The Pioneer Illinois shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn has made history by discovering one of Lake Michigan's most sought-after missing ships, the passenger steamer Lac La Belle. The ship had been missing in the depths of Lake Michigan since a stormy night in October 1872. Ehorn located her upright, intact hull almost 150 years to the day after her loss.
The Lac La Belle was one of the most popular passenger steamers on Lake Michigan, built in 1864 at Cleveland, Ohio, and spending her early years running from Cleveland to Lake Superior before an unfortunate collision sank her in 25 ft. of water in the St. Clair River in 1866. She was not raised until 1869 and had to be completely reconditioned.
She was then purchased by Milwaukee's Englemann Transportation Company, which ran her in the passenger trade to Grand Haven, Michigan. The ship met its end in this capacity, departing Milwaukee in a moderate gale on the night of October 13, 1872, with 53 passengers and crew as well as a cargo of 19,000 bushels of barley, 1,200 barrels of flour, 50 barrels of pork and 25 barrels of whiskey.
About two hours into her trip, she began leaking uncontrollably from an unknown source. The captain turned her back to Milwaukee but the weather deteriorated and huge waves began boarding her, extinguishing her boiler fires. She was driven south by the gale for hours in a sinking condition. Around 5AM, the captain ordered the lifeboats lowered and the passengers and crew watched as she went down stern first.
The lifeboats headed for shore but one soon capsized in the heavy seas, sending eight people to their death. The other lifeboats made landfall from Racine to Kenosha where the survivors related their harrowing ordeal to reporters.
Ehorn's interest in Great Lakes shipwrecks began when he became a certified scuba diver at 15 and started searching for shipwrecks in 1965, eventually finding several of the Great Lakes' most interesting shipwrecks. His interest in the Lac La Belle stemmed from his love of old wooden steamers.
Many other wreck hunters had searched for the Lac La Belle, but the location of her sinking was poorly known, leaving a large search grid. In 2022, fellow wreck hunter and maritime historian Ross Richardson found a new historical clue that narrowed the grid down significantly.
Armed with the information, Ehorn and his partner Bruce Bittner set out with Ehorn's Klein sidescan sonar prepared for a long search. About two hours in on only their second pass, a large object crawled across the screen, showing the unmistakable hogging arches of the Lac La Belle.
The wreck's distance from shore and poor weather prevented Ehorn from examining the wreck for almost two years. Eventually, Ehorn recruited divers John Janzen and John Scoles to dive and film the deep wreck, which is remarkably intact considering her violent end.
Ehorn plans to create a 3D photogrammetry model that will record the condition and layout of the wreck in detail before he releases the location.
The discovery of the Lac La Belle is a significant milestone in Great Lakes shipwreck hunting, highlighting the importance of perseverance and innovative technology.
