1865 — Oct 12, Steamer Yosemite boiler explosion, Sacramento River, Rio Vista, CA –55-68

–55-68 Blanchard estimated death toll range.*

— 140 City of Vacaville. Chronology of Some Disasters in Solano County History, p. 1.
–~100 Valley Community Newspapers. “Steamers were plentiful on river during 19th century.” 5-23-2013.
–~100 Willis. History of Sacramento County, California with Biographical Sketches. 1913, 208.
— 92 New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Six Months’ Catastrophes.” 11-14-1865, p. 3, col. 7.
— 68 Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (U.S.). Report of… 10-24-1866, p. 276.
–30 Chinese
–38 non-Chinese
— 57 Blanchard listing of fatalities following Narrative section.
— 55 California Department of Parks and Recreation. California In Time. Page 147.
— 55 Wikipedia. “Yosemite (sidewheeler).” 4-12-2020. Accessed 10-3-2020. (No source cited.)
— 54 NY Herald. “News From California. Fifty-four Lives Lost…Yo Semite.” 10-16-1865, p1.
–22 whites
–32 Chinese
— 51 Delta REvision. 1840-1879 docs. “Yosemite,” p. 117.
–29 Chinese
–22 Others
— >50 Osborne. “On the Sacramento River, a steamboat blows a boiler and more than fifty people are killed.”
— >50 Sacramento Daily Union. “Explosion of the Yosemite…Dead and Wounded.” 10-14-1865, p. 3.
— 45 Discover Rio Vista. “Delta Paddle Wheelers.” Sep-Dec 2018, pp. 6-7.
— 45 Schell, Hal. “When Paddlewheelers Steamboats Sloshed Through Delta Waterways.”
— >43 Sacramento History Museum and Tours Facebook page, 10-12-2019.
— 40 Chicago Tribune. “From the Pacific Coast. Awful Explosion…Yo Semite.” 11-8-1865, 2.

* Blanchard estimated death toll range. For the low-end of our own estimated death toll range we choose to rely on the California Department of Parks and Recreation document California In Time, and the estimated death toll found there of fifty-five. For the high-end of our range we choose to rely on the report of this event by the U.S. Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats, which notes sixty-eight deaths.

Our own attempt to create a listing, found just above the Sources section, shows fifty-seven fatalities. However, in that this is based on culling through newspaper articles, which frequently report names differently (thus leading to double-counting) we use, the CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation number of fifty-five as the low-end of our range. This attempt, does, though, lead us to be comfortable not using any of the estimates of fatalities shown here which are higher than 68.

Narrative Information

City of Vacaville, CA: “1865 The Yosemite blew up leaving Rio Vista. 140 passengers, many of them Chinese, were killed.” (Chronology of Some Disasters in Solano County History, p. 1.)

Delta Revision: “Yosemite. Steamship, 1319 tons, blew up at the wharf at Rio Vista, Killed 29 Chinese in the China Hold. Killed twenty-two others and injured 50. Ship was raised. Finally sunk in Puget Sound, 12 October 1865.” (1840-1879 docs. “Yosemite,” p. 117.)

Discover Rio Vista: “One of the Delta’s most beloved steamers was the side wheeler Yosemite, which also was the major player in perhaps the area’s largest maritime disaster involving riverboats. The 248-foot Yosemite was pulling away from the docks at Rio Vista on the evening of October 12, 1865 when her boilers let go, killing 45 persons.” (Discover Rio Vista. “Delta Paddle Wheelers.” Sep-Dec 2018, pp. 6-7.)

Sacramento History Museum: “October 12, 1865

“The steamship Yosemite exploded near Rio Vista on the Sacramento River, killing at least 43 people. The steamer was constructed in 1862 and traveled between San Francisco and Sacramento three days a week. Steamboat explosions were common in the 1850s and 1860s but the boilers on the Yosemite were supposed to be of a safer and lower pressure design. It was also reported not to be racing another steamboat like other explosions in the past. In a report made several days later, it was found that the boilers were defective but no criminal actions were taken against the crew of the ship. The California Steam Navigation Company was later sued for damages and did end up paying for treatment for those that were injured. The Yosemite was not damaged by the explosion and was back in operation by December 1865. The Yosemite was in operation until it was wrecked in 1909 in Washington. (Sacramento History Museum. “This Day in History.”)

U.S. Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats: “There has been one accident in this district [First] during the year by which life has been lost. On the 12th day of October, 1865, the starboard boil4r of the low-pressure steamer Yo Semite exploded immediately after the steamer had left the landing at Rio Vista, on her regular trip from Sacramento to San Francisco, causing the death of 68 persons, 30 of whom were Chinese deck passengers. This boiler, which was in the hold of the vessel, exploded on the upper part of the main shell, commencing at the foot of the steam-chimney and extending along the top of the boiler, and the fracture was of such a character as to leave it in much doubt what was in fact the immediate cause of the explosion. The evidence shows that there was a sufficient supply of water in both boilers at the time; and indeed there is not any reason to believe otherwise, as all the fire surfaces of the boiler remained in good condition after the explosion. The boilers of this steamer were only about two and a half years old, were nine feet in diameter, and made of iron of five-sixteenths of an inch in thickness, and were what is known as return tubular boilers. As is sometimes the case with boilers of this character, it was found that a very rapid corrosion of the iron of the whole upper portion of the shell above the water-line had taken place, wasting the iron away at the rate of about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness a year; and it is no uncommon occurrence in boilers constructed with tall steam-chimneys to convey the escaping heat from the furnaces through two decks of light wood-work, that the steam-chimney becomes cracked at its point attachment to the shell of the boiler from the continual expansion and contraction of the parts; and this occurs not unfrequently soon after the boiler is put into use and before the parts have become wasted by corrosion. This is remedied by patching. It is probable that this was the primary cause of the rupture in the case of the Yo Semite, and the iron at this part being unusually wasted, the crack extending through the wasted portion along the top of the boiler. All the engineers called on the examination, some of them of much experience, were unanimous in their testimony that they had never witnessed so rapid a corrosion of iron as had taken place in the shell of this boiler. The person who was in charge of the engine department of the steamer is a man of most reliable character – an industrious, attentive, and skillful engineer, who has been in the employ of this company for many years, and it was held that he could not be fairly charged with neglect or inattention under the circumstances….

“Many imperfections of construction in new boilers, and also defects arising from use, have, during the year, been discovered by examination and by the aid of the hydrostatic test, the great value of which, as an auxiliary means of determining the soundness of boilers, is becoming every year more widely acknowledged….Wm. Burnett, Supervising Inspector First District.” (p. 276)

Willis: “The Yosemite, Capt. Poole, suffered an explosion of a boiler on the first revolution of her wheels, s she left the wharf at Rio Vista October 12, 1865, with about one hundred fifty people on board. The cause of the explosion was defective iron, all the best iron having been kept in the east during the war for military purposes. About one hundred lives were lost, thirty two of them being Chinamen. The bulkheads were too strong to permit the steam to expand into the hull, so it pushed upward, making a great vacancy, into which the people fell. Captain Fourat, who recently retired from the river, pensioned by the Southern Pacific Company, was the pilot on that occasion, and the steamer Chrysopolis, upward bound, brought the dead and wounded to this city [Sacramento].” (Willis. History of Sacramento County, California with Biographical Sketches. 1913, p. 208.)

Newspapers

Oct 13-14: “{From the Alta California [San Francisco], Oct. 14.} We have this morning terrible news. The Yo Semite, on her downward trip from Sacramento, and while lying at Rio Vista, burst her boilers. It is reported that forty of her passengers have been killed and many were wounded. It is supposed that the cause of the catastrophe was the neglect to let off steam while the boat was lying at the wharf. The following is a copy of the dispatch received by the Navigation Company:

“Sacramento, Oct. 13 – 8 A.M.

“Capt. James Whitney: The Yo Semite burst her starboard boiler at Rio Vista Wharf, last
evening.

“Her upper works forward are a complete wreck.

“The Chrysopolis brought up thirty wounded and five dead.

“Captain Poole and Crew remain on her.

“Send up a boat to tow her down.

“Captain Poole, Enos Fourat (Pilot), and Johnson (Clerk), are almost unhurt.

“Paurkyte (Engineer), and Creigh (Freight Clerk), are worse injured.
[signed] W. H. Taylor.

“The following details are gathered from private dispatches:

“Among the killed are Mr. Henry Regensburger, residence corner of Pine and Stockton streets, and Mr. Lindauer, of Lindauer & Hirschman.
“Mr. A Fenkhausen, liquor dealer, is reported badly scalded.

“Wells, Fargo & Co.’s letter messenger, Colden Cooper, was blown across the river, but was not injured. He immediately swam back to render all the assistance in his power. Wells & Fargo’s regular messenger, William Ahearn, also escaped.

“The treasure, which consisted of silver bars and hold, to the weight of almost a ton, is safe. The stanchions were blown off, and the whole mass capsized into the hold.

“The Chrysopolis took up the wounded and dead to Sacramento, where the former were placed under the care of the Howard Benevolent Society.

“By a dispatch received by his son, we learn that Mr. Seaton, State Senator elect from Amador county, was killed.

Statement Of Mr. Barnes, One Of The Passengers.

“Sacramento, Oct. 13. – The following was prepared by Wm. W. Barnes, one of the passengers, and is as full a report as can be gathered up to the present:

“The injured are being cared for by our citizens. They were taken to the old Courtroom, corner J and Fourth. Geo. Seaton expired soon after his arrival here. [Senator elect George W. Seaton.]

“Byron Crosley, of Strawberry Valley was among the killed.

“We can learn of no further deaths at present.

Office Steamer ‘Chrysopolis,’ Friday, Oct. 13th – 2 a.m.

“Editors Union:

“I undertake a painful duty in attempting to give you a description of the terrible disaster on the steamer Yo Semite, which occurred at the Rio Vista landing last evening, and from which I providentially escaped.

“A few minutes past 6 p.m., as the steamer was leaving the landing, the boiler exploded, throwing all the upper cabin, pilot-house, and everything forward of the smoke stack into a total wreck, creating a scene of death and disorder most terrible to look upon, and which I will not attempt to describe. All I can hope to do in this letter will be to give you as correctly as possible the terrible record of the killed and wounded.

J. H. Myers, comedian, of Maguire’s Opera House – killed.
J. M. Fallon, Treasurer of Maguire’s Opera House – killed.
Major, machinist, of Maguire’s Opera House – killed.
Wm. H. Stephens, of Maguire’s Opera House – killed.
Washburgh, musician, of Maguire’s Opera House – slightly scalded.
J. H. Barnes, killed.
F. S. Sutherland, Bank of British North America – missing.
_____ Decker, of Central Pacific Railroad Company – missing.
A Lindauer, of Virginia, Nevada – missing.
_____ McCreary, badly scalded. [W. P. McCreary of Sacramento later reported as dead.]
Geo. L. Smith, badly scalded.
Polk Hughes, badly scalded.
Dennis Driscoll, deck hand, badly scalded.
James P. Dunn, leg broken.
Jennings, check-taker, badly scalded.
D. Barret, discharged soldier from Gen Grant’s army, badly scalded.
Thomas Collins, an old resident of San Francisco, badly scalded.
Joseph Middleton [unclear], of Virginia, Nevada, slightly scalded and injured.
Four Chinamen badly scalded.
Joe Buller, chief cook, slightly scalded.
Peter Burke, cook, badly scalded.
George Bower, of Charleston, badly scalded, not expected to live – made his will on board
the Chrysopolis.
William Wilkinson, deck boy, badly scalded and injured.
S. M. Creigh, clerk of the Yo Semite, slightly scalded.
Capt. E. A. Poole, of the Yo Semite, was thrown from the boiler deck forward to the main
deck, but received no serious injury.
S. Hesse, of Sacramento, cut in the face.
A. Fenkhausen, of San Francisco, badly scalded and wrist broken.
J. W. Haskin, late Senator from Mono, was blown into the river and swam to the opposite
shore. Slight contusion.
G. W. Bowen, of Sacramento, badly scalded.
E. L. Hastings, of McArran & Kelly, slightly scalded.
George L. Smith, of Boston, badly scalded.
George Christy, leg broken and badly scalded.
Charles Lewis Smith had a check, No. 71, in his pocket for $91, twenty-five cents in coin,
and a trunk key, all of which are in charge of the steward. He had a brother-in-law
in California, named Sheldon Burbank.
G. W. Bowen, very badly scalded, has a mother (Sarah Bowen) living at Charlestown,
Mass.; has lived for the last two years in Arizona.
_____ Sweetapple; head cut slightly, Superintendent of a mill at Dayton, Nevada.
John Ramsen, of Sacramento, slightly scalded in the back of the head.
Jimmy Griffiths, slightly cut in the head and scalded on the leg.
Charles Wilkins, of Sacramento, slightly scalded and bruised.
William Rogers, killed.
Three white men, names unknown. [?]
H. Wiskoski, of Virginia City, Nevada, scalded.
E. Jacobs, of Sacramento foot broken.
Cooper, messenger of Wells, Fargo & Co., was in his office, and was blown nearly to the
opposite shore, and returned uninjured.
Michael Clancy, badly scalded.
Patrick Crowell, coal passer, killed.
Capt. W. Campbell, of Gilling, Mott & Co., badly bruised.
Wm. Sharon, President of Branch Bank of California at Virginia, slight contusion.
Capt. Ager, of San Francisco, badly burned.
L. J. Chase, known as Yankee Jims, as King, leg broken and scalded.
Janson, of Janson, Bond & Co., scalded and ankle slightly injured.
Robert Barerphyte, chief engineer of the Yo Semite, badly scalded.

“In addition to this list, there was known to have been twenty or twenty-five Chinamen in the hold of the steamer. Their fate is as yet uncertain, as it was impossible to clear away the wreck before the Chrysopolis took the ill-fated passengers.

“It is believed there are several of the missing passengers under the ruins of the cabin.

“You will readily understand that, in the confusion arising from the disaster, it is impossible that this can be a full account, as many must have been lost who had no friends or acquaintances on board to tell the tale.

“The injury sustained by the Yo Semite is not yet fully ascertained. The forward cabin is entirely demolished, but the hull is supposed to be uninjured.

“At the moment of the explosion, the safety-valve was blowing off steam, under a pressure of twenty-four pounds. The Yo Semite’s certificate allows thirty-five pounds.

“The steamer had been detained from five to seven minutes at the landing, on account of the quarterly settlement with the Postmaster, and had just commenced to back from the landing.

“The only plausible conjecture which has been given as a cause for the explosion, was the rush of the passengers to the shore side, causing a list which threw the water too much to one side of the boiler.” (Chicago Tribune. “From the Pacific Coast. Awful Explosion of the Steamer Yo Semite. Forty Passengers Killed.” 11-8-1865, p. 2, col. 5.)

Oct 14: “San Francisco, Oct. 14, 1865. The loss of life by the explosion of the boiler of the steamer Yo Semite proves greater than at first reported. Twenty-two whites and thirty-two Chinamen were killed and thirty-two whites wounded. Some additional names of the killed are James H. Barnes, of New Hampshire; Henry M. Dakin, of New York; Louis Lillie (he has a brother in Wisconsin); C. C. Jacks, of San Francisco; G. L. Smith, of Boston.” (New York Herald. “News From California. Fifty-four Lives Lost by the Explosion of the Yo Semite.” 10-16-1865, p. 1.)

Recapitulation of Fatalities Identified in Sources Above

1. Barnes, James H.; from New Hampshire.
2. Bowen, G. W., of Charlestown, MA; died at Court room.
3. Butler, Joseph; chief cook of the Yosemite, died of scalding injuries.
4. Crosley, Byron; 12 years old; of Strawberry Valley, then San Francisco.
5. Crowell (or Connell), Patrick; coal passer.
6. Dakin, Henry M.; of New York. (Another sources notes E. Daken of San Fran., missing.)
7. Decker. With Central Pacific Railroad Co.; missing.
8. Fallon, J. M.; treasurer of Maguire’s Opera House.
9. Glancy, Michael; died at Courthouse from scalding; left wife and two children in S.F.
10. Jacks, C. C., of San Francisco.
11. Kelly, Edward. Steward on the boat; died at Courthouse; left wife and two children in S.F.
12. Lillie, Louis; had a brother in Wisconsin.
13. Lindauer, Mr.; of Lindauer & Hirschman.
14. Major, H. Machinist with Maguire’s Opera House.
15. McCreary, W. P., of Sacramento.
16. Myers, J. H.; comedian with Maguire’s Opera House.
17. Regensburger, Mr. Henry; of San Francisco.
18. Rogers, William A.; of Jackson, Amador County.
19. Seaton, Mr. George W. State Senator-elect from Amador County; died in Sacramento.
20. Smith, Charles Lewis. (There is also noted a G. L. Smith of Boston – possibly the same.)
21. Stephens, William H.; with Maguire’s Opera House. (Also known as William Carnagie.)
22. Sutherland, F. S.; with Bank of British North America; missing.
23. Unknown white man, 50, 180 lbs., 5’8”, light complexion, slightly grey beard on chin.
24. Unknown brother #1 of 2, from Milwaukee, brother-in-law of W. Lavies of Virginia City.
25. Unknown brother #1 of 2, from Milwaukee, brother-in-law of W. Lavies of Virginia City
26. Unknown Chinese man, died on the Chrysopolis on way to Sacramento.

32 Unnamed Chinese.

Sources

Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (United States). Report of Board of Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats. 10-24-1866, Report of First Supervising District (San Francisco), p. 278. In: Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of The Finance for the Year 1866. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1866. p. 276. Accessed 9-18-2020 at: https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/annual-report-secretary-treasury-state-finances-194/report-secretary-treasury-state-finances-year-1866-5510/report-board-supervising-inspectors-steamboats-238234

California Department of Parks and Recreation. California In Time. Page 147. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/735/files/ca%20timeline–civil%20war–with%20images%20draft2.pdf

Chicago Tribune. “From the Pacific Coast. Awful Explosion of the Steamer Yo Semite. Forty Passengers Killed.” 11-8-1865, p. 2, col. 5. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/chicago-tribune-nov-08-1865-p-2/

City of Vacaville, CA. Chronology of Some Disasters in Solano County History. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://www.ci.vacaville.ca.us/home/showdocument?id=1286

Discover Rio Vista. “Delta Paddle Wheelers.” Sep-Dec 2018, pp. 6-7. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://discoverriovista.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Sep-Dec-2018.pdf

New Albany Daily Ledger, IN. “Six Months’ Catastrophes.” 11-14-1865, p. 3, col. 7. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-albany-daily-ledger-nov-14-1865-p-3/

New York Herald. “News From California. Fifty-four Lives Lost by the Explosion of the Yo Semite.” 10-16-1865, p. 1. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-herald-oct-16-1865-p-1/

Osborne, John. “On the Sacramento River, a steamboat blows a boiler and more than fifty people are killed.” Accessed 10-3-2020 at: http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/44824

Sacramento Daily Union, CA. “Explosion of the Yosemite. The Dead and Wounded. Further Particulars.” 10-14-1865, p. 3. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18651014.2.13&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–1

Sacramento History Museum. “This Day in History.” Accessed 10-3-2020 at: http://sachistorymuseum.org/events/field-trips/fun-facts/

Sacramento History Museum and Tours Facebook page, 10-12-2019. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://www.facebook.com/SacramentoHistoryMuseum/posts/on-this-day-in-1865-the-steamship-yosemite-exploded-near-rio-vista-on-the-sacram/10157726968967769/

Schell, Hal. “When Paddlewheelers Steamboats Sloshed Through Delta Waterways.” Created for the California Delta Chambers. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: http://www.riverboatdaves.com/docs/csteamboats.html

Valley Community Newspapers. “Steamers were plentiful on river during 19th century.” 5-23-2013. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://www.valcomnews.com/steamers-were-plentiful-on-river-during-19th-century/

Wikipedia. “Yosemite (sidewheeler).” 4-12-2020. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_(sidewheeler)

Willis, William L. History of Sacramento County, California with Biographical Sketches. Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1913, p. 208. Accessed 10-3-2020 at: https://www.cagenweb.org/sacramento/resources/historyofsacramento.pdf