Steamboat Bertrand Event June 27 at DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
The DeSoto Bend, Betrand Steamboat exhibit will be joining in the nation-wide celebration, beginning on June 27. This will help celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday and the 161st anniversary of the sinking of the Bertrand.
HiSTORY/BACKGROUND
At 3 o’clock in the afternoon of April 1, 1865, the steamboat Bertrand, headed to the gold fields of Montana Territory, struck a submerged log and sank. The surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox, ending the Civil War, was still a week away. Abraham Lincoln would be assassinated two weeks later. But none of that stopped the country’s westward expansion. Just over a century later, the wreck of the Bertrand was found and its cargo recovered.
April 1, 2026, marked the 161st anniversary of the sinking of the Bertrand. The refuge will host a day of special events on Saturday June 27th. In the morning we will kick off with a family fishing clinic on DeSoto Lake. The Bertrand related activities will be held in the afternoon at the DeSoto Visitor Center.
A family fishing clinic will be held from 9 – 11 am at the South Gate Recreation Area. The fishing clinic is led by a refuge volunteer who is also a certified Nebraska Youth Fishing Instructor. Fishing rods and bait provided courtesy of the Friends of Boyer Chute and DeSoto. Participants are also welcome to bring their own fishing gear. No registration is required, just meet up at our South Gate Recreation Area near the handicap accessible fishing dock. People of all fishing experience levels are welcome to join us for the clinic. Kid’s younger than 16 can fish without a license. Participants aged 16 and older will need a valid Iowa or Nebraska fishing license to participate
From 1 – 3 p.m., living history reenactors will be present throughout the visitor center, giving a sense of what life and travel may have been like for the travelers, salesmen, crew, and others aboard the Bertrand on their way to new opportunities in the Montana Territory. There will also be activities for children and adults between 1 and 3 p.m., including stenciling, button making, Bertrand Steamboat artwork and a Bertrand cargo scavenger hunt.
Beginning at 3 p.m., a refuge volunteer will present a talk on the various conservation projects undertaken to preserve the cargo of the Bertrand. This will be followed by the Bertrand Museum Curator and a presentation on the impact of the Bertrand and other steamboats on the country’s expansion into the West. The event will conclude at 4 p.m.
The refuge Visitor Center will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. the day of the event.
DeSoto & Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges are located north of Omaha, Nebraska on U.S. Highway 30 between Missouri Valley, Iowa and Blair, Nebraska and along U.S. Highway 75 near Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska.
For more information contact 712/388-4800 or email the refuge at desoto@fws.gov. Check our websites, www.fws.gov/refuge/desoto/ or www.fws.gov/refuge/boyer_chute/, for refuge updates. Like us on Facebook - search for DeSoto and Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuges.
