From tour guide to expert explorer: this man has already found 3 different shipwrecks
This is the extraordinary story of how this tour guide became a seasoned explorer.
Matt Olson never imagined that a casual boat tour could turn into a historic discovery. The Wisconsin-based guide, who apparently has an innate talent for spotting the unusual on Lake Michigan, recently uncovered the wreck of the Frank D. Barker, a 19th-century ship that sank more than 130 years ago.
This find marks Olson’s third confirmed shipwreck discovery, after finding the sunken remains of both the Grey Eagle and the Sunshine across the past few years.
While preparing for a standard tour near Rowley’s Bay, as told by Popular Mechanics, Olson noticed a dark, irregular shape in a sonar image of the lakebed. Intrigued, he launched his small craft and, armed with a waterproof GoPro, ventured out to investigate. Beneath 24 feet of water, he found the outline of a large ship that was remarkably intact. “It’s over 130 feet long,” Olson told Wisconsin Public Radio. “When I saw how massive the wreck was, I was like, ‘How could no one have come across this at any point in time?’”
Research suggested it was the Frank D. Barker, a vessel built in 1867 in Clayton, New York. In 1887, the ship was transporting iron ore to Escanaba, Michigan, when it ran aground on Spider Island Reef during a dense fog. The crew survived, but the ship itself was lost. At the time, the vessel’s value would equate to roughly $250,000 today.
Olson immediately contacted the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS). Maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen confirmed the identification, marveling at the wreck’s state of preservation. “It’s like a football field filled with oak,” Thomsen told WPR. “The entire ship is sort of filleted open, and a lot of the deck machinery is still there. It’s just really amazing. It’s almost like looking at a puzzle, because, you know, everything is there. It’s laid out. The sides have split open but you can, in your mind, kind of put it back together.”
Experts say the wreck remained hidden for so long because of the very hazard that caused its sinking. The Spider Island Reef, notorious for its rocky outcroppings, discourages most boating, allowing the Frank D. Barker to lie undisturbed for generations.
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The WHS plans further exploration and may propose the site for the National Register of Historic Places. But not if Olsen gets there first.
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