Arabia Steamboat Museum

This cargo steamboat, laden with 220 tons of merchandise destined for settlers out west, sank in the Missouri River in 1856, where it remained preserved in cold mud until it was excavated in the 1980s. A virtual time capsule of the 1850s and one of the best collections of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world, the museum provides a look at frontier life, with displays of the steamboat's cargo, from china and hardware to jewelry and leather boots (900 shoes and boots alone are on display). Tours begin with a film of the excavation and restoration of parts of the boat (which are now on display).