The dredge is one of the few surviving examples of its type built to control flooding and improve navigation along the nation's rivers.

Built by the Marietta Manufacturing Company in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Captain Meriwether Lewis was launched on December 12, 1931 while only half-complete by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This side-wheel steam paddle dredge was operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help channel the Missouri River and to maintain it as a navigable waterway.

In 1976, Captain Meriwether Lewis was given to the Nebraska State Historical Society and moved to Brownville one year later.

Exhibits include Native American history, area exploration, westward expansion, the ship and navigation on the river.