On July 9, 1886, the steamship Milwaukee was crossing Lake Michigan on its way to the lakefront town of Muskegon, Mich., to pick up a load of lumber when disaster struck.

It was close to midnight. The water was calm, but smoke was blowing on the surface as a result of wildfires in nearby Wisconsin. The Milwaukee steered toward a similar lumber ship, the C. Hickox, which was headed for Chicago.