A hunter man finds a bit of history along the Mississippi River

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Alongside the banks of the Mississippi River, among the many ropes and tangles of driftwood, you’ll discover Patrick Ford.

“I like to only come strolling by the river to see what’s occurring,” he stated, “or simply search for enjoyable little treasure.”

The Mississippi River is at its lowest degree since 1992. That has treasure hunters like Ford scouring the decrease levee in search of trinkets washed downriver. What he discovered final month was a treasure too huge for a treasure chest.

Ford was strolling alongside a hard-packed mud flat when he noticed it. “I had no thought what I used to be strolling over,” he stated. A few damaged posts jutted up from the mud. They have been joined by a brief plank. “I believed it was possibly — maybe an previous retaining wall,” he stated.

Ford stated he didn’t suppose a lot of it and continued looking out the levee for one thing he may exhibit to his associates. When he returned to the spot final week, that one plank had grown right into a little bit of river lore. “I believe ‘wow’ could be an excellent phrase for it.” he stated,” I handed it by, appeared again and I noticed this a part of the ship, the place it involves that time, and thought possibly it was one thing just a little bit extra particular than a wall.”

What Ford discovered was a shipwreck from the early twentieth century.

Louisiana State Archaeologist Chip McGimsey thinks Ford stumbled onto the wreck of an early Baton Rouge ferry boat, the S.S. Brookhill. “If that is the boat we predict it’s,” McGimsey stated, “she sank on September 29, 1915.”

The Brookhill was a bootjack ferry. Two wood pontoons supported a deck, boiler, and paddlewheel that carried wagons, livestock, and folks forwards and backwards between Port Allen and Baton Rouge’s enterprise district.

There are few information from the sinking of the Brookhill. McGimsey stated it sank in a storm when logs floating downriver crashed into her aspect. She sank, nonetheless moored to the dock on the foot of North St. in downtown Baton Rouge.

The deck, paddlewheel, and left pontoon have been most likely washed away by the river. The left pontoon settled within the mud of the Mississippi. Archaeologists final noticed what stays of the Brookhill again in 1992, the final time the river was this low.

At the moment, McGimsey stated solely about 10 p.c of what we see as we speak was seen then. This time, the river has scoured away many of the mud from the entrance portion of the flat-bottomed pontoon, exposing the keelson (the centerline timber that serves because the spine of the vessel.) and lots of the ships ribs.

Subsequent week, a staff from the state will go to the positioning to take measurements and make drawings of what’s left of the Brookhill. They hope to be taught extra about the best way she was constructed. McGimsey stated that within the late 1800′s most ships have been constructed with out blueprints. They have been constructed extra from a imaginative and prescient the boatbuilder had in his thoughts.

McGimsey stated the boat’s situation and lack of historic significance make it a poor candidate for preservation.

Ford is simply completely happy he stumbled onto it. “I discover it so fascinating that this ship was constructed so way back, and it had just a little ship life, and it sank.” he stated “And it’s nonetheless right here all these years later.”

A lot of our historical past is simply phrases on a web page: stale and lifeless. Ford’s discover provides us a glimpse of our previous that we are able to contact and really feel — a treasure that’s actual — a minimum of till the Mississippi claims her as soon as once more.

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