The Towboat Kate Moffat
watercolor on paper
unsigned.
13 x 18 inches.

The American tug Kate Moffat was built in 1864 in Port Huron, Michigan by Alexander Stewart for James Moffat, who owned and operated a line of tugboats on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers. After 21 years of service to Great Lakes steamers, the Kate Moffatt notoriously wrecked on a reef near Blue Point on  May 31, 1885. A fire started in the engine room, and the tug burned with such speed that her crew scarcely had time to abandon ship.