A 217-foot luxury passenger steamer that vanished beneath Lake Michigan’s waves in 1872, carrying copper ingots and desperate passengers fleeing a deadly gale, has been found remarkably intact after 154 years.
Story Highlights
- The Lac La Belle, lost October 22, 1872, claimed 8 lives when a lifeboat capsized during a violent Lake Michigan storm
- Veteran wreck hunter Paul Ehorn, 80, located the upright wreck using sonar after a 2022 historian’s clue narrowed the search area
- The wooden steamer served Michigan’s Copper Country boom, hauling passengers and copper ingots between Milwaukee and Grand Haven
- Discovery team plans 3D photogrammetry preservation before releasing the exact location to protect the site from disturbance
Veteran Diver’s Decades-Long Quest Pays Off
Paul Ehorn spent over six decades searching Lake Michigan’s depths for lost vessels, but the Lac La Belle stood out—a wreck “close to home” with a compelling story.
Working alongside partner Bruce Bittner, who operated Klein sidescan sonar equipment, Ehorn methodically scanned a refined search grid provided by maritime historian Ross Richardson in 2022.
On the second sonar pass, the team detected a promising signature. “Moment of real jubilation… We knew we had done it,” Ehorn stated following confirmation dives by John Janzen and John Scoles, which were delayed nearly two years due to harsh weather conditions typical of the Great Lakes region.
Luxury steamer that sunk in Lake Michigan more than 150 years ago has been found | CBS https://t.co/jIXGyFmS1D Shipwreck World, a group that works to locate shipwrecks around the world, revealed Friday that a team led by Illinois shipwreck hunter Paul Ehron found the wreck of the… pic.twitter.com/ZqKocCXJKC
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Storm-Driven Tragedy From America’s Industrial Expansion
The Lac La Belle departed Milwaukee around 3 PM on October 21, 1872, bound for Grand Haven, Michigan, carrying passengers and copper ingots from Michigan’s booming Copper Country mines in Houghton and Hancock. Just two hours into the voyage, the 217-foot wooden steamer began leaking uncontrollably.
The captain turned back toward Milwaukee, but deteriorating weather sealed the vessel’s fate. Heavy seas boarded the ship, extinguishing the boiler fires and leaving her powerless.
Driven south by the gale, the crew lowered lifeboats around 5 AM on October 22 as the ship sank stern-first, resulting in one lifeboat capsizing and killing eight people while survivors reached shore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Vessel’s Troubled History Reflects Era’s Risks
Built in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1864 during the post-Civil War Great Lakes shipping boom, the Lac La Belle served Cleveland-to-Lake Superior routes before joining regional passenger-cargo service.
The steamer was involved in a collision in the St. Clair River in 1866, sank in 25 feet of water, and was raised in 1869, reconditioned, and purchased by Milwaukee’s Englemann Transportation Company.
This rebuild exemplifies the resilience Americans brought to expanding commerce despite dangerous conditions. Lake Michigan’s unpredictable fall storms frequently claimed vessels in the 1870s, with passenger steamers balancing speed and capacity against vulnerability to leaks and boiler failures—risks that limited government oversight couldn’t eliminate but that free enterprise and innovation continually worked to mitigate.
Modern Technology Unlocks Historical Mystery
The wreck sits upright at an undisclosed depth and distance from shore, with video footage revealing wooden framing and cargo remarkably preserved despite the violent sinking. Ehorn’s team discovered the superstructure is gone, but the hull remains intact, with hogging arches visible on sonar scans.
The discovery advances wreck-hunting technology by employing sidescan sonar similar to methods used on other Great Lakes finds, such as the Milwaukee, which sank in 1886 at a depth of 108 meters after a collision off Holland, Michigan.
Richardson’s archival research proved critical in narrowing the vast search area, demonstrating how collaborative efforts between historians and divers yield results that government bureaucracies often fail to produce.
Preservation Priority Over Exploitation
Ehorn plans to create a detailed 3D photogrammetry model before releasing the wreck’s exact location, prioritizing preservation and public education over personal glory or profit. He will present findings at the March 7, 2026, Ghost Ships Festival in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, sharing video and survivor interviews with the public.
This approach reflects traditional American values of stewardship and community education, in contrast to exploitation-focused salvage operations. The discovery reinforces existing U.S. wreck protection laws, including state and federal bans on artifact removal, which safeguard our maritime heritage for future generations.
The Lac La Belle may qualify for National Register eligibility, following precedents like the Frank D. Barker, which ran aground in fog off Door County, Wisconsin, in 1887.
Sources:
Pioneer Wreckhunter Finds Lake Michigan Passenger Steamer Lost for 130 Years – Shipwreck World
108m-deep Steamer Wreck Had New Look – Divernet
