Westward Expansion and the Flatboat Era - Presented by Katie Pappano, The Scenic Lincoln Way

Schedule

Tue, 23 Jun, 2026 at 06:00 pm

UTC-05:00
Location

122 E 2nd St, Owensboro, KY, United States, Kentucky 42303 | Owensboro, KY

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In 1828, Abraham Lincoln, at age 19, took a flatboat from Rockport, Indiana, to New Orleans, with his friend Alan Gentry, to sell the Spencer County area produce. In 2028, in honor of the 200-year anniversary of that trip, a not-for-profit group called the Scenic Lincoln Way will be doing a reenactment of Lincoln’s trip. A flatboat has been built and christened The Abraham.
When people think of pioneers, they automatically think of covered wagons. Covered wagons left from the western side of Missouri to go west on the Oregon or California trails. Five hundred thousand pioneers attempted that journey.
But there is a larger pioneer story. Three MILLION pioneers came west by flatboat from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after the Revolutionary War. The Great Migration, as it was called, refers to those pioneers who flooded into the Midwest using the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Come and hear about that pioneer era, and more about the planned reenactment trip of 2028.
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Where is it happening?

122 E 2nd St, Owensboro, KY, United States, Kentucky 42303

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

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Owensboro Museum of Science and History
Host or PublisherOwensboro Museum of Science and History

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