On September 5th, 1856, The Steamship Arabia hit a snag in the river and sunk. In those days Steamboat sinking’s were an occasional occurrence. From a period between 1830 and 1895, about 200 vessels sank in the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers.
What makes the story of the Arabia unique is that it was discovered with it’s full cargo intact. It is only one of two ships to be discovered that way.
She was built in 1853 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. She was 171 feet long and 29 feet wide. She could carry a cargo of 222 tons. She was a wood burning steamer that used about 30 cords of wood a day for fuel. She went to St. Louis and was used there for about a year and half cruising both the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. In 1855 she was bought by Captain John Shaw of St. Charles.
Also, that year, the Arabia starts to haul troops and government supplies. Usually going to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. One trip even takes her for the American Fur Trading Company to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Then in 1856, she started up the river north of Kansas city. She was about one hour up the river near Quindaro Bend, when she met her fate. She hit a Walnut tree below water and within seconds thousands of gallons of muddy water entered her hull and down she went. Luckily, no lives were lost.
The location of the boat remained known for a while. However, the changing currents and banks of the river soon had moved her.
In 1987, a four man team of Bob, David, and Greg Hawley along with Jerry Mackey searching for adventure with an old river map, set out to look for the Arabia. Their journey took them to the Kansas side of the river. To the farm of Norman Sortor. Part of the folklore to the farm was that somewhere on the farm the Arabia was buried. Sortor’s Grandfather had purchased the property in 1860. The group and Sortor struck a deal to search and locate the Arabia.
Using a proton magnetometer, the ship was found in about 45 feet of earth underground. It took only two hours to locate the ship. Eighteen months later on November 7th, 1988, the excavation with a 100 ton crane began. The Arabia laid in an old underground river bottom channel. twenty wells 65 feet deep were constructed to pump water into from the dig site. Each well had steel castings and a large pump. The pumps could move 20,000 gallons per minute down river . On November 26th, a fresh load of dirt was lifted to reveal the Arabia’s paddle wheel.
Among the treasures discovered was 200 piece unbroken set of dish ware, eye glasses, ink wells, medicines, spoons bells, guns, pocket knives, and many other items. With all items unloaded, they then started to raise the boiler, paddle wheel, and main structure of the boat out of it’s watery grave. On February 11th, 1990, the excavation came to an end. The hole quickly filled up with water.
A museum for the Arabia was set up in downtown Kansas City. The museum is located just west of interstate 35 and 70 on Grand Blvd. Tours of the museum are conducted daily. The museum is well set up to provide the viewer of what it was like for the Arabia back in the 1850’s.
