Researchers crack mystery surrounding Gilded Age magnate and family who disappeared on Lake Superior in 1892

It was a real deep mystery.Researchers have finally discovered the final resting spot of the historic Gilded Age ship Western Reserve — closing the book on a caper that has endured for over a century.The historic steamer had reportedly disappeared during a summer cruise in Lake Superior in 1892, resulting in the deaths of owner and millionaire shipping titan Peter G.

Minch, his young family, and all but one of the 27 passengers aboard, USA Today reported.This freighter lay undiscovered for 132 years until this past summer when a team with the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society discovered the wreckage 600 feet down off the coast of Michigan’s upper peninsula.They revealed its final resting place Monday at the Wisconsin Underwater Archeological Association’s annual Ghost Ships in Manitowoc.“The final resting place of the 300’ steel steamer Western Reserve has been discovered roughly 60 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Lake Superior,” the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum said in a March 10 news release, per the Sun Herald.Much like the Titanic would be years later — in more ways than one — the Western Reserve was an iconic vessel in the late 19th century.

Dubbed the “Inland Greyhound” for its speed, the trailblazing freighter was the first ship built for the Great Lakes that was comprised entirely of steel.At 300 feet long, this marvel of modern engineering wasn’t a mere ship — it was a symbol of the unbound optimism of the Gilded Age that was built to “break cargo records,” the Daily Mail reported.In August 1892, owner Captain Peter G.Minch and his family embarked on a summer pleasure cruise aboard the vessel — which was also deemed the “safest ship in the world” — with plans to travel up through Lake Huron and onto Minnesota.“It is hard to imagine that Peter Minch would have foreseen any trouble when he invited his wife, two young children and sister-in-law with her daughter aboard the Western Reserve for a summer cruis...