Overview

• After boater Matt Olson reported the site near Rowleys Bay, Wisconsin Historical Society archaeologists verified the wreck’s identity through archival records and targeted dives.
• The remains lie in about 20 feet of water near Spider Island off Door County in Lake Michigan.
• The hull bottom is largely intact while the vessel’s sides have split and flattened after roughly 138 years of weather and ice.
• Built in 1867 by Simon G. Johnson, the wooden ship was a Great Lakes canaller that carried grain to Lake Ontario and typically returned west with coal.
• The vessel ran aground during bad weather in 1887 on its way between Manistee and Escanaba, and five salvage attempts over 1887–1888 failed before it was abandoned.