Mildred Cruso at Biloxi Mississippi

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#663366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><U>MILDRED CRUSO AT BACK BAY</U></B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#336666" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="USCG Sledge at Thomas Point Lighthouse"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fells point at Broadway Pier"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" 16 x 20 Pen Ink"><U><B><IMG SRC="00d0d1d0.gif" border=0 width="13" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" 16 x 20 Pen Ink"><U><B>Return to 16" x 20" pen and ink page</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#262626" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div>   <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT>           </div> <div> <B>In the early 1700's, following LaSalle’s discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi, the French expanded their exploration of a vast territory along the Mississippi Valley extending from Canada to the Gulf coast which they named La Louisiane.  Sieur d’Iberville was commissioned by King Louis XIV to colonize this area and in 1699 a small settlement was established near what is now Ocean Springs but soon moved across the Bay to a place they called Nouveau Biloxy (named after a local Indian tribe) which served briefly as the Capitol of the territory.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In 1723, lacking deep water access, the French moved the Capitol to New Orleans and abandoned the settlement.  Few settlers remained and little development took place until the United States purchased the Territory in 1803.  In 1817 Mississippi became a State and with the railroad and steam boats the Gulf Coast became a major focus of economic expansion, principally in the seafood and fishing industry.  The Biloxi Seafood industry flourished and by the end of the Century large canneries were shipping seafood to all parts of the country.  Ship building became a major activity and Biloxi soon became known as the Seafood Capitol of the Nation.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Gulf Coast and the shallow waters of the Mississippi Sound dictated the need for specialized boats and the area produced two specific boat types indigenous to the area.  The first were the small centerboard schooners (ranging is size from about 40 to 50+ feet) known as Biloxi Schooners that fished the area from the late 1800s well into the early 20</B><B>th</B><B> century. In the 1930s, as power began replacing sail, many of the schooners were cut down and powered with gasoline engines; these conversions were called powered luggers.  Deck houses were moved to the stern with only the shortened fore mast remaining to be used to support trawling gear.  The term lugger is of  European origin and refers to small coastal fishing boats originally rigged with lug sails along the coast of France and Southern England; the term remains in use today in</B><B> Northern Europe </B><B>and </B><B>regionally in North America </B><B> to describe a variety of small powered coastal fishing vessels.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>By 1940 the schooner was on its way out and the powered lugger was becoming the fishing boat of choice.  The size and shape of the schooner hull, which was developed specifically for these waters, combined with the new deck layout in these converted Biloxi schooners was ideally suited for the area. The design was quickly incorporated into new boats being built to replace the disappearing schooners. The result was a new and unique boat type, a bit longer than the schooners, that became known as the Biloxi Lugger adopting modern single or double trawl rigs.  The Smithsonian Institution recognizes both the Biloxi Schooner and the Biloxi Lugger as specific boat types unique to the United States coastal waters.  Both are represented in the National Watercraft Collection.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The sheltered area known as Back Bay in Biloxi was the center of the Biloxi seafood industry since the mid 1800s.  Packing plants flourished here until after WWII when modern freezing and preservation methods began eroding the demand for canned seafood.  While the canneries are largely gone, commercial fishing storage methods adapted to the changing times and seafood is still a major industry in this area with luggers and other fishing craft a common sight unloading their catch.  The </B><B><U>Mildred Cruso</U></B><B>  (o/n 251281) is a good example of a Biloxi Lugger.  The 62 foot long vessel was built in Biloxi in 1946 and is still documented as active in the U. S. Coast Guard registry of commercial fishing vessels.</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>