Day Trippin' with Arabia Steamboat Museum manager Matt Hawley

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News

I love an adventure.

Especially when I can take a trip to the 1850s without leaving the Kansas City metro area.

Last week, my wife Stacy and I took some youngsters to visit the Arabia Steamboat Museum, located just east of Kansas City's River Market.

And we were not disappointed. 

While the museum is incredible (please go to grainvalleynews.com, to read my recent Day Trippin' column about the museum), we happened to see Matt Hawley, whose family was a part of the excavation of the Arabia Steamboat in a Kansas cornfield in 1988.

Matt's personality, knowledge and insight added to a trip that was already off the charts.

Matt was 5 years old when the excavation began, and he was the envy of all his young friends.

"My friends didn't know about the excavation, and since I was 5, I didn't really know what was going on," Matt said. "When winter hit, the excavation site was a kid's dream come true because we had the greatest place to go sledding.

"I don't think I ever realized the impact the excavation had across the country until 1992 when Good Morning America visited the site and broadcast from there. I was 9 when that happened, and I was beginning to believe that something special was happening."

The museum is a virtual time capsule that captures life on the American frontier in the mid-19th century.
Visitors have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience everyday objects that made life possible for pioneers in the 1800s.

Once inside the museum, you will see one of the Arabia's original paddle wheels, a collection of food – including the world's oldest pickles - to adult and children's clothing, leather goods, glassware, perfume and cologne and the large tree trunk, that rested on the bottom of the Missouri River, that struck the hull, causing it to sink in 1856. 

The Steamboat Arabia was one of many casualties of the perilous Missouri River—the longest river in the United States that claimed nearly 400 other steamboats over its 2,500-mile course.

"And many of those steamboats are still out there," Matt said. "It's crazy to me that there are so many that have not been discovered."

In September 1856, the Arabia was carrying over 200 tons of cargo intended for general stores and homes in 16 Midwestern frontier towns. The steamer was still fully loaded when it hit a tree snag and sank just 6 miles west of Kansas City. Due to erosion, the Missouri River changed course over time, and the Arabia was buried underground for over a century – along with all of its precious cargo. Lying 45 feet deep beneath a Kansas cornfield, the Arabia’s payload was protected from light and oxygen and, thus, was remarkably well preserved.

In the winter of 1988, five men from Eastern Jackson County and their families, banded together to begin the adventure of a lifetime - recovering the Arabia Steamboat's long-lost treasure. That group included Bob Hawley, Jerry Mackey, David Luttrell and brothers David and Greg Hawley.

"There was a lot of activity, a lot of energy in our house while they were excavating the steamboat," Matt explained. "I remember how excited I was when they began pumping out the muddy water that made the excavation so difficult. Oh, and the time someone actually found something from the Arabia. I thought that was like treasure hunting."

The five-man crew and others who joined the adventure,  were hoping to find undamaged barrels of whiskey and gold, but what they discovered was much more valuable – an insight to the life and times of Missouri River travels in the 1850s.
​
In 1992, the Arabia’s cargo was transformed into the Arabia Steamboat Museum, a top Kansas City attraction and favorite local destination in the historic City Market. 

The collection is a work in progress as preservationists continue to clean 60 more tons of artifacts in a preservation lab that’s available for visitors to visit and watch their painstaking work.

And if you happen to see Matt, say hello, and ask him a question or two. I promise you it will make your trip to the museum extra special.

The Steamboat Arabia Museum provided much of the background information for this column.

The museum is open 10 a.m. To 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Arabia Steamboat Museum is located at 400 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. You can call 816-471-1856 or email [email protected] for more information.

The adventure of a lifetime began in 1988 when Bob Hawley, Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell began the search for the sunken Steamboat Arabia in a cornfield in Missouri. The original crew was joined by Hawley's grandsons, David and Greg.  Another grandson, Matt, was 5 years old when the adventure began and he is now the manager of the Arabia Steamboat Museum, located in the River Market District in downtown Kansas City. Photo courtesy the Hawley family