The Great Panic of 1873.

The mill, and its town, flourished until the Great Panic of '73. Financial panics were not uncommon, indeed, they occurred with some regularity. The working man was primarily affected when his employer could not meet its payroll. Such was the case with the mill. The Panic affected about half the country and railroad construction effectively ceased. Even so, the owners proceeded to construct a new merchant mill hoping to diversify its holdings. This proved disastrous as it too went into debt. One of the principal stockholders, Eber Ward, died in 1875 causing turmoil as his estate was settled. Further exacerbating the situation was the industry-wide switch to steel, rather than iron rails. Ultimately, the owners declared bankruptcy.

When the Milwaukee Iron Company closed its shops in October 1876 Bay View's economy was plunged into a depression. Although the business reopened the following January, in the interim the inhabitants of the village were destitute. Though families were staked by the grocer Gottlieb Patek, the French were self-sufficient and loathe to ask for charity. In those hard times residents scoured the Lake Michigan shoreline looking for scraps of wood to burn in their stoves. Men were willing to take whatever work they could find and would venture into Milwaukee for jobs. Many who bought houses lost them when they could not make mortgage payments.

In March 1878 the industry was taken over by the North Chicago Iron Works and the shops reopened as the North Chicago Rolling Mills Steel Foundry. By this time the oldest son, Rocque, left the mill for work as a printer, a trade he learned through an apprenticeship back in Montréal.