The wooden two masted scow-schooner Iris was built in 1866 at Port Huron, Michigan by Lornezo S. Bedford and first enrolled on May 15, 1866. The Iris had a long and colorful history under numerous owners and captains. It hailed from Port Huron for only one season. Less than a year from its original enrollment, it was sold to Captain S. Burrell of Detroit for $4,200 and began the 1867 season under his sole ownership and command. Over the years it hailed from Port Huron, Michigan, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Washington Island, Newport, and Marinette.

On one late November run, then captain Captain Pederson was carrying several thousand dollars' worth of merchandise consigned to Washington Island. As he approached the island, a strong westerly gale kicked up and overpowered the small schooner. Blown clear across Lake Michigan, the Iris was about to go ashore on North Manitou Island when the island’s life-saving station managed to get a line on it and tow it to safety inside the harbor. This incident was a blow to Captain Pederson’s pride and went unmentioned when he finally arrived at Washington Island. When a Door County Advocate reporter saw an article in a Leelenau newspaper describing the event, however, he could not leave well enough alone. Rubbing salt in Captain Pederson’s wounds, the reporter not only described the incident in the Door County Advocate, but also stated that it was “queer that the crew don’t remember such things when they got [sic] home” (Door County Advocate 1893d:8).

During the second half of its career the Iris sailed mainly out of Detroit Harbor, Washington Island. Much of its life was spent in local trade carrying cargo such as wood. It made numerous trips between Door County ports and Milwaukee. By 1903, the Iris was beginning to show its age and was one of only a few self-propelled schooners actively working the lakes.
The Iris was forty-seven years old when then captain, Captain Thompsen, recommissioned it in 1913, an age to which very few schooners survived on Lake Michigan. Its last season would not be a long one. Captain Thompsen arrived at Jackson Harbor on Washington Island early in March 1913, a familiar port to the aging Iris. Unable to secure a cargo, Captain Thompsen struck a deal with a local resident to sell the Iris for $5, but the buyer was unable to produce the money. On March 5, 1913, Captain Thompsen weighed anchor and sailed out of Jackson Harbor. Clear of the harbor, all sails were set and the Iris was brought about. With as much headway as it could make, Captain Thompsen sailed back into Jackson Harbor and ran the Iris hard aground.

Three days later, on March 8, the final enrollment was surrendered. For the official record, Captain Thompsen listed the Iris as foundered at Jackson Harbor, and that all three crew members aboard had survived. The Iris never moved again. Anything of value was salvaged over succeeding years. The cabin’s wainscoting was removed and used to line local ice boxes, and any other useful timbers were salvaged by locals. The hulk was a local playground for island children, who fished from the decks into the 1920s, until it became too rotten to safely board
The Iris lays in less than 4 feet of water between the Rock Island ferry dock and the Ellefson commercial fishing piers in Jackson Harbor, Washington Island. The site was documented by Wisconsin Historical Society archaeologists and trained volunteers over one week in June 2005 as part of a Phase II predisturbance survey. The vessel lies upright, embedded in the bottom, with portions of the stern structure protruding above the water’s surface. Much of the vessels lower hull has been buried beneath dredge spoil from dredging around an adjacent pier that lies immediately off the Iris’ port side. Significant portions of the Iris’ bow and stern remain exposed, as well as the centerboard trunk along the vessel’s centerline

No artifacts were discovered that conclusively identify the Jackson Harbor vessel as the Iris. Based on historical records, local informants, and archaeological evidence, however, it likely is the Iris. The Ellefson family has owned the adjacent property since 1909 and would have been familiar with the Iriswhile it was actively trading at Jackson Harbor, adding validity to the identification. Vessel dimensions are consistent with those of the Iris, and documented construction is consistent with the Iris’ historic image.