This is not a tragedy or a cursed object (which, yes, is coming up in the next few months), but it is a story that, again, if Hollywood had written this, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s basically a buried treasure.
This is one of the most amazing stories I’ve ever read about. Shipwrecks are found all the time, all over the world. What makes this so special? It was completely pristine, with a LOAD of supplies found not in water but buried 45 feet below the ground surface. They found tons, and that is not just a phrase; I mean tons (200 tons!) of boots, coins, money, liquor, and every conceivable object that a general store would have in 1856. Boots that you could wear now, edible food, and liquor that would be aged perfectly. This paddleboat was operating when Samuel Langhorne Clemens was riding and piloting riverboats (not this one) before writing about them, so what a time in history!
The story of the paddleboat Arabia did not end when she sank in 1856. In many ways, the most amazing part of her story happened more than 130 years later. The Arabia hit a submerged tree in the Missouri River near what is now Kansas. She sank quickly, but everyone did get off the ship except a mule that was on the stern.
In the late 1980s, a group led by brothers David and Greg Hawley became fascinated with finding the lost steamboat. They studied old maps, river records, and historical documents. After years of research, they believed the Arabia was sitting beneath a field nearly half a mile from the modern Missouri River. Many people thought the idea sounded impossible. How could a steamboat be buried under farmland?
When the Arabia sank in 1856, she was sitting in the Missouri River. But the Missouri was famous for changing course. Over the decades, the river slowly wandered across the landscape. It cut new channels and abandoned old ones. The channel where Arabia sank eventually filled with silt, sand, and mud. Year after year, floods deposited more sediment on top of the wreck. Farmers later plowed the land above it, never realizing a steamboat was buried beneath their fields. By the 1980s, the wreck was about 45 feet underground and nearly half a mile from the modern river.
The team brought in equipment and began digging in 1988. What they found stunned them. Nearly 45 feet below the surface, they uncovered the remains of the Arabia. Even more incredible was what was inside. The muddy, oxygen-free conditions had preserved thousands of everyday items from 1856. There were boots, dishes, tools, clothing, food, and supplies that had been headed to frontier towns. It was like opening a time capsule General Store from just before the Civil War.
Today, many of those artifacts can be seen at the Arabia Steamboat Museum. The discovery gave historians a rare look at life on the American frontier. The Arabia may have sunk in the Missouri River, but her greatest voyage happened underground. After spending more than a century hidden beneath a farm field, she finally returned to tell her story. Sad story now, but the museum is closing; it does have good news. They are looking to put it in a larger place with more parking.
They will need more space because they are about to dig up another steamboat from underground, the Malta. I do admire these guys; they could have sold this merchandise for a fortune, but instead made a museum where everyone could see the items. And by the way…they are still archiving the Arabia items, so there are still more items people haven’t seen. That’s the volume of the goods they have!
Check out the second-to-the-bottom video if you can. A man eats some of the food there…in this case, a pickle. He said it was crispy and sweet!
This guy ate some food from the steamboat Arabia.
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wow, this is mind-blowing and amazing that the brothers figured out where it was, unbelievable. also amazing that everything stayed just as they were and now a second one? wow
I was shocked Beth that it was found…but in that great of condition? I can’t believe it. They STILL have things in storage and they have already started to get the Malta that wrecked…same condition from what I’ve read.
Just like the plot of National Treasure, only the SciFi version! The pictures prove your point, this stuff was still usable. Incredible.
I was so shocked when I saw all the stuff….200 tons and they have more they haven’t showed yet…and I’ve read where they already found coins on the Malta dig and other preserved things.
The cost to store and catalog this stuff must be staggering!
Yes…that is part of the reason they are looking for someone else…nearby towns are trying to woo him to their city. It’s awesome.
An amazing story. Thanks for sharing, Max.
You wondered a few short weeks ago if we would be interested. Every week you have posted stuff that fascinates. Again, thanks.
Thanks so much Arthur…you know…it’s not really about ships I’m finding out…they are just the setting…I love the stories that come out of them.
This is such an interesting post, Max and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you so much Jim…. yea I’m finding out…it’s not a blog about ships…but a blog about stories with ships as a setting.
What an incredible story, Max. You covered this so well, I think I’ll think I’ll take a pass this week and resume writing my shipwreck stories next time around. Fascinating post and fab photos, my friend!
Yea this is a different type of story…thank you as always for reading Nancy…
Max, this is my favorite one so far. How everything came together to make it happen, with individuals united in purpose. The integrity of the individuals involved, who decided to keep the ship contents together. I was sorry that there wasn’t a dollar value given by the appraiser. I think the collection is priceless. Hoping that they find a way to keep it all together. Would like to see that collection up close.
I would love to see this stuff. I’m so happy they kept the collection together…and they have more than they show! And they have already started to recover another riverboat the Malta buried underground…they are already getting coins and other things out of it. Thanks so much for reading Lisa! This story just enthralled me.
A really good write-up on the Arabia. Happy they are working on another one. You are welcome.
wow, that is quite incredible. I did know that the Missouri and Mississippi tended to shift paths a little over time, but 1) I wouldn’t have thought it would do so to such a degree in 100-odd years and 2) would never have thought something would be buried by 45 feet! My guess would have been it would’ve still been visible and partly exposed. Wild. EVen crazier the condition of everything that was on board. Amazing story, good on you for finding it
Thanks Dave…this story is so universal…who wouldn’t want to see this stuff? Also they could have been greedy and sold this stuff for a fortune…I mean a fortune….but they have kept it all together. I do believe they did sell some stuff only to fund the museum…now it’s going to add another boat.
I’d go see it if it was close by. I had a thought afterwards…I noted I knew those rivers could shift courses a LITTLE but not much. I got to thinking of Missouri, and Nebraska for instance. Missouri’s whole eastern boundary is the Mississippi, and I think the part separating the corner from Nebraska is the Missouri River. What happens if they were to change? Would they suddenly gain or lose land to follow the river or would the boundary be arbitrary, based on where the river USED to go?
Oh it’s confusing! I don’t see how a river could change that much except for one thing. I wonder if it was a tributary of the river? That I could see…but to be 45 feet under ground? And they have found the other one! Yea I would love to go see this stuff…a lot of it someone could actually use…like the plates and other things.
You cant make that up. Crazy. “I found a riverboat on my back 40 and I’m 40 miles from the river”
I know…it’s insane…and they found the other riverboat as well. They knew exactly where she went down…I bet that farmer did think they were crazy when they asked. I never knew the river changed that much. I saw this and I thought it was a joke at first.
Navigating those rivers were treacherous because they changed so much. You had to be on top of it if your were the captain because Mother Nature did her thing.
Yea it took a lot experience to pilot those things…more than confidence. This one sunk because of a snag on a fallen tree…hard to believe.
Another amazing story, Max. Very compelling and well written. I love this stuff, like the Incredible true stories in Readers Digest and the series Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack. This is a great idea for a site.
Thats a huge compliment thank you! It’s really more about the stories than the ships…the ships are there for a setting. There will be of course some just about ships that didn’t sink…but some incredible stories in maritime history.
It IS like a film script. How the river can wither and wander so much over a century and more is downright staggering. The mud and cold must be such a preservative.
This one is I couldn’t resist. It shocked me that this stuff was so well preserved. It truly was like a time capsule…and yes like a movie script.
I give it up to the brothers who found it…they could have made a fortune off of this stuff…but they kept the collection together.
Yes, the brothers could have monetised the hell out of it.
That’s quite amazing!
Yes, I agree totally. I would LOVE to go see this. It was the closest thing to a time capsule as you could get. Thank you so much for reading.