Father and Daughter Discover Long-Lost Shipwreck Connected to Deadliest Fire in U.S. History
The ship went missing during the Great Peshtigo Fire in 1871
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
A father and daughter found ship wreckage connected to the deadliest fire in U.S. history.A routine fishing trip on Lake Michigan led a father and daughter duo to discover a shipwreck that's over 150 years old.
Tim Wollack and his daughter Henley were fishing in the Green Bay near Green Island, Wisconsin, when they made the discovery, according to a statement from the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS). Initially, 6-year-old Henley thought they found a "Green Bay Octopus," but they eventually learned that it was a sunken ship.
Upon researching his findings, Wollack believed he found the wreck of the Erie L. Hackley from 1882. Then, after working with Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources, they discovered that the wreckage was from the barkentine ship called the George L. Newman.
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George L. Newman was sailing on the lake the evening of October 8, 1871, with cargo from the town of Little Suamico when it got caught in the thick smoke of the Great Peshtigo Fire — the deadliest fire in U.S. history, the WHS post explained. According to the National Weather Service, over 1,200 people died in the fire.
The wooden three-masted ship (which was 122 feet long) was abandoned by the crew and left in eight to 10 feet of water before it grounded on the southeast side of Green Island, according to WHS's Facebook update.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
The ship's crew survived the Great Peshigo Fire of 1871.Related: Mysterious 230-Ft Shipwreck Found at Bottom of Baltic Sea Raises Questions: How Did It Get There?
The crew sought shelter in a nearby lighthouse and salvaged what they could of the ship when it was safe to do so, per WHS, which added that the George L. Newman was eventually covered by sand and forgotten until the Wollacks went fishing this summer.
“I don't know how we top it,” Tim told Fox outlet WLUK-TV about the surprising discovery he and his daughter made. “I guess we'll just have to fish more and see if we can find more shipwrecks.”
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archeologist at WHS who worked on identifying the wreckage, told the local news outlet that the discovery was "even more special" because it was connected to the historical fire.
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