The Schooner LaSalle: Service, Loss, and Rediscovery

On October 22, 1875, during its second season, the LaSalle departed Chicago with 22,000 bushels of wheat bound for Buffalo. On the night of October 25, while sailing into a gale near Two Rivers Point (now Rawley Point), it lost its rudder. Before Captain Parker could anchor the vessel, it struck bottom and drifted ashore, becoming embedded in hazardous quicksands. The ship filled with water, forcing the crew to spend the night in the rigging before being rescued by local fishermen the next morning. Despite efforts by tugboats Leviathan and J.J. Hagerman, the LaSalle could not be freed, was deemed badly damaged, and was declared a total loss. It was subsequently stripped of its anchors, spars, and some rigging, and then abandoned.

Today, the LaSalle shipwreck lies in twelve feet of water, offering easy access for kayakers, boaters, snorkelers, and beginning divers. Much of the vessel's original rigging, which was surprisingly not salvaged, was found balled up inside the hull, including wire rigging that supported the masts, deadeyes, and circular hearts. The distinctive iron deck knees, a key feature for its identification by archaeologists, are visible along the hull sides. The wreck's high level of hull integrity makes it a valuable site for historical and archaeological exploration.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official national list of historic properties in America, maintained by the National Park Service. It includes sites, buildings, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation for their significance in history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture. In 2017, the Wisconsin Historical Society announced the listing of the LaSalle Shipwreck on the National Register, recognizing its historical and archaeological importance. This designation also provides legal protection for the shipwreck, prohibiting divers from removing artifacts or altering its structure.

Despite its current exposure, significant portions of the LaSalle's stern and portside bow sections are likely still concealed beneath layers of silt and organic material, offering numerous opportunities for future archaeological research. A more detailed archaeological survey of construction features specific to canallers, such as the stem and stern construction, the turn of the bilge, and hull lines, could significantly enhance our limited understanding of these unique vessels. The high level of hull integrity means the LaSalle site has immense potential to yield further insights into 19th-century maritime commerce and the evolution of canaller construction, including nuances of differing hull lines, construction techniques, and adaptations for bulk cargo needs.

The wreckage of the LaSalle was rediscovered in the spring of 2015 by powered-parachute pilot Suzze Johnson. Its exposure was due to a period of significant sand movement on Rawley Point. Historic low lake levels on Lake Michigan in 2013, followed by a rebound in subsequent years, caused sand displacement that uncovered four new shipwrecks in the vicinity, with the LaSalle being one of them. The full 139-foot hull was found lacking quagga mussel colonization, and features like the weather deck, Sampson post, and windlass knees indicated a loss of more than nine feet of sand cover.