Sunken Treasure In a Cornfield? The Arabia Steamboat - Its Beginnings, Tragedy and Amazing Rediscovery

Kansas City, MO (U.S.)  —   Strange as it may sound, treasure really can be found in the most unsuspecting places. 

While one normally would not think of a cornfield as a location where a ship sank, it is indeed the location where a steamship called the Arabia was found some 132 years after her demise.  And not only were the remains of the ship found, but also its cargo.

Go back to the mid 1800’s, a time when a majority of America was still considered a frontier.  Railroads were still building and the first transcontinental line would not be finished until 1869. 

This meant travel of any distance through most of the country required going it alone, being part of a wagon train, or if rivers were lucky enough to be near your destination, a steamboat.

Steamboats were in high use and demand because they could carry hundreds of tons of cargo as well as many passengers.  The frontier towns of this time depended on the supplies that only these steamboats could bring in sufficient quantity. 

One of these many steamboats was called Arabia. The Arabia was built in 1853 near Brownsville, PA on the Monongahela River.  For the next year and a half it carried cargo on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  In early 1855 ownership of the Arabia changed hands and it was bound for the muddy waters of the Missouri River.

Once on the Missouri, the Arabia made multiple trips, many of those carrying troops and supplies to forts in the Dakotas.  However, it wouldn’t be long before the steamboat would not be making any more runs.

The Arabia hits a snag, disapears for over 130 years and finally gets rediscovered

On September 5, 1856 as she was heading upriver the Arabia hit a “snag”.  A snag is the common term for a tree or part of a tree that is embedded in the river bottom but not obvious from the surface of the river.  This snag smashed through the hull of the steamboat and caused it to immediately start sinking. 

Luckily all of the passengers were saved, but unfortunately the 220 plus tons of cargo was lost.

Jump ahead 132 years; imagine the river has now altered its course due to its’ natural flow and man-made changes.  Now the remains for the Arabia are over one-half mile from the river’s edge and 45 feet underground, all under a cornfield.  

Of course, a couple of attempts at recovery had been made in the past, but nothing was successful until November 1988.  It was then that with the permission of the landowner, excavation began.

Not without hardship, but this excavation became extremely successful. Thousands of rare artifacts were recovered.  Rather than sell these pieces at auction, the discoverers decided to build a museum to showcase and preserve them.

The Arabia Steamboat Museum

This museum is located in downtown Kansas City, and well worth the time to visit.

Museum Information: (816) 471- 4030
Group Reservations: (816) 471-1856
Fax Line: (816) 471-1616

Street Address:

Arabia Steamboat Museum
400 Grand Blvd
Kansas City, MO
64106

 

Sources:

Arabia Steamboat Museum website. http://www.1856.com. 14 Oct 2007.

Bordewich, Fergus. “Time Capsule.” Smithsonian. Dec 2006: 64-71.

Cole, Bruce. ”Uncovering a Sunken Treasure.” Humanities. Nov/Dec 2004: 6-10,50-54.

“Treasures of the Steamboat Arabia.” Glassworks Auctions website. http://glswrk-auction.com/102.htm. 14 Oct 2007.