On October 13, 1902, a steamship full of iron ore was towing a uniquely shaped barge across Lake Superior. The two ships encountered a powerful storm, which snapped the towline connecting them, leaving Barge 129 at the mercy of the winds.
The crew aboard the steamer, called Maunaloa, turned their vessel around and tried to reconnect the towline, but the weather had other plans: The massive waves and strong winds slammed the ships together. The collision ripped a hole in Barge 129’s starboard side.
As Barge 129 began to take on water, the vessel’s quick-thinking captain, Josiah Bailey, gathered his crew and launched the lifeboat. Eventually, the men reached the safety of Maunaloa—but their ship sank some 650 feet below the surface.
