Steamboat Bertrand Museum

On the banks of the Missouri River, you can step into a time capsule from 1865: the Steamboat Bertrand, unintentionally assembled and magical in its mundanity. 

On April Fool's Day in 1865, fate played a trick on the steamboat. Two weeks into its journey to Montana Territory, it hit a snag and sunk into the muddy Missouri River. All of the ship's passengers were rescued, but thousands of dollars worth of cargo was written off as a total loss. Years passed, and the precise location of the wreck was lost to the shifting sands of time and the Missouri River. 

The wreck's contents remained undisturbed in their muddy resting place until a century later in 1968, when Omaha treasure hunters recovered the ship from under 30 feet of sediment. They found a merchant vessel frozen in time, with artifacts ranging from fancy French perfume to humble household goods, all perfectly preserved in the Missouri River's mud.

The museum at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, which took hold of the wreck's artifacts, displays an astounding 250,000 perfectly preserved goods: waffle irons and pickles, bullwhips and buttons, mercury and medicine bottles, all destined for frontier settlers and gold prospectors who would never receive them.

Now, the Steamboat Bertrand's contents rest in the museum's climate-controlled environment, its cargo finally delivered to an audience the original merchants never could have imagined.