1856 — Feb 5, steamboat Belle boiler explosion, Sacramento Riv. 9M above Sacramento, CA-~30
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 9-18-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 30 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 203.[1]
–~30 Donahue, James. “Steamboat Belle Explosion of 1856.”
— 30 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 683.[2]
— 30 NY Daily-Times. “Explosion near Sacramento City…Belle Destroyed.” 2-28-1856, p. 2.
–~30 NYT. “Two Weeks Later From California…Explosion of the Steamboat Belle.” 5-14-1856
— 30 Willis, William L. History of Sacramento County California. 1913, p. 208.
— 20 (a score). MacMullen, Jerry. Paddle-Wheel Days in California. 1944, p. 27.
—>14 Seacrest, William. California Disasters, 1812-1899. 2005, p. 69.
Narrative Information
California State Lands Commission (Marie Burnett): “At 8:24 on the morning of February 5, 1856, nine miles above Sacramento, the steamer Belle’s boiler burst.
“Earlier that morning, the Belle, Captained by Charles H. Houston, had been waiting for twenty-two minutes in a heavy fog at Sacramento landing. She had on board fifty to sixty men, passengers and crew included, and a cargo of “treasure” and dry goods belonging to Wines and Co. and Pacific Co. Expresses. At 7:22 a.m., Captain Houston told W.J. Eirick, first engineer of the Belle, that he was ready to depart.
“Eirick went into the engine room and ordered the fireman, William Green, to fire up, but not to hurry as there was good, dry wood and they were in no particular hurry. He then rang the ready bell. The Belle backed out of the Sacramento landing with sixty pounds of steam.
“Eirick then went into the engine room and told the second engineer to carry eighty pounds of steam and no more as it was still foggy and that it was best for the Belle to run slowly. After breakfast, Eirick checked the steam gauge and found there was 86 pounds of steam. He immediately stepped out on the guard to key up a crank pin and was in the act of doing this when the explosion occurred. The time was 8:24 a.m. The Belle, except for about 40 feet of the after portion of the vessel, began sinking immediately.
“The Belle’s back had been broken by the explosion, her forward part was wholly immersed and not a plank of her main deck was left. Her wheel lay in the water by her side; her pilot house blown to bits left no recognizable remnant. The floor of the main saloon and hurricane deck were both torn in the center, fore and aft, and had collapsed. The main saloon was in “horrid confusion.” No berths were standing. Dirty blood-clotted furniture, goods, and wearing apparel was scattered about. There were snapped timbers, broken lamps, curled and twisted iron bars, and human brains “dashed together in strange confusion.”
“Surviving eyewitnesses recounted that:
“Immediately before the explosion a Mr. Mix of Shasta was standing in the main saloon talking with a friend. As he was about to leave, a piece of iron propelled by the explosion struck his friend on the head and dashed his brains all over Mr. Mix’s coat.
“A passenger named Mr. Alphin says that when the explosion took place, there was a man sitting with a leg on either side of the stove. The stove was forced through the hurricane deck but the man was uninjured.
“A Mr. Powell of Colusa had just gotten up from the breakfast table and gone aft to hunt for a seat where he might find some peace, when the explosion forced him through the lattice door of the washroom.
“The bartender of the Belle was standing in the vicinity of a number of persons at the time of the explosion. An iron missile cut off a portion of the rim of the hat which he was wearing. The leg of one of his boots was torn from the top to the bottom. Most of the people who were near him were killed.
“The steward, Mr. Hyland, was walking through the main cabin aft and his hat, which was on his head, was cut in two. His body was not even touched.
“An unidentified survivor states that only a moment before the explosion, one of the waiters politely asked him to leave his seat in the cabin so that he could clean up. He did so and “had got back but a little ways toward the wheel” when the ship exploded.
“Dr. Reddick, who owned a ranch on the Yolo side of the Sacramento River, heard the explosion which he reported as sounding “not louder than a small piece of ordnance.” He ran to the bank where he saw the Belle sinking, with passengers struggling for their lives as they clung to the floating spars and other portions of the wreck. Dr. Reddick put his boat in the water and hurried to save them. He was the first person at the wreck site.
“Two men hung onto the forward portion of the drift and called out to Dr. Reddick for assistance as he approached. Before he could reach them, their strength gave out and they drowned. Dr. Reddick was able to rescue a few of the men he perceived to be in the most immediate danger.
“By 10:00 a.m. the wreck site was swarming with onlookers who sought information about friends and family who had left Sacramento aboard the Belle.
“The steamer General Reddington, owned by the wood dealers Messrs. Hoag and Co., arrived at the wreck site about 12:00 noon with the Captain of Police, expressmen, reporters, the press and friends. The General Reddington towed the hulk of the Belle to shore where she was made fast to the bank, 1/2 mile below Big Mound. She then returned to Sacramento carrying some of the Belle’s dead and wounded. At 1:00 that afternoon, the steamer Gem, which had on board drag hooks and other apparatus for searching the river, arrived on the scene. By then barrels, boxes, splinters, and other fragments of the wreck could be seen floating in the river.
“Nothing was left of the Belle but the sides of the upper works and they were hanging bent and torn in every direction. The sides of the hull, from the engine forward, were blown clear out of her. However, all of the cargo belonging to Wines and Co. and Pacific Co. was salvaged and brought to Sacramento on the Gem.
“That afternoon, three or four small boats searched the river for bodies, but few were found. There were even fewer survivors. A partial list of her dead would include Captain Houston, mate Ell Sheats, deck hand John White, engineer John Cunningham, and pilot William Shalleros. The explosion aboard the Belle mystified those who sought to understand its cause. There was an inquest held, as to the cause of the Captain’s death, but the evidence did not provide an explanation for the explosion. Samuel W. Green, Inspector of Steamboat Boilers and an engineer of seventeen years, testified that he had examined the engine and boiler of the steamer Belle just a short time before the explosion and had found it in good working order. He hypothesized that the explosion was caused by a defect of the iron.
“Belle’s Captain was a sober and careful man. The coroner’s inquest recorded that he “came to his death on February 5, 1856, from injuries received from the explosion of the boiler of the steam boat Belle and from drowning about nine miles above Sacramento….”[3] (California State Lands Commission (Marie Burnett). California Shipwrecks. “Belle.” 2007.)
Donahue: “The boiler explosion that destroyed the steamboat Belle in 1856 is still counted among California’s worst ship disasters. It left an estimated 30 people dead or severely wounded and demolished the wooden-hulled vessel shortly after it steamed north from Sacramento.
“The Belle, under the command of Captain Charles H. Houston, of Mobile, Alabama, had a crew of about 20 men and another 40 passengers aboard when it weighed anchor the morning of Feb. 5. She also was carrying a cargo of “treasure” and dry goods for Wines and Co. and Pacific Co. Express.
“The steamer was late getting away that morning because Houston waited over 20 minutes for a heavy fog to start to lift. He told first engineer W. J. Eirick to get up steam at 7:22 a.m. Eirick ordered the fireman, William Green, to fire up and instructed the second engineer to carry only 80 pounds of steam because the ship would be running in fog and would probably be holding down her speed.
“Eirick, who survived the blast, said he had his breakfast and then returned to find that the steam gauge registered 86 pounds. He said he had just stepped out on the guard to key up a crank pin when the boiler exploded.
“The blast was so powerful it broke the ship’s keel, tore up the main deck and superstructure, ripped through the main saloon, demolished the pilot house and instantly killed Captain Houston, the deck officers with him, and the engine room crew including Fireman Green. One of the two large side wheels was broken off and was lying by its side in the water.
“One report said the forward portion of the ship sank quickly, while the stern section remained afloat. The floor of the main saloon and hurricane deck were both torn open in the center. “Dirty blood-clotted furniture, goods and wearing apparel was scattered about. There were snapped timbers, broken lamps, curled and twisted iron bars and human brains dashed together in strange confusion,” one writer wrote.
“Another account stated that “nothing was left of the Belle but the sides of the upper works and they were hanging bent and torn in every direction. The sides of the hull, from the engine forward, were blown clear out of her.” They said that all that remained of the pilot house was the flag and steering staff and the wheel….
“The steamer Gem arrived at the scene at about 1 p.m. with drag hooks and other tools used in searching for bodies. The Gem also salvaged all of the “treasure,” believed to be gold coins, belonging to Wines and Co. and Pacific Co. Also participating in the search for bodies was the vessel Cleopatra and many small local boats.
“There were stories of miraculous survival. The ship’s bartender was standing with a number of passengers when the explosion ripped through the vessel. Everyone around him was killed and the bartender walked off without a scratch. They said it was such a close call for him that a portion of the rim of his hat was severed by a flying piece of iron, and the leg of one of his boots was torn….
“The investigation that went on after the disaster failed to determine the cause of the explosion. It was learned that the ship’s boiler had been inspected only months earlier and tested 120 pounds to the inch. The engine-room workers died that day and could not be questioned, but testimony given by First Engineer Eirick, stating that the pressure gage showed only 86 pounds of steam just moments before the blast, suggested that either the gauge was malfunctioning, the boiler was low on water or there was a defect in the iron boiler.
“There was never a final determination.” (Donahue, J. “Steamboat Belle Explosion of 1856.”)
Seacrest: “A dense fog hung over Sacramento on the early morning of February 5, 1856. The steamer Belle, docked on the city’s waterfront, was scheduled to begin a trip upriver to Red Bluff at 7 a.m., but Captain Charles H. Houston looked outside and thought better of casting off at the assigned time. With fifty-odd passengers and crew members aboard, along with much valuable express cargo, the captain was determined to make the Belle’s passage safe….
“…the Belle pulled away from the waterfront, subsequently passed the mouth of the American River and chugged further north on the Sacramento….
“The blast happened as the Belle came parallel to the Russian Ford, eleven miles north of Sacramento….
“Back in Sacramento, the coroner wasted no time in holding an inquest to determine the explosion’s cause. In spite of an iron works proprietor, a boiler maker and a blacksmith testifying, no one could arrive at an adequate explanation for the Belle’s demise. The blacksmith, Jesse Morrill, contended that the Belle’s boiler should have easily taken ninety-five pounds of pressure, and should have gone to 120 pounds without any difficulty.
“If there was a passenger list for the Belle, it perished with the blast, so the exact toll of dead and injured will never be known. Comparisons between the newspaper accounts suggest that at least ten perished, eighteen were injured to varying extents, and four passengers were never found, making for a total casualty count of at least thirty-two.” (Seacrest. California Disasters, 1812-1899. 2005, p. 69.)
Willis, William L. History of Sacramento County California. 1913, p. 208:
“A river tragedy which occurred more than fifty years ago, bringing death to thirty, the evidence of which the waters of the Sacramento river have covered for years, was brought to mind again when the buckets of the dredger Vulcan, working at the Monument ranch eight miles up the river brought up the boxing of the shaft of the steamboat Belle which was blown to pieces at that spot in the late ‘50s by an explosion of the boilers…..
“The steamer Belle, Capt. Charles H. Houston in command, left this city February 5, 1866, for Red Bluff with sixty souls aboard. When opposite the present Monument ranch the boilers exploded without any warning. The Belle was shattered from stem to stern and all but forty feet of the rear end of the boat sank immediately. The passengers, men, women and children, were blown into the water, many frightfully mangled. Thirty-two were saved out of the total sailing list.”
Newspapers
Feb 28, New York Daily Times: “From the Extra Sacramento Union. Tuesday, Feb. 5 – 12 M.
“A terrible calamity, equaled only by the awful disaster which destroyed the Pearl a year ago, occurred on the Sacramento River this morning. The boat running to Marysville, known as the Belle, Capt. Charles H. Hanston, left this city at 7 o’clock for Red Bluffs. At precisely 7¼ o’clock, and when opposite the Russian ford, eleven miles above town, the boiler burst, and instantaneously the steamer was strewed with mangled bodies and fragments of the wreck.
“Mr. James A Powell, a farmer who resides at Grand Island Ranch, below Colusa, who was one of the passengers, furnishes us with the subjoined particulars; He states that at the moment of the explosion he was leaving the Ladies’ Cabin, and when the accident occurred he was completely stunned for the moment, but immediately thereafter recovered. On looking about him, he first saw a child, badly hurt, and also a number of persons floating down the river. The steamer General Reddington was on her downward trip, and reached the scene of the accident at 8 o’clock. The steamer immediately took off the survivors from the wreck. The entire boat, with the exception of some forty feet of the after portion, sunk instantly, and the wreck, as our informant states, is more complete than was that of the ill-fated Pearl. On the arrival of the General Reddington, the body of Capt. Hanston was drawn from the water considerably mutilated….” (NY Daily-Times. “Explosion near Sacramento City – Steamboat Belle Destroyed – Thirty… Killed.” 2-28-1856, 2.)
May 14, NYT: “….The last mail took out the news of the explosion of the steamer Belle, on the Sacramento River, on the morning of the 5th inst., but without any of the particulars. About thirty lives were lost.” (NYT. “Two Weeks Later From California…Explosion of the Steamboat Belle.” 5-14-1856.)
Sources
Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.
California State Lands Commission (Marie Burnett). California Shipwrecks. “Belle.” 2007. Accessed at: http://shipwrecks.slc.ca.gov/Articles/Belle.html
Donahue, James. “Steamboat Belle Explosion of 1856.” Accessed 6-16-2011 at: http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id276.html
MacMullen, Jerry. Paddle-Wheel Days in California. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1944. Google preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=E-ieAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours – A Narrative Encyclopedia of Worldwide Disasters from Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Pocket Books, Wallaby, 1977, 792 pages.
New York Daily-Times. “Explosion near Sacramento City – Steamboat Belle Destroyed – Thirty Persons Killed.” 2-28-1856, 2. Accessed 9-18-2024 at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=3100312
New York Times. “Two Weeks Later From California.” 3-29-1853, 3. Accessed 9-17-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=2799926
Secrest, William B. Jr. and William B. Secrest Sr. California Disasters, 1812-1899: Firsthand Accounts of Fires, Shipwrecks, Floods, Epidemics, Earthquakes and Other California Tragedies. Quill Driver Books, 2005, 368 pages. Partially digitized by Google. Accessible at: http://books.google.com/books?id=FiOrJ47gno8C&dq=Belle+explosion+1852&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
Willis, William L. History of Sacramento County California. Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1913. Accessed 9-18-2024 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Sacramento_County_California/FRU1AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=steamboat+belle+boiler+explosion+sacramento+river+february+5+1856&pg=PA208&printsec=frontcover
[1] Berman incorrectly notes the date as Jan 5, 1856.
[2] Nash incorrectly notes the date as Jan 5, 1856.
[3] Cites as sources: “Awful catastrophe-Explosion of the Steamer Belle-Dreadful loss of life,” Democratic State Journal, Feb 6, 1856, p. 2, col. 3-4; “Awful calamity.” Daily Alta California, Feb 6, 1856, p. 2, col. 2; “Explosion of the steamer Belle.” Daily Alta California, Feb 8, 1856, p. 2, col. 2; Golden Notes, Sacramento County Historical Society, ed. Joseph A. McGowan. Vol. 4, No. 2, January 1958, p. 2.