In November 1878, the wooden schooner James R. Bentley set sail from Chicago bound for Buffalo loaded with a large shipment of rye. During the voyage, it encountered heavy seas and gale-force winds and struck a shoal near 40 Mile Point Lighthouse in Lake Huron just north of Rogers City. The damage was severe, and the ship sunk. All crew members were rescued, but the rye was not.

Fast forward to Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024: two small boats with a total crew of six traveled from Cheboygan five miles out in Lake Huron to the site of the shipwreck, which was located in 1984. Two divers began the 160-foot dive to the Bentley. With a specially made tube, the divers were able to extract a substantial number of seeds from the Bentley in 39-degree water. They immediately put the tubes with the seeds on ice.