The Montana was a Missouri River steamboat built in 1879. It was one the "mega-steamboats" (along with Wyoming and Dacotah[sp]) built in 1879 at the end of the steamboat era on the Missouri river (soon to be supplanted by the increasing railroad network). For a while the Montana's size allowed it compete with the railroads, but the railroads continued to close the gap. On June 22, 1884, the Montana meet is fate ironically at the hands of the railroad after colliding with the railroad bridge near Bridgeton, Missouri. It was beached to avoid losing is cargo on the Bridgeton side of the river. In 2002, the low water level of the Missouri caused the wreck to be revealed for the first time since the mid-1960s, located . The Montana was the largest ship of its kind to travel the Missouri: it was 283 feet (81 m) long (including the paddle wheel), 50 feet (15 m) wide, 50 feet tall and weighing 959 tons (unloaded). It had two sister ships: The Dacotah and the Wyoming. The Montana was featured on Wild West Tech episode Biggest Machines in the West, December 2004.
External links
- "Steamboat Montana (1879–1884)—Leviathan of the American Plains" [1]
- National Geographic News. Steamboat Wreck Sheds Light on Bygone Era. November 18, 2002.
- East Carolina University. Fall 2002 Field project notes. September 23, 2002.
