A Lake Michigan mystery that endured for more than a century has finally been solved. Explorers with Shipwreck World confirmed that the wreck of the 19th-century steamer Lac La Belle was located in October 2022, resting roughly 20 miles off the Wisconsin shoreline between Racine and Kenosha. The find capped a pursuit that began in 1965 for Illinois shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn, now 80. The breakthrough came when author and fellow wreck researcher Ross Richardson shared a carefully guarded tip: a commercial fisherman had once pulled up an artifact distinctive to 1800s steamships from a particular stretch of lake. Ehorn recalibrated his search area and, using side-scan sonar, identified the wreck within two hours. Both men have declined to reveal more, noting the fiercely competitive world of shipwreck hunting. Built in 1864, the 217-foot steamer sank during a violent gale on Oct. 13, 1872. Eight people died when a lifeboat capsized. Today, though coated in quagga mussels and missing its upper cabins, the vessel’s hull and oak interiors remain largely intact.
Read it at The Associated Press
The post Mystery Clue Leads to Discovery of Shipwreck After 150 Years appeared first on The Daily Beast
