563 - Steamboat Park / Keelboat Park

The Missouri River has always been a hub of activity. From wagon trains, steamboats, and the railroad to modern-day fisherman, runners, and cross-country skiers, the banks of the river have stories to tell. The Steamboat Warehouse Historic Marker, a small, easily missed landmark on the east bank of the Missouri River, tells one of those stories.

For over 12,000 years, people have depended on the Missouri River as a source of sustenance and transportation. During the 19th century, it was one of the main routes for westward expansion of the United States. Steamboats were king on the Mighty Missouri, crucial for moving goods across the Midwest. In the late 1800s, the last railroad spikes were driven in the ground, linking the east and the west by freight trains.

From 1872 to 1887, Bismarck was an important transportation center and Missouri River port. Since the railroad bridge across the muddy river wasn’t completed until October of 1882, engineers had to be creative to ensure their goods would make it across. In the summer months, train cars were ferried across the river. But during the winter, when the river froze, trains crossed the ice on specially-laid tracks. This novel idea is often credited to former Confederate Major General Thomas Rosser—chief engineer for the Northern Pacific at the time. When the daring feat was first attempted in 1879, the successful crossing made news headlines across the nation. Along the east bank of the river, not far from where you are standing, steamboat warehouses once stood. The River Landing Spur ran down to these store houses, where freight was unloaded and transferred to steamboats, waiting to deliver goods between Fort Benton, Montana and St. Louis, Missouri.

The Northern Pacific Railroad built their warehouse in 1883 to store goods in transshipment between steamboats and freight trains. The 300-foot-long stone and frame building, along with the adjacent dock, was bustling, an important link in the transportation chain. The activity extended past the docks where other warehouses, saloons, hotels, restaurants, and gambling establishments served the transient river trade. The warehouse was torn down in 1925, as the steamboat era had come to an end. Today, a fieldstone monument commemorates the site, telling the story for all who pass by.