Arabia (steamboat)

The Arabia is a side wheeler steamboat that sank in the Missouri River, on September 5, 1856, when it was gored upon a submerged tree snag.

Its paddle wheels were 28 feet (8.5 m) across, and its steam boilers consumed approximately thirty cords of wood per day.

According to newspaper accounts at the time, a Pennsylvania abolitionist aboard the Arabia dropped a letter, which was discovered and handed over to Captain Shaw.

The letter described guns and cannons en route to the slavery-free Kansas Territory from the abolitionist Massachusetts Aid Society.

The boat sank so rapidly into the mud that by the next morning, only the smokestacks and pilot house remained visible.

The owners of the farm gave permission for excavation, with the condition that the work be completed before the spring planting.

The Hawleys, along with family friends Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell, set out to excavate the Arabia during winter while the water table was at its lowest point.

[7] They performed a series of drilling tests to exactly locate the hull, then marked the perimeter with powdered chalk.

Heavy equipment, including a 100-ton crane, was brought in by both river and road transport during the summer and fall.

Twenty irrigation pumps were installed around the site to lower the water level and to prevent flooding.