The Buffalo Bill Museum, located in

LeClaire, Iowa LeClaire is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,710 in 2020 United States census, 2020, a 65.4% increase from 2,847 in 2000 United States Census, 2000, making it one of the fastest-growing communities in the Quad C ...

, is focused on life along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

and local history. One exhibit is the

Lone Star Lone Star, Lone Starr, Lone Stars or Lonestar may refer to: Communities in the United States * Lone Star, Arizona, a populated place * Lone Star, Fresno County, California, an unincorporated community * Lone Star, Humboldt County, California ...

, a wooden, paddlewheel steam-powered towboat that is housed in a special pier. Local history exhibits include the story of famous people from LeClaire, including American West showman

Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...

, engineer

James Buchanan Eads James Buchanan Eads (May 23, 1820 – March 8, 1887) was an American civil engineer and inventor. He held more than 50 patents and was known internationally. He designed and built the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis, which was ...

and inventor James Ryan. Professor James J. “Crash” Ryan (1903-1973), a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota was the inventor of the “Flight Recorder” invented in 1953; see U.S. Patent 2,959,459. The aviation recorder was initially named the “General Mills Flight Recorder” and later the "Ryan Flight Data Recorder". In December 1959, Professor Ryan filed a second patent application for a “Coding Apparatus for Flight Recorders and the Like” approved as U.S. Patent 3,075,192 on January 22, 1963. An early prototype of the Ryan Flight Data Recorder is on display at the museum as described in the January 2013 Aviation History Magazine article "Father of the Black Box" by Scott M. Fisher. Other exhibits include the Sauk and Fox Tribe,

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury ...

pilots, area pioneers, as well as area history and culture.

References

{{authority control Museums in Scott County, Iowa History museums in Iowa Maritime museums in Iowa Museums established in 1957 Le Claire, Iowa