During the summer and fall of 1965, while the CHIEF WAWATAM, the regular rail ferry between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, Michigan was in Manitowoc, Wisonsin for a boiler rebuild, the rail barge MANISTEE and the tug MUSKEGON were chartered to temporarily handle the task of moving rail traffic across the Straits of Mackinac. Built in 1898 as ANN ARBOR FERRY NO. 2 the vessel operated for many years in Lake Michigan service. Near the end of its life it was converted into a barge powered by a tug and was renamed MANISTEE.
