John G.Neihardt Upcoming Event

1. Steamboat Wrecks, January 19, 2014At 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 19th, self-proclaimed steamboat hunter, Pete King of Sergeant Bluff, will give a presentation on historic steamboat wrecks along what he calls “the deadliest mile,” the once winding, snaky section of the Missouri River just south of Onawa, IA and Decatur, NE. Providing historical photographs, King will describe the events and aftermath of several of the nearly a dozen sunken steamboats in this area (out of nearly 400 along the entire river). Fascinated by the story of the Bertrand, which sank in 1865 at DeSoto Bend, and the recovered artifacts on display at the museum near Missouri Valley, he began searching on his own using a magnetometer, which detects iron in the soil and, over the past 40 years he has uncovered 31 relics. He believes he has located one of these ships, the Nugget, a supply boat headed for Montana in 1866, buried in about 50 feet of mud. This is his major project now, working with the land owner to attempt excavation. It is yet a mystery whether it went down as a loaded boat, which will mean lots of artifacts, or as a salvaged boat, where the owners were able to off-load before it sank.

   The program begins at 2 p.m. with a reception following; both are free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact the Neihardt State Historic Site at 1-402-648-3388 or 1-888-777-4667 or by email at neihardt@gpcom.net. Visit the site at 306 W. Elm Street, Bancroft, NE.