Wisconsin Boater Stumbles On Long-lost Shipwreck In Lake Michigan

The wreck was located successful shallow waters, astatine a extent of astir 20 feet, according to Olson. From what he could tell, nan bottommost of nan hull was mostly intact, but nan sides of nan vessel had divided unfastened and flattened retired for illustration a fillet — apt owed to 138 years of being battered by wind, waves and ice, he said.

Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist astatine nan humanities society’s State Historic Preservation Office, spent respective weeks combing done a database of newspaper clippings, archival security documents and larboard enrollments, which are akin to centrifugal conveyance registrations.

Thomsen and her colleagues besides conducted diving missions to hunt for immoderate identifying characteristics.

Given nan vessel’s quality and nan shipwreck’s wide location, nan humanities nine was capable to corroborate that Olson had recovered nan remains of nan long-lost Frank D. Barker.

“What’s really cool astir this wreck is that nan full point is there,” Thomsen said. “It’s dispersed retired connected nan bottom, almost for illustration pieces of a puzzle that you could combine successful your mind and put backmost together.”

The 137-foot Frank D. Barker was constructed retired of wood successful 1867 by a seasoned shipbuilder named Simon G. Johnson from Clayton, New York. It was a canaller, which is simply a type of alloy uniquely designed to run connected nan Great Lakes, Thomsen said. Canallers were built to sail done nan Welland Canal, a bid of locks and some earthy and modified waterways that enabled ships to bypass Niagara Falls.

The Frank D. Barker was used to carrier atom from ports successful Milwaukee and Chicago to Lake Ontario. Typically connected its trips west, nan vessel hauled ember from ports connected Lake Erie to nan Midwest to substance factories and power homes.

In 1887, nan Frank D. Barker was walking from Manistee, Michigan, to Escanaba, Michigan, to prime up a load of robust ore. The ship’s skipper and unit ran into bad upwind and foggy conditions, which caused it to tally disconnected course.

The vessel yet ran aground and became stranded connected a limestone outcropping connected Spider Island. Five abstracted attempts to salvage nan vessel — 1 successful October 1887 and others successful June, August, September and October of 1888 — yet failed.

“They yet decided that they couldn’t get it retired of this pouch wherever it’s resting, and they yet abandoned nan ship,” Thomsen said.

The nonaccomplishment of nan alloy was estimated to beryllium worthy astir $8,000 astatine nan time, which useful retired to much than $250,000 successful today’s dollars, according to nan Wisconsin Historical Society.

Finding nan Frank D. Barker aft 138 years marks an breathtaking infinitesimal for Door County, but it was besides a profoundly individual 1 for Olson.

After reporting nan find to nan State Historic Preservation Office, Olson decided to return a person look.

“To deliberation that my 6-year-old boy had his first clip ever snorkeling connected a shipwreck,” he said, “and being 1 of nan first group to spot this wreck aft much than 130 years — that’s beautiful exciting.”