Danger on the Western Rivers

 An American sailing vessel's life expectancy was 20 years, whalers maybe 60 years.  An eastern steamboat could be expected to last nine years in 1860.  The western steamboat, however was in operation slightly over two years.  Why?  Western steamboats had an appalling record for accidents.  A trip down the Mississippi was far more dangerous that an ocean voyage.

In the first half of the century, 30% of all steamboats were lost to accidents.  Two-thirds of those were explosions.  Flying wreckage, flood of steam and scalding water killed people at alarming rates,  Steamboat men met in Cincinnati in 1838 to consider the cause of accidents, admitting that carelessness, incompetence and the traveler's demand for speed were the greatest cause of deaths.

Steamboat explosions were unique to the West.  There are stories of how unpaid travelers were given the aft part of the boat where there was less danger so they would live to pay for their fare.  The Irish were preferred over slaves for fireman because they were worth less money.  Prior to 1850, there were 150 or more major explosions on western rivers with 1400 people perishing. 

One of the most notorious explosion was the Moselle on April 25, 1838 near Cincinnati.  Captain Perrin had bragged about his broken speed records by using resin to feed the ship's fire, not letting steam escape the safety value, and stopping only briefly at landings.  Of the 250 passengers, he lost 130 to scaling water or drowning.  Likewise the Pennsylvania in July of 1858 lost over 150 passengers to the same.

It was dangerous to travel West by water.  In an effort to get there the fastest way possible, many never got there at all.

Next time...Dawn of Rail Travel

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Today in Pioneer History: "On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens "The Star Spangled Banner," a poem which would later be set to music and become America's national anthem in 1931.  It was originally entitled 'The Defence of Fort M'Henry' and was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812."  

All Speed Ahead

Between the Revolution and the Civil War, the story of speed was nowhere more evident than on the Mississippi River.  It was a natural superhighway, extending 4000 miles with branches reaching within 800 miles of the Pacific Ocean.  Western steamboat life was a racing life, a dangerous, delightful diversion.  Racing steamboats became popular and competitive.  

John Fitch made the first vessel to move by the power of steam in 1787.  Twenty years later Robert Fulton's Clermont made the trip from New York to Albany in 32 hours.  By the 1840s the spirit of steamboat travel in the West was characterized by racing.  

When two steamboats happened to come alongside each other, the passengers encouraged the captain to race.  Boilers intended for only 100 pounds of pressure were now operating at 150-200 pounds of pressure.  Races were the cause of most steamboat explosions, yet it didn't seem to deter the love of steamboat racing.

How did steamboats evolve?  From flatboats which were used to move pioneers by water from the East to the West.  Once they arrived at their destination, the settlers would set their flatboat adrift or take them apart to use for shelter and fuel.  The demand in New Orleans for timber to use for sidewalks and houses provided a thriving market for the used flatboats.

Pioneers began to want to get to their destinations faster...next time, Watt's steamboat engine.

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Today in Pioneer History: "On August 31, 1897, Thomas Alva Edison patents the kinetograph, the first movie camera.  It was based on photographic principles discovered by still photographs pioneers .  Edison was different in that it used celluloid film."  

Pioneer Pieces: Main the LifeBoats (there are Lifeboats?!)

Travel by steamboat was hardly the luxury that we know.  They were crowded, noisy and anything but rated "G".  Staterooms were reserved for women while men slept on tables, and they were notorious for bad food and bad manners.  More importantly than the un-family like atmosphere - they were right down dangerous!

In the first 40 years of steamboats, 600 vessels were lost to fire, explosions or running into an obstruction (like trees) in the river. Navigating a steamboat had it own set of problems.  Many collisions happened when there was narrow passage in the river that was nearly impassable. Experienced captains were said to be able to tell a tree trunk in the river simply by the ripples in the water!

Fire was a constant threat - it was virtually impossible to extinguish.  The ships were made of wood, usually dry timber at that, which made them highly combustible.  Decks of ships were often charred from past fires.

Boiler room explosions were another danger when combustible fuel was too close to the boiler, including passager's cargo.  The steam pressure would simply rip the side out of a boat. 

One famous steamer that burner down to the waterline because of such problems was the Robert E Lee in Louisiana.  The greatest number of inland steamers were destroyed during the steamboat peak years because of fire and boiler explosions.

Next Time - High River Stakes