The Muir was sailing the morning of Saturday, September 30, 1893, from Bay City, Michigan, to South Chicago, Illinois, with a cargo of bulk salt when a storm struck. The ship continued its voyage for about two more hours until waves overcame it. Captain David Clow ordered the crew to abandon the ship. All six crew members survived, but Captain Clow’s dog was unable to be saved.

The Muir was a 130-foot, three-masted schooner built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1872 by the Hanson & Scove shipyard. It was intended primarily for the Great Lakes grain trade, and it traveled all five Great Lakes during its 21-year career. 

The Margaret A. Muir was lost until Brendon Baillod, president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association, started compiling a database of Wisconsin’s missing ships 20 years ago. On May 12, 2024, Baillod, along with Wisconsin Underwater Archeology vice president Kevin Cullen and director Robert Jaeck, used historical records and high-resolution side scanning sonar to local the Muir in 50 feet of water a few miles off the Algoma Harbor entrance.

The images of the site show the vessel is no longer intact. The Muir’s deck gear, including two anchors, hand pumps, its bow windlass and capstan remain. 

The association now will work with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Archeology Program to nominate the site for the National Register of Historic Places.