On July 9, 1868, the steamer Milwaukee was crossing Lake Michigan on its way to the lakeside town of Muskegon, Mich., to pick up a cargo of lumber when disaster struck.
It was close to midnight. The water was calm, but smoke was billowing to the surface as a result of wildfires in nearby Wisconsin. The Milwaukee headed for a similar lumber ship, the C. Hickox, bound for Chicago.
Suddenly a thick fog rolled in. Hickox fell to the Milwaukee side. Hours later, the Milwaukee sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan.
It lay there undiscovered until last June, when a team of researchers from the Michigan Wreck Research Association discovered the wreck, using news clippings from the time, historical weather data and remote sensing equipment to pinpoint its location. They then spent the summer filming the wreckage. The researchers announced the discovery on Saturday.
The Milwaukee is one of about 6,000 to 10,000 wrecks in the Great Lakes, Valerie van Heest, the association’s director, said in an interview. About 2,000 have been discovered.
A team led by Ms. van Heest and her husband, Jack van Heest, learned about the Milwaukee’s sinking by consulting a database of missing ships compiled by local historians.
“Making a discovery means learning something about these missing ships and then sharing it with the public,” Ms van Heest said. “And to a large extent, it’s a reminder of how the Great Lakes region developed and settled.”
To locate the Milwaukee, Ms. van Heest’s team found contemporary newspaper accounts of its sinking, including The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Daily News, The Muskegon Chronicle and The Inner Ocean, which reported on shipping accidents on the Great Lakes.
From news clippings, Ms van Heest and other researchers were able to determine the ship’s course and a description of where the crash occurred from accounts given by its captain.
These reports also offered a chilling account of what happened in Milwaukee.
Dennis Harrington, the lookout on the Milwaukee, was the first to spot the lights from the Hickok and immediately alerted the captain of the Milwaukee. Standard operating procedures would require both ships to slow down, steer to starboard and blow their steam whistles. But the captains of both ships, thinking the visibility was good, did nothing of the sort.
Then came the thick fog, and when it cleared it was too late for any ship to turn. The Hickox crashed into the Milwaukee, sending Harrington overboard. He would be the only casualty of the accident.
Pandemonium broke out in Milwaukee, according to the shipwreck investigation association, as the captain went below deck to find the ship was taking on water. He blew a distress signal to alert the Hickox, and the crew stretched a canvas sail over the damaged side of the ship to slow the rush of lake water.
During their investigation, the team discovered that at least one other ship, a steamship called The City of New York, had come to try to save Milwaukee. He partnered with the Hickoxes, putting Milwaukee between them. The crews of both ships used ropes in a futile attempt to keep the Milwaukee alive.
Almost two hours after the impact, Milwaukee’s stern sank below the surface and the ship sank to the bottom of the lake. Except for Harrington, all aboard the doomed vessel made it to safety on the Hickox, which carried both crews to Chicago.
Using historical weather data, researchers were able to pinpoint a more precise location for Milwaukee. Searching the bottom of the lake with a remote-controlled vehicle, investigators found the ship “remarkably intact,” the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association said in a statement.
Before sinking, the Milwaukee ran for nearly two decades. Commissioned in 1868 by the Northern Transportation Company of Ohio to carry passengers and freight. It was originally 135 feet long and had two decks — one for passengers and one for freight. In 1881, she was sold and renovated to carry more goods and fewer passengers.
Two years later, Lyman Gates Mason bought Milwaukee to move his company’s lumber to Chicago. In the video collected by the remote vehicle, the investigators discovered something: Mr. Mason had remodeled the ship. By shrinking the aft cabin and pilothouse, Mr. Mason created more space for cargo and rebuilt the boat into something that looked very different from the only surviving photo of the Milwaukee.
This was the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association’s 19th discovery since it was founded nearly two decades ago.
Ms van Heest, who is also a museum exhibit designer, said it took two days to find Milwaukee and that it was “the fastest discovery we’ve ever made”. Sometimes, he said, searches can take years depending on how calm the waters are and how far the team has to travel.
Although the Milwaukee itself is a fairly common ship for its time, Ms van Heest said the wreck was an indication of how dependent the Great Lakes region was on timber at the time.
“These are, so to speak, museum pieces that sit at the bottom of the lake and have stories to tell,” he said.
