1881 Lake Michigan Shipwreck Discovered

A well-preserved shipwreck that sank in Lake Michigan in 1881 has been discovered. The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) announced that shipwreck hunters and historians Brendon Baillod and Bob Jaeck located the wreck of the schooner Trinidad in 270 feet of water off Algoma, Wisconsin, in early 2023.

Baillod and Jaeck are longtime volunteers and partners with the WHS Maritime Archaeology Program and have worked closely together with society maritime archaeologists to document, preserve and share this discovery.

“The wreck is among the best-preserved shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters with her deck-house still intact, containing the crew’s possessions and her anchors and deck gear still present,” a news release stated.

Trinidad was built in 1867 at Grand Island, New York, by Oswego shipbuilder William Keefe for Oswego merchants John Keller and Aaron B. Merriam. The vessel was built for the Great Lakes grain trade between Milwaukee, Chicago, Buffalo and Oswego. Trinidad was a “canaller” or canal schooner specially built to pass through the Welland Canal that connected Lakes Erie and Ontario. As a “canaller,” portions of the vessel such as the lifeboat davit could specially fold in to allow the ship to traverse the canal. Trinidad was also outfitted with wire rigging for the masts, a feature uncommon of ships of that era.

On its final voyage on May 11, 1881 Trinidad was traveling down the coast of Wisconsin towards Milwaukee where the vessel began to fill with water and started to sink. The only loss aboard was the ship’s mascot, a large Newfoundland dog who was asleep when the ship began to sink.

Learn more at wihist.org/3L5Gkbk.