150-Year-Old Butter

150-Year-Old Butter 

"It really doesn't have much of a smell anymore," claims curator Bill Cantine about the block of butter recovered by archaeologists from the wreck of the steamboat Bertrand, which sank in 1865.

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The Bertrand Sank in 1865 in the Missouri River

The steamboat Bertrand was carrying passengers and cargo up the Missouri River to the mining towns in Montana Territory when it hit a snag in the river 30 miles north of Omaha and sank on April 1, 1865. 

The Forgotten Ship Was Found Buried in a Corn Field

Two Omaha men, Jesse Pursell and Sam Corbino, began a search in 1967 that led to the discovery of the Steamboat Bertrand. The Missouri River had changed course over time, leaving the forgotten wreck in the middle of a Nebraska cornfield. Operating under a Federal contract, the pair successfully completed the excavation of the boat and its cargo in 1969. Much of the material is on display in the visitor center of DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A Giant Bellows Was Probably Intended for a Blacksmith

Even fabrics were recovered fairly intact from Bertrand

Sixteen ladies' capes were recovered from Bertrand, including triangular knitted capes of pinkish violet with tasseled ties at the neck, very typical of the time. 

Hundreds of bottles with an astonishing range of contents

The Bertrand's cargo provides a extraordinary time-capsule from the Civil War era, with Underwood's "Tomatoe Katsup," brandied peaches from Boston, fruit jellies from Baltimore, pickles from Delaware, pepper sauce from St. Louis, and clover honey from Philadelphia.