In May of 1891, the Thomas Hume ship took off from Chicago after dropping off a load of lumber in the Windy City and was heading back to Wisconsin when the ship and its seven sailors never returned.
Despite the foreboding clouds on the horizon, the vessel headed toward Muskegon, setting its sails as it slipped into the heart of Lake Michigan.
During its course, the ship disappeared and no broken parts were discovered after the sailors failed to return to home, nor were their bodies found, according to Milwaukee Magazine.
More than twenty years later, the Rouse-Simmons was transporting Christmas trees from Michigan to Chicago when it sank.
Witnesses had spotted the vessel sailing in good conditions with its distress flag up. But when a lifeboat took off to save the 16 passengers, when it arrived, there was nothing there, the magazine said.
Two years later, Christmas trees began washing up on shore and the captain’s wallet did too.
It wasn’t until October of 1971 that the shipwreck was discovered 165 feet below the surface. It gave no indication about what took it down.
In 2006, the Thomas Hume was discovered underwater in near-perfect condition.
Both shipwrecks happened in what is locals call the Lake Michigan Triangle, which is similar to the legendary Bermuda Triangle.
Aerial of Lake Michigan with Chicago city skyline in the distance Willis Tower and other skyscrapers. The Thomas Hume ship took off from Chicago after dropping off a load of lumber in the Windy City and was heading back to Wisconsin when the ship and its seven sailors never returned.
Locals claim Michigan has its own Bermuda Triangle called the Lake Michigan Triangle. The triangle runs the 60 miles between Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan and down 130 miles to Benton Harbor, Michigan
Several other ships have sunk in the same area over the decades.
The Great Lakes have been the final burial grounds for 6,000 ships, but Lake Michigan alone has eaten a quarter of those.
Around 1,500 ships have perished in the waters off Lake Michigan, especially along shipping routes and within the bounds of the so-called Lake Michigan Triangle.
The triangle runs the 60 miles between Manitowoc, Wisconsin and Ludington, Michigan and down 130 miles to Benton Harbor, Michigan, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The triangle was given its name after Jay Gouley called it The Great Lakes Triangle in a book, and it picked up fame in the 1990s by Chicago Ghost Hunter, Richard Crowe, Wisconsin Historian Brendon Baillod told the outlet.
Although there is no official triangle – outside of the Bermuda one – the Great Lakes are known as inland seas and can have very dangerous waters.
Lake Michigan has been the most deadly, carrying 25 percent of the shipwrecks. It’s also the busiest out of the five.
Lake Huron is the next deadliest, followed by Erie, Ontario, and Superior, according to the local outlet.
The Great Lakes have been the final burial grounds for 6,000 ships, but Lake Michigan alone has eaten a quarter of those (pictured: a shipwreck in Lake Michigan)
The triangle was given its name after Jay Gouley called it The Great Lakes Triangle in a book, and it picked up fame in the 1990s by Chicago Ghost Hunter, Richard Crowe, Wisconsin Historian Brendon Baillod said (pictured: diver looking at shipwreck)
Lake Michigan is particular dangerous due to the waves being steep and close together, causing the water to crash into the ship rather than the boats rolling over it, according to the National Park Service.
Waves can come as close as every three seconds, which can cause the boat to ‘turtle’, the agency said.
The Manitou Passage in Lake Michigan is also quite dangerous and hundreds of wrecks happened between the two islands.
Last year broke the record for total number of shipwrecks found in Lake Michigan in a single year with 13 found, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The previous record was in 2016 with only four shipwreck discoveries.
Wisconsin shipwreck hunters discovered a 131-year-old shipwreck at the bottom of Lake Michigan that fell victim to a storm and took the life of the captain’s dog.
The Margaret A. Muir, a schooner, was found off the coast of Algoma, Wisconsin, on May 12 just moments before the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association’s research team nearly pulled the sonar out of the water for the day, a press release said.
‘I knew she was going to be in about 50 feet of water, I knew that her sides had opened up. I know she was laying flat, and I knew she’d be harder to find,’ Brendon Baillod, a crew member of the search, told Fox 6 Milwaukee.
Lake Michigan is particular dangerous due to the waves being steep and close together, causing the water to crash into the ship rather than the boats rolling over it (pictured: a ship that would later wreck)
Last year broke the record for total number of shipwrecks found in Lake Michigan in a single year with 13 found (pictured: shipwreck in Lake Michigan)
Tamara Thomsen, a member of the Wisconsin Historical Society, said all the pieces of the ship were found, including the personal items sailors lost in the wreck.
The 130-foot three-mast schooner was supposed to dock in South Chicago from Bay City, Michigan, when it got stuck in a storm with 50mph gale-force winds around 5am on September 30, 1893.
The ship battled the harsh weather until 7.30am when gigantic waves came crashing over its deck and several feet of water began to fill the hold, causing 71-year-old Captain David Clow to call for his crew to abandon the ship.
The vessel had nearly made it to Ahnapee – present-day Algoma – when they abandoned her.
Although all the sailors survived the wreck, they still had to battle 15-foot waves in an open boat, where they were forced to to keep ‘bailing’ water out of the lifeboat to make it to shore.
They eventually made it to safety, where a local spotted the soaking wet and freezing crew of six.
Lake Michigan is used to experiencing harsh weather conditions. It is usually the first lake hit by storms coming from the Great Plains with winds picking up very suddenly from nowhere.
Sailors have reportedly experienced strange phenomenon where blocks of ice fall from a seemingly clear sky, all adding to the mystery of the triangle.
