A Hancock County native died Sunday evening from injuries she sustained in a boat crash on the Jourdan River, Coroner Jeff Hair confirmed to the Sun Herald. The steamer registered 1,719 tons[2] and normally carried a crew of 85. Traveling by steamboat on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers was common in the 1800s. In the 1820s, steamboats on the Mississippi carried lead from Julien Dubuque's lead mines near Dubuque. All contents Leyhe died in 1956 in St. Louis at 83. He died in 1871, having escaped justice because of his numerous highly placed patronsincluding two presidents. Barges still carry some goods on the river, but trains and trucks carry most of the freight in America. It was reported that the steamer was insured for $8,000. Cardinals latest, deflating loss compounds concerns, Man shot, killed near Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis, What was Andrew Knizner thinking? . An outfield in flux. In 1929, only two men attended the southern reunion. They wanted the railroad companies to pay for damages to the Effie Afton and its cargo. HEROINE. As shown in my book, when steam navigation of American waterways first began, there were very little, if any, laws for safety. However, they were not without hazards, as high-pressure steam boilers manufactured according to the science of the day were analogous to kegs of dynamite. Despite even less reliable water depth than the border rivers, interior Iowa rivers (those rivers that do not border the state) also saw considerable steamboat travel. The current was calmer and the channel was deeper. The report blamed quartermaster Capt. The May 9, 1989 the Des Moines Register newspaper listed 40 known sunken steamboats from the southwest corner of Iowa north just over 100 miles to Sioux City. Hersey and many others died instantly in a blast of scalding steam. GES: I agree wholeheartedly. Historian Ann Fabian writes that Lloyd even peddle[d] his book to the travelers who might soon wind up on the lists of the dead, who bought it and read it to pass the time on their own steamboat voyages. You can see the wreck in low water just north of the Eads Bridge. FS: Tell us why the Sultana Disaster Museum is located in Marion, Arkansas. On May 19, 1865, less than a month after the disaster, Brigadier General William Hoffman, Commissary General of Prisoners who investigated the disaster, reported an overall loss of soldiers, passengers, and crew of 1,238. Fire, drowning and exposure would kill many hundreds more. Introduced in 1848, they could generate twice as much steam per fuel load as conventional boilers. Fortunately, the sturdy railings around the twin openings of the main stairway prevented the upper deck from crushing down completely onto the middle deck. April 27, 2023. The boat and its entire cargo was a total loss. The early morning of May 18, 1947, was dark but quiet, the Mississippi River 10 feet below flood stage. Yet few know the story of the Sultana's demise, or the ensuing rescue effort that included Confederate soldiers saving Union soldiers they might have shot just weeks earlier. All the examined boat wrecks were working vessels, towboats or barges, so the artifacts and other data gave a glimpse into the lives of river men on the Mississippi around the turn of the 20 th century. Among other St. Louisans along for the ride was Capt. Then, once some laws were passed, they were generally ignored. "A few weeks earlier, he might have been attacking the Sultana if it had come in.". And, in fact, when the boats used the regular flue boilers, the sediment in the water was not too much of a problem. During the Civil War steamboats carried Iowa soldiers, weapons and food supplies to army posts. Subscribe now and never hit a limit. (Post-Dispatch). I gave only short shrift to the coal-torpedo sabotage theory. The event remains the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history (the sinking of the Titanic killed 1,512 people). The city has created a museum and is hosting events intended to bring attention to the tragedy. GES: The dirty river water of the lower Mississippi was not really thought of as a problem by the steamboat captains or engineers. (You can unsubscribe anytime), Courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection, Steamboat Princess. This list may not reflect recent changes . "At 2 a.m., one of the boilers exploded, resulting in two other boilers exploding," Potter says. [19][20] Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay, the inventor of the coal torpedo, was a former resident of St. Louis and was involved in similar acts of sabotage against Union shipping interests. 1, which tends to become brittle with prolonged heating and cooling. This effect of careening could have been minimized by maintaining high water levels in the boilers. In 2015, after I retired, I decided to look at all the known lists to discover who was actually on the Sultana and how many lived and died. New York: Dover Maritime, 1994. The earliest steamboat disaster in Arkansas waters may have been the Car of Commerce, which suffered a boiler explosion north of Osceola (Mississippi County) on the Mississippi River in 1828, killing twenty-one people, while the deadliest was the loss of the Sultana near Marion (Crittenden County) on April 27, 1865, in which as many as 1,800 were The Nick Wall, named for a noteworthy Missouri River riverboat captain, was a 338-ton sternwheel paddleboat built in 1869 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. hide caption. By the 1830s steamboats had navigated the Missouri River to the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Most of its 91 passengers and crew were asleep. ARCHERAt Galena, from St. Louis, Sept. 8, 1845; sunk by collision with steamer "Di Vernon", in chute between islands 521 and 522, five miles above mouth of Illinois River, Nov. 27, 1851; was cut in two, and sunk in three minutes, with a loss of forty-one lives. Blackened wooden deck planks and timbers were found about 32 feet (10m) under a soybean field on the Arkansas side, about 4 miles (6km) from Memphis. Aurora (1902) steam screw. and Mrs. M.V. The museum also features many artifacts from the Sultana Survivor's Association, as well as a fourteen-foot model replica of the boat. In 1859 the Princess was a four-year-old state-of-the-art side-wheel paddleboat. Effie Afton Hits the Bridge. Explosion of the Steamboat Constitution, May 4, 1817, Point Coupee, Louisiana. The Tricky Missouri River and the Steamboat Bertrand, The First Bridge Over the Mississippi and the Effie Afton, Majestic Riverboat Reigned on the Mississippi, Simulated travel guide describing travel conditions in Iowa from 1830 to 1879, Personal accounts from a steamboat captain describing life on the Mississippi transporting lumber, Article describes the history of steamboats in Iowa City in the 1800s, Transcribed official records, newspaper clippings, historical accounts and diary entries about life on the Mississippi River, Transcribed official records, newspaper clippings, historical accounts and diary entries about life on the Missouri River, Audio story about the last riverboat gambling cruise of the Mississippi Belle II in 2007, Ginalie Swaim Ed., Steaming Up the River,. Both groups met as close to the April 27 anniversary date as possible, corresponded with each other, and shared the title National Sultana Survivors' Association. On a landscape lacking roads but braided with bayous and rivers, travel via water was the only efficient means of transportation. Uninjured crewmen and passengers dragged the injured up onto the sandbar. 2012 was additionally when the river was low sufficient to expose five steamboat wrecks along the Missouri River between St. Charles and Bridgeton. No one was ever held accountable for the tragedy. Many of the stories that the newspapers got from survivors were not always correct (one man said that there were people from every state in the Union on boardnot so), but they were reporting what they were told. [4]:129 Eventually, the hulk of Sultana drifted about six miles (10km) to the west bank of the river and sank at around 7:00 AM near Mound City and present-day Marion, Arkansas, about five hours after the explosion. The last of the southern survivors, and last overall survivor, was Private Charles M. Eldridge of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, who died at his home at age 96 on September 8, 1941, more than 76 years after the disaster. No one seemed to question the danger of a steamboat race until there was an accident or . Burning of the Orline St. John, near Montgomery, Alabama, March 2, 1850. "They had survived prison in one of the most hideous places the South had. Barrett was a veteran of the MexicanAmerican War and had been captured at the Battle of Franklin. Because of a trick of fate, the story of the Sultana is virtually unknown. The Sultana's captain and its chief engineer also allowed a mechanic to make a quick and inadequate repair to a damaged boiler, Potter says. While wealthy patrons might buy drinks all night at the bar, the bar was usually privately owned, with just a share of the profits going to the steamboat captain and/or owner. At least thirty-nine passengers and crew members died in the accident. In the early 1900s, the Mississippi River shifted about two miles to the east, leaving the wreck under about 15 feet of Arkansas soil. "Somebody had came by and notified us. The Sultana tragedies seem to be classic examples of putting profit over safety. The sediment tended to settle on the bottom of the boilers or clog between the flues and leave hotspots. Although brought up on courts-martial charges, Hatch managed to get letters of recommendation from no less reputable personages than President Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant. The Mississippi River has changed course several times since the disaster, leaving the wreck under dry land and far from today's river. Slaves from the nearby Cottage plantation were ordered to bring sheets and blankets. Publisher James T. Lloyd's 1856 book Lloyd's Steamboat Directory, and Disasters on the Western Waters, is illustrated by 32 woodcuts of explosions, fires, and foundering ships, chronicling a. What is the allure to your treatment of the Sultana stories? In 1857, The Nebraska City Advertiser newspaper listed 46 steamboats traveling the Missouri, with 12 more being built. Being so closely packed within the 48-inch (120cm) diameter boilers tended to cause the muddy sediment to form hot pockets and were extremely difficult to clean. The Hayne was sold in 1908 to C.J. Steamboats collided or caught on fire. [4]:2728, Upon reaching Vicksburg, Mississippi, Mason was approached by Captain Reuben Hatch, the chief quartermaster at Vicksburg, with a proposal. Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Hundreds of steamboats were wrecked on the Missouri. A Look Back The day the Golden Eagle steamboat sank in 1947. A train derailment in southwestern Wisconsin on Thursday sent two derailed containers into the Mississippi River, and at least four employees were injured, according to officials. When railroads started carrying freight across the country, the days of the steamboats were over. It went upward at a 45-degree angle, tearing through the crowded decks above and completely destroying the pilothouse, instantly killing Captain Mason. Experience showed that the rivers were briefly superior to rails as lines of communication.
