Sergeant Floyd River Museum & Welcome Center

Sergeant Floyd Museum

"File:Sergeant Floyd towboat 1.jpg" by Ammodramus is marked with CC0 1.0

Quick Facts

Location:

Sioux City, IA

MANAGED BY:

City of Sioux City

Amenities

27 listed

Accessible Rooms, Accessible Sites, Baby Changing Station, Benches/Seating, Bicycle - Rack, Captioned Media, Cellular Signal, Electrical Outlet/Cell Phone Charging, Elevator, Fire Extinguisher, First Aid Kit Available, Food/Drink - Snacks, Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Internet/WiFi Available, Open Captioning, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Telephone, Toilet - Flush, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Water - Drinking/Potable, Wheelchair Accessible

Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Centers and Museums

Visitor Centers (shown in orange), High Potential Historic Sites (shown in black), and Pivotal Places (shown in green) along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail

In Sioux City, Iowa, near the intersection of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, stands the Sergeant Floyd River Museum and Welcome Center. The museum is nestled inside the retired M.V. Sergeant Floyd, a boat once used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The boat was named after Sergeant Charles Floyd of Kentucky, one of the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  

Floyd joined the expedition on August 1st, 1803. He was described as a “man of much merit” by William Clark and was likely chosen for the Corps of Discovery because of the close relationship between the Floyd and Clark families. Sergeant Floyd tragically died, likely of a ruptured appendix, on August 20th, 1804 in present-day Sioux City, Iowa, making him the only member of the Lewis and Clark expedition to die on the journey. The M.V. Sergeant Floyd was created over a century later, keeping the memory of the fallen sergeant alive. 

The M.V. Sergeant Floyd was deployed in 1932 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The boat was mostly utilized by the Corps of Engineers for menial work, such as water inspection and towing. She was used until 1975, at which point she became a moving exhibit for the Army Corps of Engineers to celebrate their Bicentennial. M.V. Sergeant Floyd functioned as an exhibit for 18 months, before finally being decommissioned. After her decommissioning, the boat was moved around and considered for various uses before she finally became the museum she is today. 

The museum currently offers free admission to its various exhibits covering the history of transportation on the Missouri River and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The restored third level of M.V. Sergeant Floyd’s Motor Vessel is available for visitor viewing. 

For more information about the Sergeant Floyd River Museum and Welcome Center, call [phone]