North Dakota Drought Reveals 1890s Shipwreck Site

Postcard of a colorized photograph of the steamboat Abner O’Neal (1884-1892). Courtesy of State Historical Society of North Dakota

(KDLM) – A steamboat that sank in the Missouri River in central North Dakota in the late 1800s has become visible in the river.

The Abner O’Neal was built in 1884 in Pennsylvania and was used for passenger and freight transportation on the east coast before being sold to the Missouri River Transportation Company in March 1890. After being moved to North Dakota, she was primarily used for transporting wheat across the Missouri River.

On July 17, 1892, the ship was transporting 9,000 bushels of wheat from Washburn to Mandan when it hit a submerged rock and sank in the river about 30 miles north of Bismarck where she has sat on the bottom of the river for the last 127 years. No lives were lost in the accident, but the ship and cargo were total losses.

But with more than 58% of North Dakota in extreme drought conditions and a reduction in water releases out of the Garrison Dam, the Missouri River is down about two feet and low enough now where you can see the top of the wreck sticking out of the water. The ship hasn’t been visible like this since the 2011 Missouri River flood.

North Dakota resident Nyk Edinger went to see the shipwreck himself.

“A lot of our history has been torn down because weather is extreme, so to have something as old as the Abner O’Neal and still being able to see the actual iron and wood that went into that ship with our own eyes is an incredible experience,” he told KXMB-TV. “Something as historic as that, something as old as that, something that came long before me and will be here long after I’m gone, was an important thing for me.”

The Abner O’Neal is within the boundaries of state-sovereign lands managed by North Dakota. The site is protected by federal and state regulations and prohibits the collection of artifacts from the location, so the nearly 130-year-old shipwreck remains largely intact.