we are often told that something is impossible, and that we cannot achieve our. dreams. some true stories, however,help us to realize that seemingly impossible things can be a reality.
One day in 1985, a boy called David Hawley heard about the hundreds of nineteenth century steamboats that had sunk along the missouri river, their contents often being preserved in the mud. David was thrilled, and told his father Bob the story. Bob had always wanted to do something adventurous, so he decided to salvage cargo from one of the steamboats.
First, the Hawley family used their spare time, for a year or so, to visit libraries and research sunken boats. They decided to look for the "Arabia" , which sank in 1856 in kansas, not far from the hawley's home. As the missouri river changes its course a lot, the wreck was now under a field about 800 metres from the river bank.its approximate position was known from the records of two earlier salvage attempts that failed. with the permission of the land's owner,the hawleys used a mrtal detector to locate the buried steamboat.
with two partners,the Hawleys pooled their savings and bought equipment They began work on november 13,1988. Many difficulties had to be overcome ground water rushed into the hole they dug, as did the muddy sides of the hole several pumps stopped the hole from filling up with water, the problem which had defeated previous salvage attempts.
After three weeks. a barrel was uncovered, and inside it was beautiful china. Over the next few months, the team brought up a huge number of items including guns, clothes and medicines.Five million beads intended for trading with india tribes were found. everything was perfectly preserved because the mud had kept out oxygen.
when the team. decided to open their own museum, some people thought they were crazy.They worked hard and got advice from top experts around the world on how to clean and preserve their finds. They obtained bank loans, and in 1991 the museum opened. it is very successful, attracting about 150,000 visitors. a yrar.the hawleys work full-time in their museum and its laboratory.
They have achieved what seemed impossible:salvaging a buried ship and transforming their lives with their own museum.