1852 — April 16, steamer Pocahontas burns, MS Riv., Isl. No. 78, Choctaw Bend, AR –10-11

–10-11 Blanchard estimated death-toll.*

— 16 Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, PA “Burning of the Steamer Pocahontas.” 4-28-1852, p. 1.**
— 12 Elyria Courier, OH. “Steamboat Accidents in the U. States in 1852,” 8-17-1852, p. 2.
— 12 Lloyd. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 293.
— 12 The Friend. “Steamboat Accidents in the United States in 1852.” V. 25, no. 49, 1852, 391.
—<11 Statement of Pocahontas clerk to the effect that “not more than eleven lives were lost.” -- 10 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 236. -- 10 New York Times. “Burning of the Pocahontas—Loss of Life,” April 28, 1852, p. 3. -- 10 Sailor’s Magazine & Naval Journal, V25, N1, Sep, 1852, “Steamboat Disasters…,” p. 20. -- 10 Vicksburg Daily Whig, MS. “Burning of the Pocahontas.” 4-24-1852, p. 2, col. 4-5. -- 10 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.] 1999, p. 374. * Blanchard estimated death-toll. While we show three sources noting twelve deaths and one showing sixteen, our reading of the sources below, when taking into account the detail of the reporting and specificity on people lost, persuades us that the death toll was probably ten or eleven. As we point out in the footnote to the Daily Pittsburgh Gazette report of sixteen deaths, it only refers to ten specific deaths in the article. As for Lloyd’s note of twelve deaths, his inaccurate reporting of the date of loss as April 11th, gives us pause when considering to use his estimate of twelve deaths as the high-end of the estimated death toll. The Friend note provides no specification or sourcing in support of the reporting of twelve deaths. Thus we choose to use 10-11 as the estimated death-toll we show. ** On Daily Pittsburgh Gazette article: While noting sixteen deaths in the title as well as within the text (“Sixteen lives are known to have been lost…”), only ten deaths are described in the text of the article (see April 28 below). Narrative Information Lloyd: “Pocahontas.—The steamer Pocahontas exploded near Choctaw Bend, Mississippi river, April 11th [sic.], 1852. Twelve lives were lost.” (Lloyd 1856, p. 293.) Lytle and Holdcamper: “Pocahontas…397 [tons]…burnt…4 16 1852…Island No. 78…10 [lives lost].” Sailor’s Magazine: “We find in our files of the Journal of commerce for the year 1852, thus far, as follows: ….The steamer Pocahontas, from Arkansas, bound to New Orleans, with 2,360 bales of cotton, took fire, and was, with the cargo, consumed. Ten lives were lost.” (Sailor’s Magazine. “Steam Boat Disasters and Loss of Life,” Vol. 25, No. 1, Sep, 1852, p. 20.) Way: Pocahontas. Sidewheel wood-hull packet built in 1849 in Cincinnati, at 397 tons. “….Burned and lost at Island 78, Mississippi River, Apr. 16, 1852, with loss of ten lives.” Newspapers April 20: “From the New-Orleans Picayune, 20th. We are indebted to Mr. L. H. Hedges, one of the officers of the steamboat Pocahontas, for the details of the loss of that steamer, by fire, on Friday night, the 16th inst., near Island No. 78, in Choctaw Bend, 30 miles below Napoleon. “The Pocahontas was on her way to this city, her last landing-place having been Napoleon, in Arkansas. At 20 minutes to 11 o’clock the alarm of fire was given from the lower deck. The passengers immediately rushed from their state-rooms in their night clothes. Great confusion ensued. In a few minutes the forward part of the boat was all on fire; the captain, second clerk, pilot on duty, and a few of the deck hands being cut off from escape to the rear of the boat, where most of the remainder of the passengers, officers and crew were congregated, climbed down the cotton bales, and got on the bow of the boat, where they remained until the flames were about surrounding them. The captain and clerk then took one of the deck planks (used to run out at landings) and jumped into the river with it. The pilot stood at the wheel until his tiller ropes were burned. He directed the boat to the shore at the first alarm; but she took a sheer and kept turning slowly in the middle of the river, until the engine stopped, when she drifted down. “In fifteen minutes after the alarm was given the entire cabin forward of the wheels, was in flames. In fifteen minutes more, the boat was burnt to the water’s edge. The wind was high and the boat burned with singular rapidity and fierceness. “Besides the chambermaid and her daughter, who were lost, a passenger named John L. Jones, long Sheriff of Arkansas County, lately resigned, and much respected, was drowned. He was on his way from Arkansas to Alabama, and had about his person the sum of $8,000. “A lady and her three children, passengers from Little Rock to Vicksburg, were drowned. A white cabin boy, named Joe, and two firemen named Douglas and Brown have not since been hearc of. They are believed to have been drowned. “With the exception of these ten, the rest of the officers, crew and passengers, escaped safe and sound, losing however all their clothing and other property. They were treated in the most generous manner by the officers and passengers on the Saxon, the Susquehanna, and the Magnolia…. “The Pocahontas was a new boat, in her second year, of 600 or 900 tons…The only cause assigned for the fire is the heat from the boilers acting on the cotton immediately in its vicinity.” (New York Times. “Burning of the Pocahontas—Loss of Life,” 4-28-1852, p. 3, col. 1.) April 23: “Information has been received by telegraph of the loss of the steamer Pocahontas by fire, on the Arkansas river, on the 16th inst. Boat burned and sunk. No further particulars.” (Alton Telegraph, IL. “St. Louis Correspondence,” 4-23-1852, p. 3.) Aug 27: “April 11. -- Steamer Pocahontas burnt near Choctaw Bend. 12 lives lost.” Elyria Courier, OH. “Steamboat Accidents in the U. States in 1852,” 8-17-1852, p. 2.) Aug 28: “We learn by the steamer Saxon that the steamer Pocahontas, bound from Little Rock to New Orleans, with a cargo of 2,300 bales cotton, took fire at half past ten o’clock on the night of the 16th inst., in the Mississippi, about 20 miles below Napoleon, Ark., and was, with her cargo, totally destroyed. Shortly after the fire broke out, the tiller rope broke, and the boat was consequently left unmanageable. The river was filled with floating drift, on which most of the passengers and crew saved themselves. They reached Choctaw Island, from whence they were taken up by the Saxon to Napoleon, which boat came up three hours after the disaster. “Sixteen lives are known to have been lost; among them were a Mrs. Knolly and three children, who resided on the Yazoo river, the chambermaid and her child, two cabin boys, and two cabin passengers, names not recollected. Knolly, the father of the family lost, was on board, but saved himself by getting on driftwood. “Mr. Skiles, clerk of the Pocahontas, came passenger on the Glendy Burke. He states that not more than eleven lives were lost – all women and children. The books and $7,000 in charge of the clerk were lost. It is only a few weeks since this boat met with an accident on Arkansas river, by which several lives were lost. – Louisville Journal.” (Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, PA “Burning of the Steamer Pocahontas – Loss of Sixteen Lives.” 4-28-1852, p. 1, col. 8.) Sources Alton Telegraph, IL. “St. Louis Correspondence,” 4-23-1852, p. 3, col. 3. Accessed 10-17-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/alton-telegraph-apr-23-1852-p-3/ Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, PA “Burning of the Steamer Pocahontas – Loss of Sixteen Lives.” 4-28-1852, p. 1, col. 8. Accessed 10-17-2020 at: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2589239/1852-steamer-pocahontas-burned-near/ Elyria Courier, OH. “Steamboat Accidents in the U. States in 1852,” 8-17-1852, 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=29967442 Lytle, William M., compiler, from Official Merchant Marine Documents of the United States and Other Sources; Holdcamper, Forrest H. (Editor, and Introduction by). Merchant Steam Vessels of the United States 1807-1868. “The Lytle List.” Mystic, CT: Steamship Historical Society of America (Publication No. 6), 1952. Accessed 8-16-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015018039084&view=1up&seq=8&size=125 Lloyd, James T. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. Cincinnati, Ohio: James T. Lloyd & Co., 1856. Digitized by Google. Accessed 10-17-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JlYqAAAAYAAJ New York Times. “Burning of the Pocahontas—Loss of Life,” 4-28-1852, p.3. Accessed 10-17-2020 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9806E4D91738E334BC4051DFB2668389649FDE Sailor’s Magazine and Naval Journal. “Steam Boat Disasters and Loss of Life,” Vol. 25, No. 1, Sep, 1852, p. 20. Accessed 10-17-2020 at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hwjuw4&view=1up&seq=34 The Friend (Religious and Literary Journal). “Steamboat Accidents in the United States in 1852.” Vol. 25, No. 49, 1852, p. 391. Digitized by Google. Accessed 10-17-2020 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JkQrAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Vicksburg Daily Whig, MS. “Burning of the Pocahontas.” 4-24-1852, p2. Accessed 10-17-2020: https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=9524767&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjIyODg5Mjc4MiwiaWF0IjoxNjAyOTYxNDk2LCJleHAiOjE2MDMwNDc4OTZ9.RaJpWcifNyqsu9HCuxXeCjuqVCCWUa7a7_aoHqWjvRE Way, Frederick Jr. (Author and Compiler), Joseph W. Rutter (contributor). Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). Athens OH: Ohio University Press, 1999.