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Serving the communities of Long Lake, Wayzata, Orono, Minnetonka, Medina, Independence, Maple Plain, Armstrong, Plymouth, Stubbs Bay, Corcoran, Crystal Bay

The Museum and Archives will now be open

every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm

We would like to welcome you back

to the museum!

As usual please stay home if you are feeling sick

Limited research may be conducted via email to
museum@whcpa-museum.org or
webmaster@whcpa-museum.org

In October of 1859 Norman Stone hired the sailing ship 'White Swan' to move his family (wife and children) from their land near West Arm to Minnetonka Mills. Ship owner Mr. Loveland, Nathan Butterfield and Stone's hired hand, Robert McKenzie, who was then 17 years old, loaded the ship, but found themselves in a fall storm. They waited in North Arm until the weather calmed. It cleared up at midnight and Mr. Stone wished to proceed. They rowed across a calm North Arm into Crystal Bay where they found some wind. They hoisted the sails and made good time and entered the main lake. They sailed past Starvation Point (Orono Point) and found quite a gale. Before they could loosen the sails, the boat listed to the starboard and took in water. Mrs. Stone and the children slid off the boat on the mattress they were on and Mr. Stone attempted to save them and lost his grip. He slipped under the water and the rest of the family slipped one after the other under the water. It was one and a half hours before sunrise. The boat drifted east and then was blown southeast. Mr. Loveland and then Nathan Butterfield lost their grips on the boat and slipped under the water. Robert McKenzie walked back and forth along the hull of the boat until it grounded in St. Louis Bay. Robert wandered along a cattle path until he found a pioneer cabin. Robert McKenzie survived and lived near the east end of the lake for many years.