A shipwreck hunter has discovered the wreck of the Lac La Belle, a passenger steamer that sank in Lake Michigan over 150 years ago. Paul Ehorn, 80, found the vessel about 20 miles offshore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, in October 2022, after searching for nearly 60 years.
The luxury steamer set off from Milwaukee to Grand Haven, Michigan, in October 1872 with 53 passengers and crew, along with cargo including barley, flour, pork, and whiskey. About two hours into the trip, the ship began leaking uncontrollably. Despite the captain turning back, huge waves extinguished the boilers, and the ship sank stern-first after lifeboats were launched. One lifeboat capsized, killing eight people.
Ehorn used a clue from fellow wreck hunter Ross Richardson in 2022 to narrow his search grid, then found the ship using side-scan sonar after just two hours on the lake. He described the discovery as 'super elated' and likened the search to solving a puzzle. Richardson had learned that a commercial fisherman snagged an item specific to 1800s steamships at a certain location, but declined to elaborate further.
The Lac La Belle was built in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1864 and originally ran between Cleveland and Lake Superior. It sank in the St Clair River in 1866 after a collision but was raised and reconditioned in 1869. Ehorn noted that the ship's exterior is covered with mussels and the upper cabins are gone, but the hull appears intact and the oak interiors remain in good condition.
This is the 15th shipwreck Ehorn has located. He will present the discovery at the 2026 Ghost Ships Festival in Wisconsin in March, with video and images of the wreck. The Great Lakes are home to between 6,000 and 10,000 shipwrecks, most still undiscovered, with increasing urgency among hunters due to invasive quagga mussels threatening the wrecks.
