Bertrand History celebrated
LEE ZION, EDITOR
Harrison County Times-Reporter
It happened in the last month of the U.S. Civil War. On April 1, 1865, the Bertrand, a steamboat was heading up the Missouri River to Virginia City, in what was then the Montana Territory. It struck a submerged log and sank in only 12 feet of water. There was no loss of life.
The insurance company started to salvage the boat, but another steamboat, the Cora, sank in the Missouri River, and the salvagers abandoned the first ship to deal with the new wreck. By the time they returned, the boat was so thoroughly encased in silt that any attempt at salvage was now made pointless.
The Bertrand lay forgotten for more than 100 years. By the time excavation began in 1968, it was 20 feet under the surface, on what is now dry land. Most of its contents were preserved due to sheer luck.
The unfortunate circumstances of the Bertrand more than 160 years ago were good fortune to modern archaeologists. A huge treasure trove of materials from the Bertrand now forms the core of the museum at the DeSoto Wildlife Refuge, not far from the site of the wreck.
This last Saturday (June 27), the museum at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center held a party — in honor of our nation’s own 250th birthday this week — to celebrate the largest intact collection of Civil War-era artifacts in the United States, with more than 500,000 artifacts right here in Harrison County.
Visitors met period re-enactors dressed in costume. Children had a chance to participate in a scavenger hunt, and speakers discussed the history of the boat and the center.
