Tall Stacks

Cargo and Passengers

Introduction/ Task:

Hi! My name is Mark Twain. I was born in 1835 near the Missouri River and I wrote stories about life on the river. I understand that you live near the Ohio River.

 

I hope you had fun becoming a riverboat captain on your first WebQuest. In this WebQuest you will get a feel of what life was like for the passengers traveling on steamboats. Have you ever wondered why people traveled on steamboats? Do you know what type of cargo was carried on them?

 

Process/ Resources

The steamboat pictured at the beginning of this WebQuest is not the type people traveled on in my day. To see what two steamboats looked like in my day click the next address. After viewing the two pictures, discuss with your partner the attributes of historical steamboats. Make a sketch of these old time boats in your notes. Then to return to me, click the back button.

 http://www.petalumahotels.com/history2.html

 

 Many people called the Missouri River the "Big Muddy"! It was called that because it was so dangerous and unpredictable. It challenged the best of riverboat pilots. I know this river well because I was a riverboat pilot before the Civil War.

Winter ice jams, spring floods and strong currents cut the riverbanks and uprooted trees. These problems resulted in shifting channels, sandbars, and submerged trees, called "snags". During the 1800's, over 400 steamers sank on the Missouri River." I was fortunate enough not to be on one of those 400 steamers.

 

 

I want you to learn about life on this dangerous river so I am going to take you to two sites where riverboats sank on the Missouri River.

1. Read about the steamboat Arabia sinking, click the next address. Read the entire piece to find out what happened to the passengers of this boat.  

Were the passengers safe?

Did they survive?

Try to imagine traveling on that night. Take notes about your thoughts.

When you reach the end of the piece, click the back button and you will return here.

 http://www.1856.com/sinking.htm

2. Another steamboat that hit a snag on the Missouri River was the steamboat Bertrand. This is the steamboat you will discover more about through video conferencing in the KTLN Lab. A school will link up with you from Iowa to talk to you about what was discovered while excavating the site of this wreck. Make a list of cargo excavated from this site in your notes. This next address is to see a catalog of images from the Bertrand Collection. When you reach the end of the piece, click the back button and you will return here.

http://refuges.fws.gov/NWRSFiles/CulturalResources/Bertrand/Bertrand_Image_Catalog.html

 

The Bertrand was found and excavated in 1970 on National Park Service land. Thousands of taxpayers' dollars were and still are used to preserve, care for, and exhibit the artifacts. The items you saw are located in the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.

Discuss with your partner whether the site should have been excavated and who the artifacts belong to:

  1. Boat owners
  2. Ancestors of the passengers
  3. Visitor Center

  I want you to remember, there is no right or wrong answer, just discuss your opinion and be able to give your reasons. Put your answers on your notes.

 

You have learned about the dangers of traveling by steamboat but I want you to remember their importance also. Steamboating provided an economical way of transporting supplies to remote posts, mining camps, and new frontier communities. The cargo these ships carried was necessary for life in the west.

 

 

The US Mail was cargo on many steamboats. Explore this site to find out how much it cost to send mail by steamboat. It cost……..

http://www.steamboats.com/museum5.html

 

Check out this next site to see pictures of actual envelopes used on steamboats. The stamps used here are very special to me. Do you know why?

http://www.steamboats.com/museum2.html

 The Tom Sawyer stamps used on these envelopes are from a book I wrote.

 

 

Evaluation/ Conclusion:

This last site is more information about me and at the end of it there is a song.

 http://members.tripod.com/~Write4801/riverboats.html

When you are completely finished with this WebQuest do the WebWork below.

 

  1. Write a diary entry from a passenger's point of view of your experiences on the river.
  2. Review the site with information about the sinking of the Arabia and write a transactive piece for the local newspaper.  http://www.1856.com/sinking.htm
  3. Get an envelope from your teacher and make it look like the envelopes that traveled on steamboats.

 

 

 

 

By: Connie Field, Janine Kiefer, &

Reeda Hart

Grant's Lick Elementary

170 W. Clay Ridge Rd.

Alexandria, KY 41001