Modern day treasure hunters locate and excavate Civil War-era steamboat and artifacts...
On September 10, 1865, The Steamboat Twilight ran up on a snag and sank in the early morning fog near the town of Napoleon on the Missouri River. After several earlier unsuccessful rescue attempts (the most recent in 1895) the hull and numerous artifacts were exhumed in 2001 and moved to a storage and stabilization facility in St. Charles, Missouri.
Conservation of the Twilight and the artifacts is underway. The single largest artifact is the hull of the steamship herself, and is the only known complete steamboat hull ever recovered. The finds on this loaded steamship are nothing less than amazing. Major artifacts, including the keel (showing the depth indicators), the capstan, boilers, steam engines, pitman arms, paddlewheels and rudder, are ready for reassembly with the restored hull. Restoration of the boat from stem to stem will begin when the location of the Twilight Museum is determined.
Twilight, LLC, which owns the steamboat, plans to complete its conservation and preservation. A restored steamboat could provide educational opportunities and an on-sight training lab for nearby Universities and their students. A group committed to the restoration of the Twilight as well and the development of the museum, is currently being sought.
The recovery of the Twilight presents a unique opportunity to reproduce and display the entire hull of the boat including the bow, anchor, main steam engines, drive gear, boilers, paddle wheel, stem and rudder. The artifacts, in addition to the boat itself, will be placed in the museum. The Twilight may be the only Missouri River hull that has ever be recovered in its entirety.
Extensive video and still pictures were taken of the entire recovery process. These can be used to produce professional quality presentations depicting the archeological work and the original construction of the steamboat. The recovery was documented in accordance with archeological standards.
The future museum can be an interactive exhibit where visitors will be able to walk around the steamboat, view it at close distances, walk on the main deck and even step down into the hull to have a close-up view of the cargo and artifacts. The steam engines will run and operate the paddlewheel — truly a one-of-a-kind display.
After underbrush and vegetation were cleared, 20 dewatering wells were placed around the remains of the Twilight. The submersible pumps forced water from the wells through 24-inch culverts to the Missouri River. By depressing the water table, which is normally six to eight feet below surface, the wells created a dry cone around the Twilight, which is normally 35 to 45 feet deep. The cargo and structural remains of the Twilight were then excavated using terrestrial, as opposed to underwater, archaeological techniques.
Once the dry cone was established and stabilized, excavation of nearly 90,000 cubic yards of soil was removed to expose the deck of the Twilight. As the soil was removed, it was used to form a dike and staging area to afford some protection in case of unexpected fluctuations in the river level. Water jets were used to wash down and gently uncover artifacts and structural remains as crews of archaeological technicians removed the remaining sediments. Cleaning as carefully as possible maintained artifact provenance. All structural elements and cargo were surveyed and restored by standard archaeological methods.
After the Twilight and its cargo were removed, the process of removing the dewatering system began. The excavation was then refilled with the soil originally removed. The site will be restored to its former natural condition within approximately a month and will begin revegetating, thus restoring it to its wetland status. Labeled and placed in appropriate containers, the artifacts and structural elements were removed from the excavation site and transferred to temporary fresh water-filled holding tanks and/or refrigeration units that will provide a stable environment similar to that from which they were removed.
For Information:
Cindy Lander
314-863-8060 (work)
314-922-8060 (cell)
SAGE Marketing