This dramatic 1860 illustration shows the sidewheel steamer Lady Elgin going down in rough seas on Lake Michigan, with survivors clinging to debris and crowded into small boats. The scene is labeled as the morning of Sept. 8, 1860 — about a half-hour after the ship was struck by the schooner Augusta near the Waukegan/Winnetka, Illinois, area.
The Lady Elgin disaster is often cited as one of the deadliest shipwrecks in Great Lakes history, with reports of about 300 lives lost. Many aboard were returning from an excursion between Chicago and Milwaukee when the storm and collision turned the lake into a battlefield of waves and wreckage.
What do you know or remember about the Lady Elgin — any family stories tied to Lake Michigan shipwrecks?
#LakeMichigan #GreatLakes #MichiganHistory #ShipwreckHistory #MaritimeHistory
