Sunk and Buried, Comes to Light 140 Years Later!

Many of you who have been to Kansas City, already know what I'm talking about.  If you haven't seen THIS museum, you really should.  It's a peek into everyday life in the 1850's.  Did you ever think you might smell the perfume or see pickles and pie filling from that era?  You actually can at the Arabia Steamboat museum at City Market in Kansas City.  Believe me, you won't regret stopping here.  Besides, it will keep the family and their personal museum solvent while they continue to restore the remaining 60 tons of cargo.  No government funds here AT ALL!

A local family, along with their friends, got the bright idea to go treasure hunting in a farmers corn field near Kansas City.  What they discovered and brought to light after so many years, gives you a first hand look at life in the 1850's.  They uncovered the Arabia paddle wheel steamboat and brought as much to the surface as possible, all completed in four months, before refilling the hole so the farmer could get his crop planted.

Bottles of perfume and oil were intact, along with boxes and barrels of goods being shipped to the Western frontier.  She hadn't made any stops to offload goods and so was filled to the brim.  Under the perfume bottles are thousands of trade beads.

Here's what she looked like.  The good news is that no one lost their life, as the river was only 15 feet deep.  The only casualty was one mule who was left tied to a rail.

The Arabia hit this snag and sank in about 5 minutes.  This huge tree was still lodged in the bottom.

Using many pumps to keep the water level low enough, they excavated 45 feet down in order to bring up the treasures she held.

Box after box of dishes, glassware, knives and forks ... everything you would need to supply a modern kitchen ... at least modern for 1850.  The value of some of these pieces is astronomical!!

Everything you might need in the way of tools and hardware to build a house or barn were stacked to the ceiling.  Everything organic in nature has been preserved with polyethylene glycol.  

Some of the metal and tin goods show the result of being wet, but most were in excellent shape.   

This big box of pocket knives show how diverse the general store was in it's stock.  Most all of these goods were being shipped to general merchandise stores in the west for sale to early pioneers.

An amazing number of shoes and boots have been restored.  They don't look the least bit comfortable.  At least the ladies had a couple of different choices.  All the men's boots looked exactly alike!!

These look like dancing slippers and were probably made to be purchased by the bankers wife.  

This rubber sole says "Goodyear's Shop Co    Naugatuck Conn    Patent 1344".  Now THAT's a low patent number!!

The variety of foodstuff in the hold was amazing to see.  Cove Oysters from Baltimore, in tin cans ....

A handy dandy spice container for the bankers wife ... including spices that were still intact like the cloves in the open tin.

Here we have almonds,  pumpkin seeds, nutmeg and peppercorns.   

There were lots of preserved items, including these sweet pickles, which one of the treasure hunters tasted.  He said it was great ... and he didn't die ... so apparently their canning methods were pretty good!!

The sign here says pie fillings, but they looked more like olives and capers to me.  There  were some berries in the far left jars, but I don't think olive pie would have been on the menu.

Most of the clothing did not survive.  Depending on the type of material, some were restored with PEG, including these bolts of silk and hanks of wool yarn.

This red shirt with the heart in the middle was probably made in St Louis, to be sold to a pro-slavery man in Kansas.  In front are bowls of buttons from cotton clothing that didn't survive.  In the back, shelves of felt hats.

These beautiful buttons were once sewed on cotton dresses by the dozens.  The cotton turned into a gooey mass, but the buttons survived and were collected for display.

These were just the white buttons.  Can you imagine how many boxes of shirts were lost forever??

They retrieved the three steam boilers from the hull of the ship, but the paddle wheels were too broken up to salvage.

Luckily they were able to bring the stern and rudder to the surface.  Mounted here, it was surrounded by a shower curtain and drenched in PEG for years before it was finally able to see the light of day.  When Barbara and Tom were here last, it was still being showered every day.

What an amazing find.  I think I could have spent another four or five hours there, looking at all the stuff recovered.  They estimate it will take another 15 years to complete the restoration of all the items.   I can't wait to return and see more of 1850's life in the Wild West!!

It's Saturday and all the local campers have arrived with their barking dogs and children running into your car with their out-of-control bike riding!!  It's an adventure, RIGHT???  So many air conditioners turned on (while they ate outside) gave me a scare when my voltmeter dipped to 110 and my rig temperature jumped up to 87.  Barbara says my tiny 8" fan isn't big enough for a flea, so I imagine we'll stop at Bed Bath and Beyond to purchase the one Tom found, and maybe Camping World for a new digital voltmeter!!