1865 — Nov 24, stmr. Niagara sinks after Post Boy collision, MS Riv. ~Prairie Point AR– 75

— 75 Blanchard estimated death toll.*

— >200 Waukesha Plaindealer, WI. “Adjutant Hunter’s Arrival Home,” Dec 5, 1865, p. 3.
— ~150 Bragg. Historic Names…Places on…Lower Miss. River. “Prairie Point, AR,” 1977, p96.
— 100 Army and Navy Journal, Dec 2, 1865, Vol. III, No. 16, p. 226.
— 100 Dubuque Democratic Herald, IA. “Steamboat Collision on the Miss…,” 11-26-1865, 1.
— 100 Waukesha Plaindealer, WI. “Summary of Telegrams,” Tuesday, Nov 28, 1865, p. 2.
— 75 Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. 1972, p. 286.
— 75 Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (U.S.). Report of… 1866, p. 287.
— 75 Lytle and Holdcamper. Merchant Steam Vessels of the [U.S.] 1807-1868. 1952, p. 270.
— 75 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 685.
— 75 The Arkansas News. “Disasters in Arkansas.” Fall 1991.
— 75 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]…1999, p347.

* Blanchard estimated death toll. Virtually all of the usually reliable sources note 75 deaths, with the exception of Bragg, who apparently followed newspaper reporting at the time, which exaggerated (apparently) the death toll. Thus, we choose to follow such sources as the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats and Lytle and Holdcamper.

Narrative Information

Berman: “Niagara. St.p. [Steam sidewheel packet]. 797 [tons]. 1864 [built]. Oct 20, 1865. Collided with Post Boy, above Helena, Ark. 75 lives lost.” (Berman (1972, 286.)

Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (U.S.). Report of…: “The steamers Post Boy and Niagara collided at the mouth of the St. Francis river, October 20, 1865, sinking the Niagara, and causing the loss of seventy-five (75) lives, and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) in property. The investigation of this case was referred by the local board at Memphis to the local board at St. Louis, Messrs. Schaffer and McGuire, the witnesses, all residing there; this was done at my request. I so informed to local board at St. Louis, and at the same time requesting the local board at Memphis to assist the St. Louis board in investigation one of the most shocking catastrophes that ever occurred on the western rivers. I also recommended that the license of the pilots be suspended until the case was examined and fully investigated, and to my surprise, in answer to my request and suggestions, I received a most insulting letter, and to this date no official report was ever received from them.” (Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats. 10-24-1866. Report of Sixth Supervising District (Louisville), p. 287.)

Bragg: “On November 24, 1865, there was a disastrous steamboat collision off Prairie Point. A northbound steamer, the Niagara, and a boat called the Post Boy were involved, and it was said that the pilots of the two boats had apparently had a misunderstanding about their passing signals. The Niagara was badly damaged in the collision and sank rapidly. About 150 black soldiers from the U.S. Army were on board and were said to have drowned when the boat went down. The disaster, like the explosion of the Sultana earlier in the same year, received only brief notice in contemporary newspapers. The press, the nation, and government authorities were still preoccupied at the time with the surrender of the South, the assassination of Lincoln, and post-war politics.” (Bragg. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. 1977, p. 96.)

Gaines: “Niagara, U.S. Side-wheel steamer, 797 tons, built in 1864 at Cincinnati. Collided with the Post Boy on November 20, 1865, above Helena, Ark., at the mouth of the St. Francis River, with seventy-five killed. The steamer carried many African-American soldiers returning home. Reported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1867 to be near Island No. 34, but was not a navigation hazard due to a shifted channel. (Chief of Engineers Report 1867, 391; MSV, 157, 285; WPD, 347. ).” (Gaines. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, 2008, p. 101.)

Way: Niagara. Sidewheel wood-hull packet, built in Cincinnati, OH, in 1864, at 797 tons. “…She was upbound [on the Mississippi] above Helena at the mouth of the St. Francis River on the clear night of Oct. 20, 1865, Capt. William Fitzgerald, with John Greenough, clerk. Met the Post Boy which veered and rammed Niagara with such force that the engineer stepped off his foot-board on to the forecastle of the Post Boy. Niagara had on board many black soldiers en route home. Holes were cut through the cabin floor to rescue 30 of them. Death toll was set at seventy-five. The Kate Hart, White River to Memphis, brought up survivors.” (Way, Frederick Jr., with contributions by Joseph W. Rutter. Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System Since the Advent of Photography in Mid-Continent America (Revised). 1999, p. 347.)

Newspapers

Nov 25: “Memphis, Nov. 25. A collision took place last night [Nov 24] between the Niagara and Post Boy on the Mississippi, seven miles above here. The Niagara sunk in 20 feet of water. 100 deck passengers, mostly discharged colored soldiers, were drowned. The cabin passengers and crew all saved. The Niagara was valued at $100,000 – no insurance, 200 tons of freight on board. Post Boy uninjured.” (Dubuque Democratic Herald, IA. “Steamboat Collision on the Miss…,” 26 Nov 1865, p. 1.)

Nov 28: “One of the most terrible steamboat disasters which it has been our lot to describe in many weeks occurred on the Mississippi near Helena, Ark., on Friday [Nov 24] night. The boats Niagara and Post Boy collided, the latter sinking immediately in twenty feet of water and carrying down with her one hundred colored soldiers, who, being on the lower deck, were all drowned…” (Waukesha Plaindealer, WI. “Summary of Telegrams,” Tuesday, Nov 28, 1865, p. 2.)

Dec 5, from letter of J.M. Hunter, a survivor of the Niagara sinking: “When about 8 miles above Helena, our boat, the Niagara, was run into by the Post Boy and went down in about 3 or 5 minutes. The accident took place about 9 in the evening….The stairs to the upper deck was narrow and blocked with people throwing each other back, trying to get up.—Another crowd was pouring on the bow of the Post Boy….the pilot, fearing the great load on the bow would put his boat down, turned the wheels back and parted from the wreck. A great loss of life at once took place….At least 200 people were drowned. The clerk of the Niagara came on the same boat with us to Cairo. He told me there was transportation furnished for 128 colored soldiers. All agree that not more than ten or twelve of these got out from between decks.” (Waukesha Plaindealer, WI. “Adjutant Hunter’s Arrival Home,” Dec 5, 1865, p. 3.)

Sources

Army and Navy Journal, Dec 2, 1865, Vol. III, No. 16, 226 [Sinking of the Niagara]. Accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=7KNMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

Berman, Bruce D. Encyclopedia of American Shipwrecks. Boston: Mariners Press Inc., 1972.

Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats (U.S.). Report of Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steamboats. 10-24-1866. Report of Sixth Supervising District (Louisville), p. 287. 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

Bragg, Marion. Historic Names and Places on the Lower Mississippi River. Vicksburg, MS: Mississippi River Commission, 1977. Accessed 9-15-2020 at: ftp://ftp.library.noaa.gov/noaa_documents.lib/NOAA_related_docs/US_Army/Mississippi_River_names_1977.pdf

Dubuque Democratic Herald, IA. “Steamboat Collision on the Mississippi River. One Hundred Lives Lost,” Nov 26, 1865, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=36104168

Gaines, W. Craig. Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2008.

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.

The Arkansas News. “Disasters in Arkansas,” Fall 1991. Accessed at: http://www.oldstatehouse.com/pdf/91Fall.pdf

Waukesha Plaindealer, WI. “Adjutant Hunter’s Arrival Home” [Survivor of Niagara Sinking], Dec 5, 1865, p. 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53186343

Waukesha Plaindealer, WI. “Summary of Telegrams” [Sinking of the Niagara], Tuesday, Nov 28, 1865, 2. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=53186338

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.