History From The Muddy Bottom Of The Detroit River

[painter777]

Probably best to post this here.

Today while looking for something else, I came across this story and pictures of items Police divers have brought up from the depths of the Detroit River. Items cover a wide history if you keep in mind Detroit was founded in 1701. To include British Cannons from Pre War of 1812. Vehicles and bottles from the Prohibition days. Smooth bore 1700's muskets and even a customized M1 carbine....... That I believe is still a Hi-Wood stock. Diving is illegal in Detroit City limits because of so many guns considered evidence. As you look through these pictures know that I've spent countless days fishing these waters.
My best find ? Anchor line snagged a sunken 16-18' Aluminum skiff. We spent hours trying to pull it up.... and free our anchor. With much effort using a rocking motion that with the help of the current washed muck out from inside the upright craft and broke loose the bottoms mucky grip. We towed it down stream with the help of our motor and the current to a sand bar. There we pulled the Johnson outboard loose and in to our boat. The skiff we dragged over and gave to a shoreline local. Took 2 years of off and on work to rehab that 1957 18HP. I sold it off about 10 years ago, but gotta say she was near mint. One of the last to sell from my 35+ Pre 1960 outboard collection. This is NOT my picture, but a near perfect representation of her.



I always thought about what lay on the bottom, often fishing over old concrete and steel ruins along shore from buildings long gone. Ship wrecks, anchors, cannons, Rum bottles... you name it while one floats on a sunny day.

But while looking through these new to me pictures, after seeing pictures number 36 and 37. I realized I knew not just the story behind this Ford wagon, but went to High School with the Mother. The Father decided he'd had enough and launched his car, wife and 4 kids in to the river. Father and Mother survived.... the 4 little ones drown. He received 5 Life sentences.

See this link for Finds From Under The Muddy Detroit River:
Detroit River's muddy bottom conceals cannons, cars, guns

Cheers,
Charlie-Painter777

Information

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[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Let me see, do they suspect they might have been used in foul play?

[painter777]

Did you read where they found the pile of 11 (?) hand guns under the one arch of the bridge out to Belle Isle?

Bad to say........... But after coming in from fishing we'd be asked by friends and neighbors "What'd ya catch or see" Water now days can be really clear in some areas depending on wind, because of the Zebra mussels filtering the water.
We'd reply..... "Got our limit of (name the fish) and seen only 3 'Floaters' today....
Bad.......... I know.
I still have some really nice old bottles, medicine glass bottles, a 1940's tackle box etc from there.

Growing up Downriver, we'd often cruise up river to fish. Could see freighters going both up and down bound. If our motor acted up. the down current would push us near our start point. Wish we'd had GPS back then, Lowrance marked and eyeballed some interesting stuff, but hardly ever were able to relocate. Muddy water could kick up from winds,storms and heavy ship traffic. 5 knot+ currents could/would also dis-lodge stuff.. never to be seen again.

With the newer side scan and video scanners.... I'd believe many things are recovered and not reported...... since your not DIVING ?

CH-P777

[CINDERS]

Seems a fair few ships/boats sank along it as well.

[painter777]

In the Great Lakes Est over 6,000 ship wrecks and over 30,000 lost souls.

Some wrecks carried new cars, I've read of new Ford Model T deliveries going down.
And here some pricey losses:
450 feet under Lake Michigan, classic car cache rests in frigid silence | MLive.com

Picture is a 1926. The cars lost were 1929 or 1930 (New model year) 268 of them.



Charlie-P777

[browningautorifle]

I grew up right there around Windsor...never thought about what was down there. We used to meet relatives for a reunion at a park on the Canadian side right by the river too...never thought about it. There must have been lots of stuff went in during the riots too, cops would have been taking stuff and just pitching it.

One must remember how many people think you can just simply drive across the river in winter, or across the lakes on the ice. The cars they find, many would be from that as well as stolen...

[Paul S.]

I was visiting some business associates in upstate New York several years ago. We took a day off and did the boat tour of the Thousand Islands area of the St Lawrence River. Ears perked up when the tour guide mentioned that there were truck loads of decades old Canadian Whisky sitting on the bottom preserved in the chilly waters on the back of trucks and in the boot of cars that had fallen through the ice crossing the river during Prohibition.

I'm guessing all the local scuba clubs have had a go at removing some of that 'debris' over the years.

[TDH]

I grew up on Lake Erie and lived near it most of my life and it is nothing unusual for lots of things to go through the ice in winter especially if it doesn't ice over all winter. The ice fishermen go out and somewhere out there a mid winter freighter goes by and soon the ice the fishermen are on breaks loose and start floating away. Oh the Coast Guard will go get them but everything they took out stays but the clothes on their backs stay. But not to worry by the next morning some enterprising souls will have made the trek out to the flow and everything left will be gone. One winter a fool drove his brand new Suburban out and had to leave it. He tried everything he could to salvage it and then one day he saw three enterprising young souls bringing it home. They had gone out and made a raft of 55 gallon drums around it and floated it home. He was a happy man until he was informed it was no longer his truck it was theirs as salvage. He had to buy it back from them. Such are the salvage laws. Another thing on Lake Erie if your boat breaks down and someone is still nice enough to give you a tow and a tow boat comes up the person towing you has to drop off and you are there until you accept the tow boat at a price that a nice rifle will cost and it goes up the longer they wait. The last time I broke down without insurance out there the tow itself was just about 14 miles back to the dock but they charged me from the time they got the call (they were on their way back from the land of Cleve to Huron) and they charged me $750. It's a racket but it's the only game in town.
And lake Erie being the smallest is also the most dangerous as it is the shallowest and has ate more boats that the rest put together both big and small. There was a local singer in and around the islands who wrote a song that went
If you are headed outside of the Bay (Sandusky the site where the first battle of the War of 1812 was fought)
And it looks like a pretty nice day
Keep your eye on the sky 'cause the
Ledgend of the lake says the lake has it's eye on you.

I've been out there with one to two footers and the wind changes and within a half hour was in ten footers trying to get back in and trust me my friends 10 footers in a 16 foot boat is no fun.

[browningautorifle]

I grew up on Lake Erie

I was over on the other side between Leamington and Wheatley...

[painter777]

I've been out there with one to two footers and the wind changes and within a half hour was in ten footers trying to get back in and trust me my friends 10 footers in a 16 foot boat is no fun.

That is proof you've been there.. done that.

I grew up running from the Huron river mouth down current to the lake or up the Detroit river.
When open water fishing Erie, us coming off the west side, problem was the storms would blow in from the west and be on you before you knew what hit you. Most all the western shoreline is low land. I've been in blows while being 5-8 miles out that were so bad you couldn't drive straight back in. Often you'd be forced to jog at a south westerly angle to get back in and find yourself miles south of where you needed to be.

When the storms blew up from the east, Erie will beat you to death.. period!

Had a friend in High school who drove his Grandpa's brand new Ford Club cab out on the ice. Winds kicked up, causing a 6x8 mile sheet to float out. All were rescued, minus their gear. Local papers Monroe News and Toledo Blade both had front page covers showing a overhead picture this truck in center view. Truck still had the dealer stickers on the door glass. Truck went under, Michigan called in a salvage co from Ohio. Big helicopter starts charging $$ when call is received, same with their divers. Michigan starts $$ monetary charges for time spent underwater until recovered. Truck owners Insurance voids policy being it was drove intentionally on to the ice.
Don't recall the total costs for the loss, but my friend joined the Army soon afterward.
I don't know how the laws read today, but this was how it was in the mid/late 70's.

Lake Erie is nothing to fool with. 4 people I knew lost their lives to her. 2 of those were school teachers who were snowmobiling across a bay to a late dinner with friends. Tracks led to open water. Snow machines were found in the spring, their bodies never recovered.

One of the other 2 was thrown from the boat at high speed and drown, the driver died after breaking his neck when thrown. Speed boat, big block 409 Chevy motor, I had tuned 2 weeks earlier and was suppose to be there for this test but had to work that afternoon. During that 2 week period since I'd tuned that engine the lake had been less than friendly with heavy chop. I had been getting them to wait for better conditions but they weren't going to wait any longer. I remember being called at work (a small marina) and being told that both were lost.

Didn't mean to ramble on, but the post by TDH brought the memories back.

Charlie-Painter777