An
Earlier Discovery
 News of
David Head's discovery of the wrecked schooner near the Millecoquins River reminded
Michigan Department of Natural Resources district surveyor Gerald
Wiggins of a notation he had seen while reviewing old land records. He
pulled out the notes of William Ives (photo,
right), who conducted the first survey of the
northern shore of Lake Michigan.
Wiggins found the reference to a shipwreck in
Section 30. Here was an important clue to the date of the wreck! William Ives's
1849 field survey notes and a map described the wreck and its location.
About the middle of the course [between the mouth of the river and
the section line] is the Reeck of a small vessel with the Hull nearly
covered with sand. Masts broken & stubs upright. It has probably lain
there 2 or 3 years.
William Ives, United States Deputy Surveyor
July 23, 1849
As a government surveyor, William Ives mapped much of the Upper Peninsula
and Isle Royale. Other surveyors respected his physical courage and the
accuracy of his maps. In 1853, he retired to a farm on Grosse Ile in Wayne
County. He died there in 1874.
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