[467Mill]

I don't know anything about steam ships and how they work -- however I did talk to my brother who was driving the Kitty Bell the day the propeller was recovered (so my father could drive the tractor) and he thought he remembered a broken piece of shaft on the propeller. It could have been later removed when the propeller was "readied" for display at the museum by Bob Ramsbotham. Both my brothers that were there that day said the propeller was in less than 12 feet of water (easily verified by the fact the bucket on the back hoe only could raise the propellar up on to the deck if it was less than 12 feet) and even guessed that maybe it was only 8 to 10 feet - which means if the Seneca actually did sink there it would have been above the water line by alot considering the water used to be lower in the lake than it is now - even if it was on it's side. Is it possible the builder of the Seneca who was local from Melvin Village would have been able to "hook" on to the Seneca and drag it to a beach where he could recover the engine and other useable parts easily? Of course all this is indeed guessing that the propeller was actually from the Seneca. Before my Father owned the Kitty Bell he had a wooden barge in the late 50's that he recovered from the bottom of the lake and used for years. So a big boat like the Seneca would have been prime for lots of salvage if it was out of the water by that much?