1849 — Nov 15, Steamboat Louisiana Boilers Explode, sinks, New Orleans, LA –86-150

— 86-150 Blanchard estimated death-toll range.*

— 200 Star and Banner, Gettysburg, PA. “Terrible Explosion and Loss of Life,” 11-23-1849.
–150-200 Steamboats.org. “Explosion of the Louisiana.” Accessed 9-27-2020.**
— 200 U.S. Congress, House. Hearings. “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” 1935, p. 246.
–150-200 Zanesville Courier, OH. “Telegraphed,” Nov 20, 1849, p. 2.
–100-200 Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “The Explosion,” Nov 29, 1849, p. 5.
— ~160 Daily Constitution, Augusta, GA. “Terrible Steam Boat Explosion.” 11-18-1849, p. 3.
— 150 Debow’s Review. “Steamboat Explosions in the West,” Vol. 2, Issue 3, Sep 1866.
— 150 Fisher/McCord. “Steamboat Explosions…Fifty-Five Years.” In Scharf 1883, 1108.
— 150 Gould. Gould’s History of River Navigation. 1889, p. 437.
— 150 Kelman. A River and its City: The Nature of Landscape in New Orleans. 2003, p. 85.
— 150 Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, p. 229.
— ~150 New Orleans Picayune. “Terrible Steamboat Explos…150 Persons Killed,” 11-16-49.
— <150 Tioga Eagle, Wellsboro PA. “Horrible Steamboat Disaster! 150 Lives Lost!” 11-28-1849. -- >100 Paterson Daily Press, NJ. “Steamboat Disasters.” Aug 29, 1883, p. 2.
— <100 Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Murderous Steamboat Explosion…,” 11-21-1849, 7. -- ~100 Wisconsin Democrat, Madison. “Terrible Steamboat Explosion,” Dec 1, 1849, p. 2. -- 86 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 178. -- 86 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p234. -- 86 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 681. -- 86 Patterson. The Great American Steamboat Race. 2009, p. 147. -- 86 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994… Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, p. 295. -- 74 Jones. “Account…Explosion…Louisiana…,” Franklin Inst. Jour., V49, Jan 1850, 43. -- 60 Simonds. The American Date Book. 1902, p. 98. * Blanchard estimated death-toll range. We have been unable to establish a more definitive death toll. We show sources indicating a death toll as low as 60 and as high as 200. It seems to us that there were at least 86 deaths, as noted by Berman, Lytle and Holcamp4r, Nash, Patterson, and Way. We have not been able to substantiate how the sources citing 100, 150, 160 or 200 deaths derived these numbers, other than through the reporting at the time by people looking at the destruction and concluding that such large numbers must have resulted. None-the-less, in that sources such as Fisher and McCord, Gould, Kelman and Lloyd show 150 fatalities we choose to use that number as the high-end of our death-toll range. **Steamboats.org. “The most authentic accounts make the number of killed one hundred and fifty, and some estimates extend the number to two hundred. The mayor of New Orleans judged from his own observations and diligent inquiries on the spot, that one hundred and fifty lives were lost, at the lowest calculation.” Narrative Information Jones: “On the 15th November, at about 5 P. M., an explosion occurred on board of the "Louisiana," a new first class boat, lying at the levee, which has been more destructive to lives and property than any which has come under my notice. Up to this date, 74 bodies have been found, or have died since the explosion, and 50 remain wounded, some of whom cannot live. “The hull sunk within six or eight minutes after the explosion, carrying down with it many persons entangled in the wreck; about 20 feet, uninjured, of the ladies' cabin floated, and enabled many to be taken from it. The great destruction of lives on shore, was in consequence of the large number of persons which usually assemble to see a boat off. Several were killed hundreds of feet distant by the fragments, and also many on the boats alongside. “On the larboard side of the "Louisiana" was the steamboat "Bostona;" much of her upper works and chimneys were destroyed. The steam drum of the "Louisiana" was thrown on the "Bostona," and remained hanging vertically, by one of the connection pipes hooking on to the hand rail of the boiler deck… “The steamboat "Storm" was about making her landing at the time, and nearly the whole of the side of her upper works and chimneys were destroyed; her deck load of cotton protected her from receiving greater injury. “For a clearer understanding of some of the incidents of this explosion, I will give the elevation of the "Storm's" upper works, as our boats differ very much from those at the North. About 10 feet above the main deck (of the hull) is the saloon or cabin, being nearly the whole length of the boat. The top of the cabin, being the hurricane deck, has another story on it, containing state rooms for the officers of the boat, and still perched above this is the pilot or wheel house…. “The "Louisiana," at the time of the explosion, was getting ready to leave, for the purpose of going down to the shipping to take in emigrant passengers. From good information, which the parts of the boiler confirm, the water was very low, and the steam escaping from the weighted safety valve freely. The second engineer, who had charge, ordered the firemen to "open the fire doors," the doctor was started to work the pump, and almost instantly the boilers exploded, one after the other in quick succession. Throwing more water into the overheated boilers, may also have been assisted by the "Storm," in landing, coming in contact with the "Louisiana," causing her to list, and surging the water over the highly heated metal, and so flashing it into steam…. “The first engineer was absent on leave, and was, at the time of the explosion, waiting three miles above, at the river, to join the boat when it came up, the engines being left in charge of the second engineer and two "strikers." The boilers were about six years old; three had been on one boat, and the other was from another boat. The plates ranged above and below one-fourth of an inch in thickness; the parts examined were of medium quality. I should not think that the boilers were deficient in strength for the usual working pressure, (as the great destruction is proof of their strength,) but attribute the explosion to a want of water in one or more of the boilers, and the practice with many young engineers, especially with a new boat, of overloading the safety valve at the landing, for the purpose of "showing off" in passing the city front. “The position of the furnace of the boilers I believe has a tendency to produce danger. If the furnace was aft, then the engineer could at all times know the exact state of the fire without leaving his post at the engine, and by his better judgment regulating the quantity of fire, so as to avoid the blowing off of steam, and with it the useless waste of water in the boilers; as arranged now, he must go from 30 to 40 feet, to know correctly how his fire is. Custom is the only obstacle to a change which would be found to be more economical, and safer. “P. S.—An investigation in secret, by the Coroner, and a public one by the United States Commissioner, has been going on, examining into this explosion. Up to this date, nothing has been elicited to change what I have written, but much has been confirmed by the witnesses, with the exception of one, who states in substance that the two engines were in rapid motion, (all my information was to the contrary,) and the boat kept moving against and from the wharf. I think this opinion must be erroneous, for if the boat was oscillating, no part of the boilers could have got overheated. I once was in a bad fix with a locomotive, on the extreme end of the track, being compelled to keep up the steam to back the train 1½ miles, and knowing the water, from foaming much, was low. I kept the locomotive moving, by steam, to and fro about four feet, (all the room I had,) till the passengers were out, and then backed up. By this means, the brass flues were kept moist, and were uninjured; only 22 gallons of water remained in the boiler. “New Orleans, November 24,1849.” (Jones. “Account…Explosion…Louisiana….” Franklin Inst. Journal, V. 49, Jan 1850, pp. 43-46.) Kelman: “From 1841 to 1848, more than 60 boats blew up on the Mississippi system, killing nearly 550 people. Still, steam technology had become such an integral part of New Orleans’s economy that most people accepted explosions as a necessary risk attendant to the city’s quest for empire. As the century neared its midpoint, however, a series of three accidents in just a little more than a month took place in the levee’s vicinity, close enough to New Orleans so that the city’s residents came into direct contact with the carnage. The scenes they witnessed raised questions about risk and danger in a machine age, leaving many people wondering if they actually did control the river or the vessels on it. “The first of the tragedies took place a few minutes after 5:00 P.M. on November 14, 1849. Passengers boarding the steamboat Louisiana covered their ears as the vessel’s whistle drowned out the last peals coming from the cathedral bell at Jackson Square. Suddenly, as the crew loosed the boat from its wharf, ‘all the boilers exploded with a concussion.’…. The shattered Louisiana sank to the bottom of the river in less than ten minutes, taking with it ‘ladies and gentlemen who were vainly struggling to free themselves.’…The entire city mourned the dead, conservatively estimated at 150. “In the following weeks, melancholy gripped New Orleans, as people refused to accept the ‘customary verdict of nobody to blame.’….” (Kelman. A River and its City: The Nature of Landscape in New Orleans. 2003, pp. 85-86.) Lloyd: “A few minutes after five o’clock, on the evening of November 15, 1849, the steamboat Louisiana, Captain Cannon, lying at the foot of Gravier street, New Orleans, had completed all the preparations for her departure for St. Louis. She was laden with a valuable cargo, and had on board a large number of passengers. The last bell had rung, the machinery set in motion; but at that moment the boat disengaged herself from the wharf and began to back out into the river, all the boilers exploded with a concussion which shook all the houses for many squares around to their very foundations. The Louisiana was lying between two other steamers – the Bostona and Storm – the upper works of which were completely wrecked; their chimneys were carried away, and their cabins were shattered to small fragments. The violence of the explosion was such, that large pieces of the boilers were blown hundreds of yards from the wharf, falling on the levee and in different parts of the city. One of these iron fragments cut a mule in two, and then struck a horse and dray, killing both driver and horse instantly. “Another mass of iron, of considerable size, was projected into the corner of Canal and Front streets, two hundred yards from the exploded steamer, where it threw down three large iron pillars which supported to roof of the portico of a coffee-house…. “The steamer went down within ten minutes after the explosion; and it is thought that many citizens who went aboard to assist the wounded, sunk with the boat…. The most authentic accounts make the number of killed one hundred and fifty, and some estimates extend to two hundred. The mayor of New Orleans judged from his own observations and diligent inquiries on the spot, that one hundred and fifty lives were lost, at the lowest calculation. “The steamer Storm…was as almost completely wrecked as the [Louisiana]…itself and was driven out fifty yards from the wharf by the concussion. Several persons on board the Storm were killed or wounded. The captain himself was severely injured, but appeared on deck, his face covered with blood, and calmly gave directions for clearing the wreck, and bringing his boat back to the wharf. “The fragments of iron, and blocks and splinters of wood, which were sent with the rapidity of lightning from the ill-fated Louisiana, carried death and destruction in all directions. Persons were killed or wounded at the distance of two hundred yards from the boat….” (Lloyd. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. 1856, 225-231.) Way: “Bostona…[built] Louisville, Ky., 1849….She was at New Orleans when the Louisiana exploded alongside, Nov 15, 1849, and was badly damaged. Captain Dustin died several days after the blast….” “Louisiana…[built] Jeffersonville, Ind., by Howard, 1848. 240x31x7. Machinery was placed at Cincinnati, using old engines possibly from prior Louisiana. Owned by Capt. John W. Cannon and others. She was departing at the foot of Gravier St., New Orleans on Nov. 15, 1849, when her boilers exploded killed 86 persons. The boat was demolished and the two packets on either side, Bostona and Storm, also were wrecked.” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994… Steamboats…MS River System. 1994, pp. 59, 295.) Newspapers Nov 16: “One of the most deplorable catastrophes that ever occurred in the history of Steamboat explosions took place at our levee yesterday evening, a few minutes after 5 o’clock. “The steamboat Louisiana, Camp. Cannon, bound for St. Louis, loaded with valuable cargo, and having on board a large number of passengers had rung her last bell, and was just backing out from the wharf at the foot of Gravier street when the whole of her boilers burst with a tremendous explosion, which resounded throughout the city. The concussion was so great that it shook the houses to their foundation for many squares distant. The Louisiana was lying alongside the Bostona, Capt. Dustin, at the time of the disaster, and the steamer Storm, Capt. Hopkins, had just arrived from Louisville, coming in on her starboard side. The upper decks of these two steamers are a complete wreck, their chimneys having been carried away, and their cabins stove in and shattered in some places to atoms. “The violence of the explosion of the boilers was tremendous. A part of one of them, a mass of considerable size, was hurled with inconceivable force on the levee. It cut a mule in two, killed a horse and a driver of a dray to which they were attached, instantaneously. Another massive portion of the same, twelve feet long and of immense weight, was blown to the corner of Canal and Front sts., a distance of 200 yards at least, prostrating three large iron pillars which supported a wooden shed or awning which stood before the coffee-house there. Before coming in contact with the iron pillars, the fragment of the boiler cut through several bales of cotton, which lay in its passage making the staple scatter through the air as if it had been run through a cotton gin. “The news spread like wildfire, and our citizens rushed from all directions to the scene of the disaster. Already on our arrival, a number of bodies in every conceivable state of sad mutilation, had been dragged from the wreck, which were surrounded by the dense crowd that had assembled. Trucks and…carts were sent for, and the wounded were conveyed away to the hospital. The sight of the mangled bodies which strewed the levee on all sides, and the shrieks of the dying, were appalling, making the blood curdle with horror…. “The Louisiana sunk in about ten minutes after the explosion, and it is supposed many who went on board to assist the wounded were carried down with her. This, we judge, from the fact of several persons, who had escaped the first effects of the explosion, having jumped overboard at the time of her sinking, and were providentially saved…. “On board the Storm, the destruction of life was also terrible. Mrs. Moody, the wife of the first clerk, was standing on the guard, opposite the ladies’ cabin, and was instantly killed. The captain received a severe contusion in the head, but was not dangerously wounded. About twelve or fifteen persons were killed, and a large number wounded, some of whom will probably not recover…. “The fragments of iron and blocks of wood which were sent with the rapidity of lightning from the ill-fated Louisiana, carried death and destruction in all directions. Men were killed at the distance of two hundred yards. Legs, arms, and trunks were scattered over the levee…. “We understand that some news boys who had been selling papers on the Louisiana, and just got on shore, were killed. We saw the dead bodies of several lads, but the names as yet are unknown. Those who were near the spot at the time of the explosion state that bodies were blown as high as two hundred feet in the air, and fell in the river. One man, it was said, was blown through the pilot house of the Bostona, making a hole through the panels which might be mistaken for the work of a cannon ball. “The steamer Storm was very close to the Louisiana at the time of the explosion, and she was sent back by the concussion at least fifty yards into the stream. Her captain, though severely wounded, appeared on the hurricane deck, his face covered with blood, and coolly gave directions for bringing his boat again in shore…. “It is impossible to give anything like a precise account of the loss of life on this sad occasion. Some estimate it at fifty persons, some a hundred, whilst others assert that it is not less than two hundred men, women and children were killed or drowned. Mayor Crossman, who was on that part of the levee where the Louisiana lay, a little before 5 o’clock, and immediately proceeded thither when he heard the explosion, states that from observation and diligent inquiry, at least one hundred and fifty must have perished by this accident….” (New Orleans Picayune. “Terrible Steamboat Explosion…150 Persons Killed,” Nov 16, 1849.) Nov 23: “A dreadful steamboat explosion took place at New Orleans on the 15th inst., by which no less than two hundred lives were lost!... The sufferers are mostly newly arrived immigrants…. Capt. Kennan, of the Louisiana, has been arrested and held to bail in the sum of $8,000, the explosion being attributed to carelessness.” (Star and Banner, Gettysburg, PA. “Terrible Explosion and Loss of Life,” 11-23-1849.) Nov 29: “The recent explosion of the Boilers of the Louisiana, whereby between one and two hundred lives were lost, is stated to have been owing to the badness of the boilers. They had been used in two other condemned boats. This was known to several engineers, who refused to be employed on her.” (Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “The Explosion,” Nov 29, 1849, p. 5.) Sources Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972. Burlington Hawk-Eye, IA. “The Explosion,” Nov 29, 1849, p. 5. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com Daily Constitution, Augusta, GA. “Terrible Steam Boat Explosion.” 11-18-1849, p. 3. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/augusta-daily-constitutionalist-nov-18-1849-p-3/ De Bow, James Dunwoody Brownson (Ed.). Debow’s Review. “Steamboat Explosions in the West,” Vol. 2, Is. 3, Sep 1866. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: http://www.pddoc.com/skedaddle/049/steamboat_explosions_in_the_west.htm Fisher, Captain S.L., and Captain James McCord. “Steamboat Explosions for Fifty-Five Years.” In Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County, From the Earliest Periods to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Representative Men. In Two Volumes, Illustrated. Volume II (Chapter XXVII. Navigation on the Mississippi River). Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts & Co., 1883. Digitized by Northern Illinois University, NU Libraries Digitization Projects at: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.4487:4.lincoln Gould, E. W. Fifty Years on the Mississippi; or, Gould’s History of River Navigation. St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1889, 750 pages. Digitized by Google. Accessed 2008 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=udyywXOVBvsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Jones, A. C. “Account of the Explosion of the Steamboat Louisiana at New Orleans.” Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol. 49, Jan 1850, pp. 43-46. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=afA5AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Kelman, Ari. A River and its City: The Nature of Landscape in New Orleans. University of California Press, 2003. Digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=M8XQ3QcbqfMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Lloyd, James T. Lloyd’s Steamboat Directory and Disasters on the Western Waters. Cincinnati, Ohio: James T. Lloyd & Co., 1856. Digitized by Google. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JlYqAAAAYAAJ 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 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 Orleans Picayune. “Terrible Steamboat Explosion…150 Persons Killed,” 11-16-1849. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=34937624 Paterson Daily Press, NJ. “Steamboat Disasters.” 8-29-1883, p. 2. Accessed at: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hUZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gj4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6970,4060085&dq Patterson, Benton Rain. The Great American Steamboat Race. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc. 2009. Google preview at: http://books.google.com/books?id=78bq2MKZhwIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Simonds, W. E. (Editor). The American Date Book. Kama Publishing Co., 1902, 211 pages. Google digital preview accessed 9-8-2017 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=JuiSjvd5owAC Star and Banner, Gettysburg, PA. “Terrible Explosion and Loss of Life,” 11-23-1849, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=9551120 Tioga Eagle, Wellsboro PA. “Horrible Steamboat Disaster! 150 Lives Lost!” 11-28-1849, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=10973833 United States Congress, House of Representatives. Hearings Before the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, United States Congress (74th Congress, 1st Session). “Safety of Life and Property at Sea.” Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935. Accessed 8-9-2020 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Safety_of_Life_and_Property_at_Sea/l9xH_9sUuVAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=belle%20zane 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. Weekly Wisconsin, Milwaukee. “Murderous Steamboat Explosion…,” 11-21-1849, 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=120024289 Zanesville Courier, OH. “Telegraphed [Steamboat Louisiana explosion].” Nov 20, 1849, p. 2. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=13912071 Additional Information Whitney, Patty. “1849 Steamboat ‘Louisiana’ Explosion.” Bayou History Center, 3-17-2014. Accessed 9-27-2020 at: https://bayouhistorycenter.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/1849-steamboat-louisiana-explosion/