The Rocky Mountains of Colorado may not be the first place you would expect to find a submarine – but that’s exactly what sat at the bottom of Missouri Lake for nearly 50 years.

In 1898, Rufus T. Owens (of Central City) built a submarine and called it the Nautilus, according to Atlas Obscura. He and some friends launched it on Missouri Lake, ballasting it with three tons of rocks. Owens had intended to captain the maiden voyage but the submarine allegedly sank before he could even climb in.

The submarine then sat at the bottom of Missouri Lake and turned into a local legend. Since few people had witnessed the submarine’s building and launch, many people believed that the story was fictional.

In January 1944, however, the town of Central City gathered on the shore and watched as the Nautilus was pulled up from the waters of Missouri Lake. The high school band even played “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean” as the submarine was rescued from the deep waters.

Even to this day, nobody knows why Owens decided to build a submarine and launch it more than 1,000 miles from any ocean at an elevation of 9,000 in the mountains. According to the Gilpin Historical Society, Owens was an engineer and designed Central City and Black Hawk’s early water systems and several mine buildings throughout the county. He lived in Central City for several more years after building and launching the submarine, then moved to Pueblo where he died in 1919.

The remains of the mountain submarine are on display at the Gilpin History Museum in Central City.

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