Darren in NC
Silver Member
- Apr 1, 2004
- 2,810
- 1,642
- Detector(s) used
- Tesoro Sand Shark, Homebuilt pulse loop
- Primary Interest:
- Shipwrecks
I'll give a viable target here that I would not go after personally, but I know right where it is. I grew up in the area.
The steamboat Arrow, on her first trip from St. Louis to New Orleans, sunk near Bayou Sara on the Mississippi River in November of 1839. Part of the cargo that she lost was $10,000 in specie. We don''t know if this is gold or silver. Either way, American coins from that era would be worth a good bit.
I had read about the Arrow, but who knew her exact location? "Some distance above Bayou Sara" was pretty generic. Sometime later, I came across a photo of the USS Ozark, and saw the caption "Arrow Bend" 6 miles above Bayou Sara. I connected the bend's name to the steamboat's location in that same area. Turns out in the 1920s there was an Arrow's Bend light for river navigation. It is still officially called Arrow Bend today, though most locals (including myself) have likely never heard of it.
Somewhere in the bend is the steamboat Arrow, and possibly her precious cargo has never been recovered. My cousin visited there at my request during the recent drought when the river was the lowest it had been in decades. But he didn't see any boilers or wreckage indicating her spot. I suspect it would be virtually impossible for anyone to find her, or anything in the MS River without a professional salvage/dredging company. It may have been recovered later, but you never know...
The steamboat Arrow, on her first trip from St. Louis to New Orleans, sunk near Bayou Sara on the Mississippi River in November of 1839. Part of the cargo that she lost was $10,000 in specie. We don''t know if this is gold or silver. Either way, American coins from that era would be worth a good bit.
I had read about the Arrow, but who knew her exact location? "Some distance above Bayou Sara" was pretty generic. Sometime later, I came across a photo of the USS Ozark, and saw the caption "Arrow Bend" 6 miles above Bayou Sara. I connected the bend's name to the steamboat's location in that same area. Turns out in the 1920s there was an Arrow's Bend light for river navigation. It is still officially called Arrow Bend today, though most locals (including myself) have likely never heard of it.
Somewhere in the bend is the steamboat Arrow, and possibly her precious cargo has never been recovered. My cousin visited there at my request during the recent drought when the river was the lowest it had been in decades. But he didn't see any boilers or wreckage indicating her spot. I suspect it would be virtually impossible for anyone to find her, or anything in the MS River without a professional salvage/dredging company. It may have been recovered later, but you never know...
