Treasures of the STEAMBOAT ARABIA MUSEUM
Steamboat Arabia sank suddenly in 1856 in the Missouri River near Kansas City, after striking a submerged tree. All 130 persons survived, but over 200 tons of frontier cargo was lost including dishware, china, tools, guns, hardware, clothing, beads, buttons, French perfume, medicine and bottled foods. Excavated in 1988-89, the largest pre-Civil War artifact collection in the world has been preserved and is on display at the Arabia Steamboat Museum.
Provenance: Sent by L&TM5K regular Elaine, Spring 2011.
Note: OK, that actually sounds kind of cool. This is the rare case of a postcard that seems less boring once you've read the caption.
3 comments:
WooHoo! I'm a Featured Contributor! Actually, yes, the museum, despite its pricey admission, was very interesting. And I now have a new hobby--looking for putrid postcards to inflict upon my friends in Oregon. :0)
Dude, I was JUST reading an article about another pre-Civil War steamboat that sank in the Missouri river with a cargo of clothing, beads, buttons and bottled food. I thought it was something of a historical novelty, but apparently these boats were sinking all over the place!
The Missouri was famous for being very rough and difficult to navigate. The Ohio and the Arkansas were much less dangerous...
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