Preserving an Important Part of Missouri History
Missouri is defined by its waterways. The Mississippi River creates the state’s eastern border, and the Missouri River, the longest river in North America, runs right through the heart of our state. Over the decades, our rivers have played an important role in the development of Missouri’s history and have told a multitude of stories. One of the most fascinating of these stories involves a steamboat named Arabia.
Built in 1853, the Arabia was a 171 feet long steamboat, capable of carrying over 220 tons of cargo. The ship earned a reputation of dependability, safety and comfort as it traversed the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers. In 1856, the Arabia left St. Louis heading west on the Missouri River on a fateful trip from which it would never return.
As it steamed west along the Missouri River, the Arabia hit a snag near modern-day Parkville, Missouri. The muddy water hid the submerged trunk of a walnut tree that ripped through the hull of the Arabia, and the ship began sinking. Luckily, the only loss of life was a single mule, but the steamer lost much of its 200 tons of cargo to the Missouri River. Within days, the Arabia itself had disappeared into the waters below.
Over a century later, the wreckage of the Arabia was rediscovered in 1987 and excavated. Included with the ship was a treasure trove of historical objects, deemed one of the largest discoveries of pre-Civil War relics ever to be found. Today, a museum in Kansas City displays the historic wreckage and its thousands of relics, providing a glimpse of what life was like in 1856. The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCulloch has called the Arabia Steamboat Museum “the best small museum in America.”
Despite the prestige and importance of these historic artifacts, Kansas City has decided not renew the lease for the museum’s facility in 2026, forcing the site to relocate. A museum in another state has offered to buy the artifacts, jeopardizing this irreplaceable collection. Losing these pieces of our history would cheat past, present and future generations of Missourians, and we have to prevent it.
In order to stop that from happening, this week I filed Senate Bill 322. This legislation creates the Steamboat Legacy Fund, which will be used to construct, maintain and operate a new facility commemorating our state’s steamboat era right here in the Capitol City. It would provide a home for the exhibits currently housed in the Arabia Steamboat Museum, and display other artifacts from each decade of the steamboat era in our state.
By being proactive, I believe we can help save an important piece of Missouri’s history for years to come. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Missouri General Assembly to make this bill into law, and keep these rare and valuable assets here in Missouri.
Please feel free to contact my office at (573)751-2076. For information about my committee assignments or sponsored legislation, please visit my official Missouri Senate website at senate.mo.gov/Bernskoetter.