling everything for profit. He also would illegally hunt and sell venison, an endeavor that nearly cost him his ship. Goods weren't the only thing being sold aboard his vessel. The Wanderer was also a brothel, and prostitution was commonplace on the schooner.

READ MORE: What Happened to The Great Lakes' 'Holy Grail' Of Shipwrecks? |

Moon Cussing

Seavey's form of piracy didn't consist of cannons and naval battles like those glorified in the Caribbean. Rather, Roaring Dan utilized a strategy known as "moon cussing". Lighthouses were known to help sailors avoid treacherous areas, but Seavey would instead set up false lights or hijack lighthouses and lead ships to their doom, resulting in the shipwrecks that were easy to plunder.

Nellie Johnson & Grand Marshall Seavey

Roaring Dan's greatest-and final-caper came when he hijacked a small schooner called the Nellie Johnson after getting the crew drunk. He sailed the ship to Chicago and sold all the cargo. However, the law enforcement saw their chance to nab the pirate and gave chase. Seavey was captured and brought to trial in Chicago. However, Seavey claimed he won the boat in a bet, and since the Nellie Johnson captain didn't show up at the trial to refute the claims, he was released.

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His pirate days were over after that, instead switching from a life of crime to one of law enforcement after being named a US Marshal, a pirate catching pirates. Although it is believed he made over a million dollars in pirate days, Roaring Dan died penniless in Wisconsin.

You can learn more about Dan Seavey here.