Steamboat Montana - St. Charles, MO - Shipwrecks on Waymarking.com

The Steamboat Montana, along with its sister boats, Dacotah and Wyoming, were the largest steamboats to operate on the Missouri River. The Montana and its sister boats were all constructed in 1879 and operated by Coulson & Co. of Yankton, South Dakota, led by Sanford B. Coulson. At 283 feet in length and nearly 50 feet across, the Montana was nearly 100 feet longer than most steamboats operating on the river. The Montana mostly operated on the upper Missouri River, however due to competition with railroads the steamboat had expanded its range. On June 22, 1884, while fully loaded, the Montana collided with a railroad bridge causing the steamboat to take on water. The steamboat was beached on the shore opposite St. Charles. Salvage operations were begun and what could be removed was. The remainder of the steamboat settled into the mud at the bottom of the river. In 2002 an extensive archaeological study was conducted by the University of Eastern Carolina. There is extensive documentation of this study in the The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.

Date of Shipwreck: 6/22/1884 Type of Boat: Steamboat Military or Civilian: Civilian Cause of Shipwreck: Steamboat Montana collided with railroad bridge. Accessibility: During low water the remains of the steamboat are exposed. Access to the river will require walk through the woods to get to site. There is a boat landing directly across river from the wreck site if access by boat is desired Diving Permitted: no

Visit Instructions:
Only log the site if you have visited it personally.
Floating over a site does not qualify as a find if it is a wreck that requires diving - you must have actually visited the site - therefore photos of the site are good.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/27/2024 YoSam. visited it