If you ever go to Saskatchewan, Canada, be sure to visit the town of Moose Jaw. At the Pioneer Village and Museum, you can see an enigma of the twentieth century. It is an ocean-going ship, standing on the prairie, a thousand miles from the sea. In the ship there are handmade instruments for navigation. Engineers and scientists have not yet discovered the purpose of some of those custom made instruments. This very mystery inspired Andreas Schroeder to write Dust Ship Glory. His book is fascinating and true. Andreas demonstrates great writing skill in bringing his protagonist to life.
Damianus Sukanen was born in Finland as Tomi Jaanus Alankola. He was the ship-builder. Schroeder does not presume to know the thoughts of Sukanen. Historic events and their effects on the prairie dwellers are faithfully recorded. These events must be taken into consideration. You will probably not like the strange Finn, but you might understand the forces that shaped him. The topsoil blew away and clouds of grasshoppers devoured everything that was softer than wood. Damianus Sukanen worked outdoors in temperatures of minus thirty degrees Fahrenheit. He worked in the Summer in one hundred degrees of heat. Damianus dressed in home-made horse leather pants and a shirt made of woven twine.
His forge echoed the constant tattoo of two hammers. Damianus was building his ship, Sontianen. The name is Finnish for "dung-beetle." He would not accept help and he would not suffer any hindrance from his neighbours. Damianus steadfastly refused to tell his reasons for building the ship. His neighbours were mystified by his silence and infuriated by his bitter words.
The ship parts were made on his forge with exacting precision. Sukanen was able to roll cold steel for the boilers. Metallurgists today tell us that this process with Damianus’ equipment is impossible. Sukanen said that he worked his metal with the help of the moon and the planets. His farm disintegrated as the ship slowly took shape. Everything Damianus owned was incorporated into Sontianen. The hull was protected from rust with horse blood and urine. Horses were also used for food and clothes. Curious neighbours were rejected whenever they brought him food as an excuse for spying.
Eventually, the hull, the keel, the engine and the navigational instruments were ready. Sukanen made a hand-forged chain, hitched it to his last living work horse and a winch assembly. He then began to drag the ship off his property. It was twenty-five kilometers to the nearest river. He worked each day until his horse was exhausted. Then he walked to the target river, where he constructed another forge and some rafts.
His hammers rang through the night. He moved that ship approximately one and a half kilometers per year. His teeth disintegrated over time and he made a pair of steel dentures with screws for teeth. Before his ship reached the water’s edge, he was put into an insane asylum in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. He was then more than sixty years old. Sukanen was adamantly self-sufficient, totally irreverent and a complete non-conformist. In the asylum he stared at the walls and mumbled. He still refused to explain his actions and he died there with the secret of his ship intact. His bones were interred beside the ship. I can imagine Sukanen in one possible afterlife, moving his ship the last few kilometers. Friedrich Nietzsche watches him in an epic silence. The philosopher is intrigued, impressed and awed but Sukanen will not speak to him.
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