The side-wheeler Milwaukee shares her name with three other significant wrecks in Lake Michigan. The schooner Milwaukie (note spelling), one of the areas first wrecks, was wrecked off Saugatuck in 1842. The steam-barge Milwaukee sank off Grand Haven in 1886, following a collision with one of her fleet mates. And of course there is the enormous car ferry Milwaukee, which sank, fully loaded with rail cars, on a voyage from Milwaukee, WI to Grand Haven, MI in 1929.
The Milwaukee
This Milwaukee was built and launched in Buffalo, New York in 1859. She was 239′ in length, with a tonnage of 1039. She was known as a “Black Boat”, a common name given to the Detroit and Milwaukee boats, which of course, where painted black. She ran regularly between Grand Haven and Milwaukee.
On the 8th day of October, 1868, the Milwaukee was approaching Grand Haven in bad weather with a full compliment of passengers and a load of freight, which included corn, wool, and flour. Captain Trowell thought he could make the channel in a heavy following sea, but he was wrong. Before the piers were built and eventually extended, a sand bar regularly formed and continually moved at the mouth of the Grand River. This bar would be the end to many a fine ship. The Milwaukee bottomed out on the bar and turned sideways before the giant waves. About 25 crew and nearly 104 passengers were saved due to the heroic efforts of the U. S. Life-Saving Station at Grand Haven along with local citizens. The Milwaukee was not as lucky, though. She was smashed to pieces by huge waves in a matter of hours. A large quantity of wood from her hull washed up and some claimed it showed signs of rot, even though the side-wheeler was only 9 years old.
Wreckage of the side wheel steamer Milwaukee at Grand Haven, MI
The keel of the Milwaukee lies just north of the north pier in Grand Haven. Many wrecked vessel’s keels lie off the piers in Grand Haven, but more off the south pier than the north pier. Other major wrecks at the mouth of the Grand River include: the Amazon, Antelope, Orion, and the Gen. H. E. Paine. These wrecks tend to be only the keels of the vessels, often laid flat by wave action, ice, and salvage. Due to heavy boat traffic in fair weather months, the area around the piers hasn’t been dived or surveyed for some time, if ever. A future project for MSRA is to locate, survey, and document the wrecks in this area.
Images used with permission, Historical Collection of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University.