
A view of the Big Sioux River north of Sioux City, Iowa, circa 1900. The excursion boat “Minnehaha” in the foreground. Photograph courtesy of the Sioux City Public Museum.
On Saturday, May 13, 1843, the steamboat Omega glided along the eastern edge of the Missouri River near today’s Sioux City, Iowa. As the sun set behind the bluffs to the west, the boat’s passengers and crew gazed apprehensively from the ship’s decks at an approaching thunderstorm.
On the wide Missouri a thunderstorm accompanied by high winds could pummel a steamboat, tossing it against snags, slamming it up against a cut bank, or pushing it atop a sandbar. Fearing for his vessel and its passengers, the Omega’s pilot guided the steamer into the mouth of the Big Sioux River. Once there, the boat’s roustabouts hurriedly roped the ship to the shore. Not long afterwards, the thunderstorm broke over the Omega, but thanks to the actions of the pilot and crew members, and the sanctuary offered by the Big Sioux, the storm did not damage the ship.
A famous passenger on board the Omega provided posterity with one of the few early descriptions of the Big Sioux River. Ornithologist John James Audubon wrote, “…[we] have entered the mouth of the Big Sioux River, where we are fastened for the night. This is a clear stream and abounds in fish….”[1] Audubon then listed a few of the animals found in the vicinity of the river, including geese, deer, and elk. Continue Reading »