Summary
Jim Sawtelle is identified in the 1967–1968 Beaver Beacon reports as a Charlevoix shipwreck salvager and maker of furniture from old vessel timbers. The reports attribute to him the recovery of an unidentified ancient wreck rudder and repeated attempts to salvage the Milwaukee Belle.
Evidence and limits
This is a source-qualified occupational record, not a complete civil biography or business history. The sources do not provide Sawtelle’s full name, dates, legal ownership records, or an authoritative inventory of salvage projects.
Open questions
- What was Jim Sawtelle’s full name and career history?
- What other wrecks, vessels, and salvage equipment were involved in his work?
- What records document Shipwrecks Unlimited and the shipwreck-furniture shop?
See also
- Salvage of unidentified ancient sailing-vessel remains (1967)
- Repeated salvage attempts on the Milwaukee Belle (c. 1965–1968)
- Shipwrecks Unlimited (1967 salvage business)
- Nancy Sawtelle (1967 shipwreck-furniture business)
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, July 1967, “Shipwreck Salvage.”Identifies Jim Sawtelle of Shipwrecks Unlimited, says he located and raised an ancient wreck rudder, and describes his shipwreck-furniture business with his wife Nancy.
- Beaver Beacon, September 1968, “Shipwreck Salvage.”Identifies Jim Sawtelle as a Charlevoix salvager and describes his three-year effort to salvage the Milwaukee Belle off Iron Ore Bay and the losses of his salvage equipment.