This is the official website of the Briggs Project and contains original information gathered by performing on-site mapping, academic, and archival research on a wooden shipwreck called the Alpha Wreck, located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan in Porter County, Indiana, USA. This project is an ongoing effort that has successfully completed its first season of field work in 2006.

Devil’s Punchbowl, the Alpha Wreck Odyssey, is a story based on a theory of how the wooden shipwreck came to be and it’s connection with the past history and efforts of America’s Underground Railroad during the antebellum and Civil War years.
 
The core group of individuals that formed the Briggs Project Team in 2005 is as follows:

The above named individuals are responsible for gathering and analyzing the research material used on this website and for Devil’s Punchbowl, the Alpha Wreck Odyssey, that will be submitted to the State of Indiana archives in Indianapolis, Indiana. The final results of this work will also be made available to the general public in written form, through this web site, or through public presentations.

All of the information offered on this website, associated lectures, written material, or other media forms can be supported by written facts and images obtained by Briggs Project research. All of the material contained within this website is presented in an honest and truthful manor with no intent to deceit the viewer. However, as with all historical research conducted, the Briggs Project Team cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may have been written or printed in official reports and manuscripts or by any individual, historian, or author of a publication concerning Indiana history, maritime history, or the past accounts of the Underground Railroad during its remarkable existence.

All of the individuals that have participated on this project, whether listed or not, may or may not belong to outside groups associated with terrestrial archaeology or shipwreck research.
None of these organizations or groups other than the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is responsible for performing research and/or field work on the Briggs Project.

This website and its contents have been copyrighted with the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. All Untied States and International copyright laws apply.
No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without first obtaining written permission from the copyright holder.

Web site design and content written by R. J. Barski.