So, we're here in Kansas City and we are visiting steamboat Arabia. If you come to Kansas City you
have to come visit this museum, it's absolutely incredible. Steamboat Arabia was one of the many
river boats going up and down the Missouri River and it sank in 1856, just outside of Kansas City.
And this family excavated this boat and turned it into a museum. Neither of us are engineers,
but even if you're not an engineer you can't help but being fascinated by all the mechanics
of old paddle boats. You can see the wooden arm that links the steam engine to the paddle.
You can see the boilers; you can see the turbines, and you can imagine all the work
it took to build this boat that only lasted for three years. We're not big sailors but we have
been sailing before and it was really cool to see the old anchor and the old cabestan,
as well as the stern of the boat. So two years before the boat sank, the area just west of Kansas
City just opened up for settlers, so there were thousands of settlers that arrived in this part
of the country to settle the area. Just imagine an Amazon truck that crashes on the highway and
everything you would find in that truck. Well, here is the same thing. That boat sank and
everything that settlers needed, being tools, being sewing equipment, being clothing, shoe,
and fabric. Everything was there in that boat, as well as pickles and bourbon, and two prefab
houses. The boat was carrying 200 tons of cargo, and a lot of it is displayed in the windows. All
the tools the settlers needed to build farms and houses, and chop wood. It makes you realize how
the early settlers in the Wild West had to be pretty self-sufficient and had to know a little
bit about everything in order to survive in these new territories. And the collection
goes on and on and on. The tools, I kind of expected to see. But all the door fixtures,
the keys, the locks were kind of a surprise. They were clearly planning on building and locking a
lot of doors in the Wild West. But the family that excavated the boat was after a specific treasure:
Barrels of bourbon that would have been almost 150 years of age. They didn't find the barrels
of bourbon, but they still found a lot of bottles, such as castor oil and some elixir that I'm sure
cured every possible disease. But my favorite was these jars of pickles. These pickles are 150 years
old and I'm sure they're still edible. Would you want to try them? No. I would. I'd love to know
what they taste like. The one thing I wouldn't try are these oysters. It says they're fresh, but I'm
sure they kind of past their due date by now. Besides tools, there are also a lot of kitchen
supplies such as pots and plates, and jugs. They were also able to salvage the old menu from the
boat's restaurant. And some of these prices didn't seem that low, even in today's dollar. The reason
why there were so many house items is because there were a lot of women on these boats. Usually,
the men would come first and start building a house. And once that was done, they would
eventually bring their wife and kids. I'm sure being able to write was pretty important because
I don't think they had very good cell phone coverage back in the days. And dental hygiene
was apparently important back then as well. And the list goes on and on of all kind of objects
that you wouldn't necessarily think of. All kinds of bells and whistles, literally! You say tobacco.
I say tobacco. It's the largest pre-Civil War find of artifacts in the country. And
you couldn't talk about the Wild West without talking about guns. Lots of pre-Civil War guns
that gun collectors would be happy to own. All the jewelry and cosmetics was not something that
I expected to see either. But apparently, even in the 1850s, women loved a little bit of style.
And it wasn't just jewelry. It was also shoes. Hundreds of pairs of shoes. Shoes for women. And
shoes for men. How cool is that? Did they have rubber in 1850? I don't know. This is really an
amazing place. It's unlike any other museum I've been to. The history is so raw. To think that
they just found this thing, beneath the soil, and dug it up, only within the last 20 years,
and they're still excavating everything. It's been of remarkable! It's all self-funded. They
don't take any government money. It's all family-run, basically. And it's basically
the family's hobby. The Mississippi Basin covers almost half of the US, and rivers were the main
means of transportation to all these places. The valley of the Missouri River is huge. And around
a mile-wide in some spots. And back in the days, the river used to flood, and expand and contract
all the time. You can see the edges of the valley, marked by these blue lines. But today, the river
is much narrower than the valley, because it was channelized by the Army Corps of Engineers. And
the spot where the boat sank, marked by the yellow spot, is half a mile from where today's River is,
in the middle of someone's field. There are lots of trees and snags that are floating on the river.
And the life expectancy of a steamboat was only 3 to 5 years. So, the 3 years that the Steamboat
Arabia lasted was not unusual. Going downstream was not too bad. But it was going upstream that
was dangerous. They have a map in the museum of all the boats that sank in the Missouri River,
just between St Louis and Kansas City. And it shows how risky the journey was. And certain
spots appeared to be particularly deadly. Steamboat Arabia hit one of the many snags,
either floating on the river or hidden below the surface. And the actual snag is on display at the
museum. By going through old newspapers, and spending a lot of time in libraries, they were
able to locate the spot where the boat sank. And with a metal detector, they were able to locate
the boilers. They basically knocked on someone's door and said: We believe there is a steamboat
buried in your backyard! And they began this massive excavation to retrieve the boat, with lots
of water to pump. They started retrieving all of the boat's treasures. And 20 years later, they're
still not finished cleaning up all the cargo that they found. Several tons are still in freezers,
waiting to be cleaned. Then, watching them clean all these artifacts, and bring them back to life,
is actually part of the exhibit. And you can see the before-and-after of all these objects,
that are being cleaned. Luckily, none of the 130 passengers on board died. Only a mule, that
they nicknamed Lawrence of Arabia. It's really an amazing story of how a family persevered,
over many years, to find these treasures, deep below the river, and bring them up for everyone
to share and enjoy. The museum is located in the City Market district, just outside of downtown
Kansas City. And on weekends, you can stroll the farmer's market, which is just outside the museum.
And you can buy all kind of fresh produce. It has a little bit of a European vibe that
we didn't expect you find in Kansas City. The best way to get to the Steamboat Arabia is to
take the light rail, that crosses the downtown area, and stops right in front of the museum.
And at the other end of the line, you can also visit the old Union Station, one of the other
landmarks in the downtown Kansas City area. Another yellow magnet on the map. Right in
Kansas City. We hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did,
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