My Family Spent 4 Months Playing Battleship in a Cornfield
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1856, the steamboat Steamboat Arabia struck a snag and slipped beneath the Missouri River, taking with it cargo bound for stores and towns across the frontier. The Arabia did not stay buried forever. As the river changed course over time, the wreck was left behind beneath layers of earth.
More than a century later, a group of Kansas City men set out to uncover the long-buried treasure. Matt Hawley tells the story of his family’s quest to dig up the steamboat Arabia from the middle of a cornfield.
Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)
Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.3 | Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. |
| 0:07.7 | Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand |
| 0:11.8 | new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. |
| 0:15.5 | Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the |
| 0:20.3 | biology of taunons and wampas |
| 0:22.2 | on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. |
| 0:28.3 | Listen to Stuff to Bo Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your |
| 0:33.5 | podcasts. |
| 0:44.3 | Music your podcasts. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. |
| 0:52.8 | To search for the the American Stories podcast, |
| 0:55.4 | go to the I Heart Radio app to Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 1:01.7 | Up next a story about a modern day treasure hunt that involves whiskey. |
| 1:06.6 | And in an interesting place, the fields of Parkville, Missouri. |
| 1:11.3 | Here to tell the story of the hunt is Matt Hawley of the Steamboat Arabia Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. |
| 1:18.7 | Take it away, Matt. |
| 1:19.7 | Believe it or not, there's not a lot of people looking for steamboats. |
| 1:23.1 | It takes a certain blend of crazy to go after steamboats and the hollies have just that right blend. |
| 1:28.9 | My dad, David, he, my uncle Greg and my grandfather Bob, they worked in HVAC. |
| 1:35.3 | So they fixed air conditioners, refrigerators, AC units for people in the Kansas City metro area. |
| 1:42.5 | Just a blue collar family. And one day my dad took a service |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.