Illinois shipwreck hunter and scuba diver Paul Ehorn has located the passenger steamer Lac La Belle, which sank in Lake Michigan in October 1872.
The vessel had been missing for almost 150 years, and the wreck is understood to be lying upright with an intact hull.
The Lac La Belle was built in 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio. In its early years of service, it operated between Cleveland and Lake Superior. In 1866, it sank following a collision in 25ft of water in the St Clair River. The vessel was raised in 1869 and underwent extensive reconditioning before returning to service.
It was later acquired by Milwaukee’s Englemann Transportation Company and placed on a passenger route to Grand Haven, Michigan.
On the night of 13 October 1872, the steamer departed Milwaukee during a moderate gale. On board were 53 passengers and crew, along with a cargo of barley, flour, pork and whiskey. Approximately two hours into the voyage, the vessel began to leak uncontrollably from an unknown source, causing the captain to turn back towards Milwaukee. Conditions deteriorated, and heavy seas swept the deck, extinguishing the boiler fires. The vessel then drifted south for several hours while in a sinking condition.
At around 5am, the captain ordered the lifeboats lowered. The steamer sank stern first. One lifeboat capsized in rough seas, resulting in eight fatalities. The remaining boats reached shore between Racine and Kenosha, where survivors later described the incident to local reporters.
‘Lac La Belle was close to home for me’
Ehorn became a certified scuba diver in 1960 at the age of 15. He began searching for Great Lakes shipwrecks in 1965. Over the following decades, he located several wrecks, including the steel automobile carrier Senator, which he found in 2005. He has a particular interest in early wooden steamers.
Ehorn says: “As a woodworker myself, I appreciate the hand craftsmanship that went into these early vessels. The Lac La Belle was close to home for me and is a wreck that’s always been on my radar.”
The position of the Lac La Belle’s sinking had not been precisely recorded, resulting in a broad search area for wreck hunters. In 2022, maritime historian and wreck hunter Ross Richardson identified historical information that helped to reduce the search grid.
Ehorn and his search partner Bruce Bittner conducted a survey using a Klein sidescan sonar system. During their second pass over the target area, a large structure appeared on the sonar display. They repeated the pass at higher resolution, which revealed structural features consistent with the vessel’s hogging arches. “It was a moment of real jubilation,” says Ehorn. “We knew we had done it.”
The wreck lies some distance from shore. Adverse weather conditions delayed a direct examination for nearly two years. Ehorn, now 80, subsequently worked with divers John Janzen and John Scoles to document the site.
Video footage shows the 217ft vessel to be largely intact despite the circumstances of its loss. “Although her superstructure is blown off, you can see all of her wooden framing and some of her cargo is visible,” stated Ehorn.
Ehorn plans to produce a 3D photogrammetry model to document the layout and condition of the wreck before disclosing its precise location.
He is scheduled to present details of the discovery at the 2026 Ghost Ships Festival, taking place at the Inn on Maritime Bay in Manitowoc, Wisconsin on 7 March 2026.
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