Treasure Hunting

The Milwaukee cargo steamship L.R. Doty has been discovered after 112 years of wondering where it has sunk. The L.R. Doty is of great value because the 300 foot long ship was the largest wooden vessel, and the whereabouts of this ship were not known.

Brendon Baillod, the President of Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association spent 20 years of his life researching about the ship, and had remembered a local fisherman reporting that his nets were clashing against a strong object in the shorelines in 1991. He backtracked and took his diving crew down to explore the possibilities of the L.R. Doty being found. Jitka Hanakova, the 33 year old diver who was a member of the research team told the media that the divers spotted the ship as soon as they landed on the floor of the lake. He said that the ship has been well preserved due to the cold and fresh water of the lake.

L.R. Doty ship found 300ft below Lake Michigan's surface after 112 years

It was said that the ship was carrying cargo of corns way back from South Chicago and was headed towards Ontario in 1898 when it sank into the depths of water. When the ship sunk down it was pretty young, just five years old. Besides the 17 crew members out of which none survived the storm, the ship was also carrying two cats namely Dewey and Watson. The corpses of the ship’s crew are still said to present inside the boiler room which is said to be the safest place where one might have gone for shelter.

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Fifty remarkable, vintage images from the Civil War era are on display at the South Caroline Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum.

On loan from the David L. Hack Collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va., “these are some of the most powerful and well-known photographs in our nationa’s history.” Relic Room director Allen Roberson says “The images are stark, human and unforgettable.”

So exactly what are these vintage photographs of?

One of the most piercing photographs is of President Abraham Lincoln, taken only 11 days before he delivered the Gettysburg Address.

There’s also a series of eight vintage Gardner prints of the hanging of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination - the only photographs taken of the event. They even include a 3-D stereoscopic image of the hangings, which came just three months after Lincoln was killed.

Other photographs include one of General Robert E. Lee in the uniform he wore at the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. Wearing the uniform was a violation of the terms of his surrender, but he wore it anyway.

Check out the events and exhibits at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum website. You can also take a virtual tour online. The exhibit closes June 28, 2008, so if you’re in the area this summer please be sure to stop by!

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If you’re not familiar with the website Flickr, it’s an amazing photo sharing site with a large fan base. We have started a new group specifically for TreasureHunting.com - Metal Detecting Finds. If you have pictures of anything you’ve ever found while metal detecting, add them to the group.

If we see anything interesting show up in the flickr group, we’ll feature it on this site, and give credit to the person that found it.

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