And finally, at the end of the war, the Sultana would have played a significant role in transporting former Union prisoners-of-war back to the North. A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels.Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S (for 'Screw Steamer') or PS (for 'Paddle Steamer'); however, these designations are most often used for steamships.. They'd stay in a motel at night, but she loved to cook for the crew and the men from the Coast Guard. [15][full citation needed], The official cause of the Sultana disaster was determined to be the mismanagement of water levels in the boilers, exacerbated by the fact that the vessel was severely overloaded and top-heavy. FS: Given the mistrust of any reporting from the press in some parts of our society today, how reliable would you say the reporting on these disasters was back in its day? Steamboat History: CAPE GIRARDEAU/GORDON C. GREENE He is currently a freelance writer living in Annapolis. Then, once some laws were passed, they were generally ignored. 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. Constructed of wood in 1863 by the John Litherbury Boatyard[1] in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sultana was intended for the lower Mississippi cotton trade. I do not feel that it lets would-be historians off the hook as long as they go the extra mile and gather the basic facts, etc., through diligent leg work. He was injured on Sultana and was honorably discharged in May 1865. The crew threw more wood on the fire. Potter, Jerry. However, Louden's claim is controversial, and most scholars support the official explanation. GES: I am a bit ambivalent about that. Regaining control, Smith wheeled toward the island and shoved the bow against the bank as the boat listed to port. Immediately, Captain Mason grabbed an armload of Cairo newspapers and headed south to spread the news, knowing that telegraphic communication with the southern states had been almost totally cut off because of the recently-ended American Civil War. BNSF said in a statement that two of . "The paddle wheel fell off of one side, caused the boat to turn sideways; the other paddle wheel fell off.". It didn't run for several years during World War II because wartime supply restrictions blocked needed upgrades to the boilers. Many of these boats were salvaged soon after the accident and rebuilt, but some remain in or near Iowa rivers. Miller, of Vicksburg, who changed the name to Alice Miller and ran the boat on the Yazoo and Sunflower rivers. "The war had just ended a few weeks before," he says. [citation needed], By the mid-1920s, only a handful of survivors could attend the reunions. Now, through the use of the internet, people can search hundred, perhaps thousands, of newspapers, from the United States as well as from around the world. Explosion of the Steamboat Constitution, May 4, 1817, Point Coupee, Louisiana. FS: Tell us why the Sultana Disaster Museum is located in Marion, Arkansas. From 1817 to 1871, about 5,600 people died on Mississippi River wrecks of all sorts, including burst boilers, collisions and fires. Steamboats on the River | Iowa PBS 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,. Barrett was a veteran of the MexicanAmerican War and had been captured at the Battle of Franklin. Sultana was a commercial side-wheel steamboat which exploded and sank on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865, killing 1,169 people in what remains the worst maritime disaster in United States history. (Post-Dispatch), The Golden Eagle heads downstream at St. Louis on May 14, 1940. The St. Louis Daily Missouri Democrat, April 29, 1865, states that the "steamer Sultana left New Orleans on Friday evening the 21st, with about seventy cabin passengers, and about eighty five employees on the boat. When the boat tipped the other way, water rushing back into the empty boiler would hit the hot spots and flash instantly to steam, creating a sudden surge in pressure. However, the explosion of her boilers just above Memphis on 27 April 1865 put a terrible end to that endeavor. Late in April of 1865, the Mississippi stood at flood stage. Jan. 3, 1844 Steamboat wreck kills as many as 70 on the Mississippi The 12 Best Mississippi River Cruises for 2023-2024 - US News & World A series of maritime disasters, occurred over the next 120 years before the Coast Guard assumed enforcement responsibility. The Vault isSlates history blog. As for the Sultana disaster itself, it was clearly a case of putting profit over safety. (The whole book is digitally available via the Library of Congress, on the Internet Archive.). "We feel like we're a part of this Civil War story, but we're the conclusion that no one heard," says Lisa O'Neal, a Marion resident and member of the Sultana Historic Preservation Society. Since the US government was paying steamboat captains a dividend to carry the prisoners back north, Captain Hatch and the captain of the Sultana worked out a deal whereby Hatch would guarantee a large load of ex-prisoners for the Sultana in exchange for a kickback of the government funds from Captain Mason. The number of people killed instantly or who drowned or died as a result of their injuries was variously estimated from seventy to two hundred; the actual number was likely closer to the smaller figure. A tall mirror glistened behind the walnut bar. Steamboats traveled into Iowa border waters even before Iowa was legally open for settlement. By Commander Robert Frank Bennett, U. S. Coast Guard. But, no, the ice cream cone wasn't invented there. It was the last wooden-hulled passenger boat to travel the Mississippi. Mississippi River waters keep rising in Iowa and Illinois | KTLA [11] The official count by the United States Customs Service was 1,547. On the Mississippi river, it was four to five years." "There were about 289 steamboats that sank or possibly more on the Missouri River in the mid-19th century," Rose said. However, Sultana was a coal-burning boat and not a wood-burner. And the boat was filled with enlisted men primarily men who really hadn't made a mark in history or a mark in life." There is no apparent motive for him to have blown up the boat, especially while on board. It went upward at a 45-degree angle, tearing through the crowded decks above and completely destroying the pilothouse, instantly killing Captain Mason. BNSF train derails in Wisconsin near De Soto along Mississippi River 2 As rapidly as the number of steamboats increased, they could not keep pace with demand. 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. "Somebody had came by and notified us. [4]:12 On the morning of April 15, she was tied up at Cairo, Illinois, when word reached the city that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had been shot in Washington, D.C. The huge boats could carry many passengers and large amounts of freight. Each fire-tube boiler was 18 feet (5.5m) long and 46 inches (120cm) in diameter and contained 24 five-inch (13cm) flues which ran from the firebox to the chimney.[3]. The Corp of Engineers in a report issued July 3, 1934 listed 36 types of steamboat wrecks on the Missouri River alone. The men were packed into every available space as all cabin spaces were already filled with civilian passengers; the overflow was so severe that in some places, the decks began to creak and sag and had to be supported with heavy wooden beams. "Lincoln had just been assassinated. The boat and its entire cargo was a total loss. As the steamboat made her way north following the twists and turns of the river, she listed severely from side to side. You have permission to edit this article. An estimated 1,800 people died in the explosion and ensuing fire more than died in the sinking of the Titanic. Eventually the Sultana turned so that the wind was pushing the flames toward the bow, where 25 soldiers remained. Plowing upriver from New Orleans, the Natchez was the first steamboat to arrive on the scene. The cost for a stateroom fare was marginal when compared to the amount that could be gained by carrying freight and goods. The Montana was a Mississippi and Missouri River stern-wheel steamboat, one of three "mega-steamboats" built in 1879 during the steamboat era on the Missouri. "And the entire center of the boat erupted like a volcano.". [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. A passing towboat gave them a lift back to Grand Island, Ill., where they boarded buses for the trip home. Capt. Most of Sultana's officers, including Captain Mason, were among those who perished.[8]. "He served in the 23rd Arkansas Cavalry, and he was tasked with, among other things, raiding ships going up and down the river," Frank Barton says. The First Bridge Over the Mississippi and the Effie Afton A sunken casino boat has been uncovered in the Mississippi as severe drought pushes water levels in the Memphis section of the river to record lows. What the reader needs to know is that Captain Hatch, who had been corrupt throughout the war, would not have been there if not for some influential friends and relatives in the government, including President Abraham Lincoln. Most were Union soldiers, newly released from Confederate prison camps. 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. FS: Which cargo would you say was more important and most profitablethe goods and materials or the obviously wealthy patrons who were there just for a glamorous boat ride? 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