TOPIC:

Burns Waterway Small Boat Harbor: Environmental Impact Statement
books.google.com/books?id=TuI0AQAAMAAJ
1983
... Sportsmen 01 Northern lnotana Portage, Ind-ana Trollera Unllmtted Cheapo, llhnoq ear Lt. ... Considering the thousands of sportfishermen that yearly use the Burns Ditch entrance, perhaps it is a miracle that only 7 deaths have occurred. ... Each year means more cost, with our history of inflation, and therefore each year a ...

The entrance to burn ditch from lake michigan was a deadly scene for many, this gives all accounts of what all transpired to get what we see today. With no breakwall, sandbars grew quickly at the mouth area. Local boaters struggled sometimes to get in or out into the lake. As rough weather conditions happen and sometimes happens fast boaters sometimes grounded from the sandbar during bad conditions found themselves in deadly problems. Think how many non locals also used this area with no knowledge of what obstacles there were. Sand bars was not the only issues. On the west side of the mouth entrance was heavy steel from old walls that were just under the water line at times. If you didn't make a straight north to south track you could be in serious problems. The mouth was known back then as one of the most deadly harbor entrances on lake Michigan. Above is the history of all things that had to be covered to get what we have today. Its a lenghty read but some of it is pretty interesting.

I remember navigating that mouth starting in our first boat in the mid 80s. Nothing like surfing in on the back of rollers out of the north that would double in size when they hit the shallow water around the channel. There wasn't much room for error. None actually.

What I've tried to learn - unsuccessfully - is when, why and how Burn's Ditch was created originally. I doubt it was a drainage ditch. I doubt it was for recreational boat access. I don't know if "pre-coho" there was even a launch area at the Ditch. After all, it was called Lefty's Coho Landing. I imagine it was hoped to be an industrial harbor, but that pretty well failed. It's probably an interesting story.

There seems to little information out there Mike. I found an old Chicago Tribune article that talked about some of it.
9/3/1959
It appears that in 1927 a group of farmers petitoned the Porter County Circuit Court for a request for drainage. The drainage would be 75ft wide and 9ft. deep. The name BURNS Ditch was after one of the petioners. I'll try to figure how to copy the old article. There are old pictures of boats slipped at the Ike's showing the water table was much higher then what we see today. I also remember how Burns ditch was almost covered up. All the land was purchased by industry later. Industry had strong thoughts of putting in large drainage pipe to the lake and covering the rest up with dirt.

archives.chicagotribune.com/1959/09/03/p...ash-over-burns-ditch


This is the article I was looking at with the history of Burn Ditch.

Thanks for the info. I love the news paper clipping from 1959. The store adds are great. Brings back memories. I also remember the issues with the mouth of the ditch back before the break wall. It was real nasty getting in & out back then. My father in law had a 25" Chris Craft in there in the late 70's. Caught my 1st salmon with him. It was an 18# King and I've been hooked ever since.

1959 that's the year I was born.

Hey Tom got you by 4.

WildKat Tim,

I couldn't resist myself to scroll thru the pages and smile. The price of beef for one!

Interesting stuff. That "Burns" fellow must have been a real mover and shaker in the area back in the day to have both a drainage ditch and the harbor named for him. I was surprised the "ditch" was originally for drainage. I understand the Little Cal and Salt Creek originally flowed west (probably oozed west would be a better description) on the south side of the Dunes. I assumed such an undertaking as digging a channel through the sand dunes would only have been something large and important enough to have been something undertaken to benefit industry.

My guess is the ditch was originally the first phase of being able to get commercial traffic to the steel mills and other industry. Once they figured out they wouldn't be able to keep the waterway dredged out sufficiently to allow tugs and ore boats, they went on to plan B - building Burns Harbor to the east and then the Port of Indiana in the middle 70s.

I do remember the old entrance to the ditch and have taken a couple waves over the bow in my 16 footer trying to get out back in the early 80s. Dangerous place.