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THE INDIANA SALVAGE PART I by Dr. Richard J. Wright In her day the 350-ton propeller INDIANA was nothing extraordinary. Even in 1848, g when propeller-drive craft on the Great Lakes only numbered half a hundred, her launching at Vermilion, Ohio, failed to make the newspapers. Built by Burton S. Goodsell for Alva Bradley, David Squire, and Theodore 0. Chapman, all of Erie County, Ohio, and M. S. Hawley, of Buffalo, New York, she was enrolled at Sandusky, Ohio on May 12, 1848. Under their ownership she led an uneventful life for four years, though she did collide with the schooner CAMBRIA on Lake Erie in 1851. In 1852 she was sold to Lucius S. Pratt and Hiram Niles, both of Buffalo, New York. The following year Pratt assumed sole ownership. In November 1853, Samuel F. Pratt, also of Buffalo, was the sole owner. On April 12, 1854, Pratt sold the small pro- peller to W. A. Fox and Company and Francis Perew, again all of Buffalo. Perew was half-owner and master. Just fifteen days later the INDIANA struck the west pier while entering Cleveland, "doing considerable damage". In October of that same year she was "hard on the rocks" in the St. Marys River. Apparently her hard usage was reducing profits, so in May 1855, Francis Perew bought out the interest of Fox & Company. Under Perew's sole ownership, the fortunes of the INDIANA failed to improve. She was driven ashore at Point Abino, Lake Erie, in September 1856, and had to be lightered. In October 1857, she again struck the west pier while entering Cleveland, suffering hull damage. Finally, in the spring of 1858, things began to improve. She was chartered to the "Peoples! Line" to connect a lower lakes rail terminal point at Oswego, New York, with the lake ports of Buffalo and Detroit. Unfortunately the full weight of the Panic of 1857 began to be felt. With times turning dull, Perew jumped at an oppor- @ tunity to accept a charter to haul iron ore from Marquette, Michigan, to the lower lakes. On the evening of June 6, 1858, downbound with iron ore some forty miles above Whitefish Point and ten miles out in Lake Superior, the INDIANA began to fill with water. Infrequent newspaper accounts say that she broke the stuffing box off her shaft, causing her stern post to split. Within fifteen minutes the fire in her boiler was extinquished and the vessel sank in 110 to 120 feet of water. Her crew of twenty-one, including owner Frank Perew, rowed safely ashore in the yawl boat. The ten-year old vessel was valued at $12,000 when she sank. Her loss generated no excitement. In fact, few regional newspapers even commented on her loss. She would remain forgotten for 114 years. In 1972 scuba diver John Steele, of Waukegan, Illinois, was searching for shipwrecks on eastern Lake Superior. Steele and his "crew", including Kent Bellrichard, already are legend within the upper lakes scuba community. Using electronic gear, they already had located three vessels in one morning, when they accidentally ran across another one. Steele is exceptional among scuba divers in that he photographs rather than strips the wrecks he locates. His movie efforts were excellent of this most recent dis- covery. After some "homework" John concluded that the wreck was the INDIANA. A quick check in the records of the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University verified this. About a year later this writer viewed Steele's movies. I was struck particularly by @ the condition of the engine. The upper cabin had broken free when the vessel ’ leaving machinery intact, exposed, upright, and undamaged. This mental image remained firmly implanted in my mind. pay