RON HENGGELER

March 31, 2023
The Arabia Steamboat Museum

A Historic Kansas City Attraction

Last week, I flew to Kansas City to be with Mom and my brothers and their families. We had come together to celebrate Mom's 90th birthday. While I was in Kansas City, I visited The Arabia Steamboat Museum, which I had wanted to see for many years. Here are some of the photos from my visit to the museum.

On September 5, 1856, the Steamboat Arabia hit a log snag at Quindaro Bend, 10 miles north of Kansas City, and sank into 15 feet of water.
The passengers and crew survived, but the "Great White Arabia" and her 200-ton frontier cargo were lost to the river.

ARABIA'S STORY

In 1988, 132 years after her sinking. five steamboat enthusiasts from the Kansas City area successfully recovered the Arabia and her historic cargo. With only personal financing for the project, this group of modern-day explorers succeeded where generations before them had failed.
The Arabia Steamboat Museum is a tribute to the spirit of the American frontier and to the crew of River Salvage, who recovered this historic treasure for all the world to see.

The Arabia Steamboat Museum is a unique Kansas City attraction: a time capsule of life on the American frontier in the mid-19th century. Visitors have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience everyday objects that made life possible for pioneers in the 1800s. 

Voted “Favorite Kansas City Hidden Gem” by Visit KC, the museum is one of Kansas City’s most popular attractions. It is the largest single collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world, featured by National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian Magazine, PBS, Antiques Roadshow, Good Morning America, Southern Living, CNN, the History Channel and many other news and entertainment organizations.

This text respectfully taken from: The Arabia Steamboat Museum

The stern and rudder of the Arabia

Virtual Tour of The Arabia Steamboat Museum

The Arabia was a side-wheeler built in Brownsville, Pennsylvania in 1853. She was 171 feet long and 54 feet wide, with a cargo hold depth of 4' 10". Sinking with a large quantity of whiskey and other frontier bound necessities, numerous attempts were made to obtain her treasure Although early attempts failed, in 1988 River Salvage, Inc. did succeed in recovering the precious cargo. Unearthing two hundred tons of treasure, the largest collection of its kind, theArabia and its cargo of west-bound merchandise is a moment frozen in time.

Arabia's anchor and capstan

Arabia Casualty
The only life lost aboard the Arabia was that of a mule.
During the excavation, the mule's skeleton was found saddled and bridled with the bit clenched in its teeth.The reins were tethered to a lumber mill jack on the boat's stern. A carpenter's plane was wrapped in a bed roll behind the saddle, a plate and tin cup with the initials "AP" scratched in the bottom were found resting upon the mule's hip.

Conflicting stories
The owner of the mule was interviewed shortly after the sinking of the Arabia. He reported that he tried to free his mule, but it was too stubborn and would not leave the sinking steamboat. The mule, however, would tell a different story, for the reins were discovered as they had been for 132 years - firmly tied to this lumber mill jack.

River Salvage, Inc. successfully excavates the Arabia and her cargo. They recover a "time capsule" of frontier life, including an international cargo of china, crystal, clothing, tools, hardware, and bottled fruits, vegetables and spirits.
The Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City showcases the world's largest collection of 1856 steamboat artifacts and cargo.

In 1897, Gale "Dad" Henson of Holt, Missouri, organized a company to recover 400 barrels of whiskey thought to be aboard the steamboat Arabia.

To reach the steamer, workers constructed a steel caisson six feet in diameter and approximately thirty-five feet in height. Pressurizing the caisson with air, salvagers forced the groundwater down and out, allowing workers to remove the sand from within the enclosed chamber. It was not an easy task. Less than one in ten men could withstand the air pressure in the caisson. As they dug, the weight of the caisson settled upon the steamer's deck. Workers joined the caisson to the Arabia's deck with an airtight fit. After workers cut a hole through the deck, air pressure forced out the groundwater, allowing laborers to enter the cargo hold and tunnel horizontally. Before moving the caisson to another location on the steamer, workers carefully covered the hole in the deck with a round wooden patch. This patch insured the cargo hold would remain airtight when salvagers pierced it a second time. After three successful probes into the Arabia, Henson's team found boots, shoes, wagon axles, a barrel of pork, and one box of chamber pots, but no whiskey. Henson then abandoned the recovery effort. Nearly a century later, in 1988, excavators discovered this section of the iron caisson resting on the Arabia. Apparently the lowest section of the caisson disconnected when workers lifted it from the steamer. The bottom of the caisson was cut at an angle to compensate for the Arabia's deck tilting to the starboard side.The circle of pine beneath the caisson is the patch Henson constructed to keep the cargo hold airtight. Note the round nails used in its construction.

The Steamboat Arabia was one of many casualties of the perilous Missouri River---the longest river in the United States that claimed nearly 400 other steamboats over its 2,500-mile course. In September 1856, the Arabia was carrying over 200 tons of cargo intended for general stores and homes in 16 midwestern frontier towns. The steamer was still fully loaded when it hit a tree snag and sank just 6 miles west of Kansas City. Due to erosion, the Missouri River changed course over time, and the Arabia was buried underground for over a century – along with all of its precious cargo. Lying 45 feet deep beneath a Kansas cornfield, the Arabia’s payload was protected from light and oxygen and, thus, was remarkably well preserved.

Text respectfully taken from: The Arabia Steamboat Museum

The porcelain doll with outstretched arms is a Frozen Charlotte doll, found in a carpenter’s toolbox on the Steamboat Arabia.  Frozen Charlotte dolls were were popular in the 19th century as children’s toys and also as moralizing tools.  The tale of “Fair Charlotte” was first recorded by humorist Seba Smith in an 1844 periodical.  A poem later evolved into a folk song and series of dolls, all with the intent of reminding children to listen to their mothers.  You may notice that the doll is nude and is a baby doll, even though the protagonist of the poem is a teenager in a lovely dress.  This is typical for 19th-century dolls; girls were encouraged to make clothes for them to practice their sewing skills.

Respectfully taken from: Frozen Charlotte Doll

In 1991, the Arabia’s cargo was transformed into the Arabia Steamboat Museum, a top Kansas City attraction and favorite local destination in the historic City Market. From fine china and carpentry tools to children’s toys and the world’s oldest pickles—the Arabia’s artifacts captivate visitors of all ages. The museum accommodates all types of visitors, including walk-ins, families, RV groups and more.  It has become a favorite destination for Kansas City field trips year after year.

The Steamboat Arabia carried thousands of high-quality, hand-crafted trades items fashioned in the 1850s out of wood, metal and leather.This flow of finished products and raw materials formed a lifeline that fueled the settlements of the American frontier.

Personal tool box

The carpenter who bought or made these tools suffered a great personal loss when the Arabia sank. He was left on the frontierwithout the tools to practice his craft.

Five of these bottles were untouched by the fury of the sinking. Others weren't quite as fortunate.The glass makers of the 19th century took pride in creating bottles that would be more than just a container. Using color and design the glass houses of the 19th century crafted a colorful legacy.

The collection is a work in progress as preservationists continue to clean 60 more tons of artifacts in a preservation lab that’s available for visitors to watch. More artifacts and interactive displays are added on an ongoing basis.

RARE TREASURE
These rare artifacts are made of rubber.
The rubber shoes and bullwhips are some of the only examples known to exist from this time period. Their survival is due to the fact that the environment surrounding the sunken Arabia was anaerobic (oxygen free). To ensure their future preservation, this case is pressurized with nitrogen.
Nitrogen is an inert gas and will prevent the destructive nature of oxidation.

The snag that sank the Great White Arabia

In the winter of 1988, five men and their families banded together to begin the adventure of a lifetime … recovering the Steamboat Arabia's long-lost treasure.

In 1991, the Arabia’s cargo was transformed into the Arabia Steamboat Museum, a top Kansas City attraction and favorite local destination in the historic City Market. From fine china and carpentry tools to children’s toys and the world’s oldest pickles—the Arabia’s artifacts captivate visitors of all ages. The museum accommodates all types of visitors, including walk-ins, families, RV groups and more.  It has become a favorite destination for Kansas City field trips year after year.

Text respectfully taken from: The Arabia Steamboat Museum

The Arabia is depicted on the afternoon of her last voyage just seconds before striking a tree snag. It is possible that the crew member on the bow of the Arabia has just sighted a snag, and the man to the right of him has turned to warn the pilot. However, the alert came too late. A submerged walnut tree pierced her hull, sinking the Arabia on September 5, 1856, one-half mile below Parkville. Missouri.