An intrepid team of marine archaeologists has discovered the remains of a long-sought schooner, more than a century after it sank to the bottom of Lake Michigan.
The Margaret A. Muir was discovered in May several miles off the coast of Algoma, Wisconsin, and 50 feet below the surface, according to the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Society. It was announced this month.
“We knew she was in about 50 feet of water. We knew her side was open. We knew she was lying on her side and we knew it was going to be a lot harder to find her,” searcher Brendon Beyrod said. Fox 6 Milwaukee.
Bayod and his team of experts were correct: Images showed the deck of the 130-foot-long, three-masted schooner had collapsed and its side had collapsed outward.
All deck equipment including the two huge anchors, hand pump and bow winch, as well as all personal belongings lost by the crew in the wreck, remain intact on the historic deck.
On September 30, 1893, the Margaret A. Muir was traveling from Bay City, Michigan, to South Chicago, Illinois, carrying a large load of salt when tragedy struck.
The ship, built in 1872, had almost reached Annapee, now known as the Algoma, when a severe storm struck.
Captain David Crow and his crew of six abandoned the schooner in time, and the Margaret A. Muir heeled forward and sank to the bottom of the lake, taking Captain Crow’s faithful dog with her.
“I don’t care how much money I lose if that brute dies,” the heartbroken captain later said, according to WUAA.
The crew also suffered a difficult journey to shore in lifeboats: they had to constantly pump water out of the flooded rafts during the several-mile voyage.
Experts say the Margaret A. Muir has been forgotten by history in the 130 years since, despite being relatively close to shore.
“Despite hundreds of fishing boats passing through each season, the cave remained undiscovered for over a century.”
Even the WUAA crew nearly missed the wrecked ship: the team was completing its final run as part of the day’s search for the schooner and was retrieving sonar equipment when they drove over the wreckage.
The team is currently working with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Archaeology Program to get the site listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
If approved, the vessel will join the schooner Trinidad, which the team discovered in deep waters off the coast of Algoma in June 2023.
