Steamboat wreck rising from the receding Missouri

It emerges like a giant skeleton near the banks of the receding Missouri River, a relic from an era that helped shape Missouri’s history in the state’s infancy.

More than 120 years after it sank, the steamboat Montana has remained embedded in the deep mud of the Big Muddy. The vessel is normally concealed by water, sitting near the St. Louis County side, out of the river’s navigation channel.

But rain has been rare this summer in the St. Louis area and elsewhere along the Missouri. With the river level so low, the Montana is suddenly visible again.

"I was impressed with how much of it is still there," said Steve Dasovich, a maritime archaeologist who contracts with the state to preserve the Montana. "All the spokes of the paddle wheel are still there. The level of preservation of the wreck is impressive."

Posted by David on August 17, 2005 1:16 PM