On March 18, 1865, the morning paper in St. Louis stated “The steamer Bertrand will leave for the mining districts of the North West at 10 o’clock this morning positively.” Tickets were sold – and the Bertrand may have left on time. But on the Missouri, there was no guarantee you’d reach your destination.
Join Russ Gifford to hear rousing tales of steamboat travel on the unruly Missouri, of passengers coping with heat and hail, pestilence and plague, sunken sawyers, dissatisfied natives – and fellow passengers!
To learn more about the steamship Bertrand click the link below:
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/desoto/steamboat-bertrand
Through extensive research, filming and computer graphics, the Steamboat Bertrand at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri Valley, Iowa, was brought to life on the National Geographic show “Drain the Oceans.” The Bertrand appeared in Season 4 Episode 1, titled “The Wild West.”
