1870 — Dec 18, steamer Nick Wall snags and sinks Mississippi River, near Napoleon AR–39

–~40 Bragg. Historic Names…Places on…Lower Miss. Riv. “Grand Lake Cutoff,” 1977, p. 139.
— 39 Nash, Fran. Georgetown [PA] Steamboats [website]. “Str. Nick Wall.”
— 39 NYT. “Steamboat Disasters. Thirty-Nine…Drowned…Loss of…Nick Wall…,” 12-23-1870.
— 39 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, p. 348.
— 20 NYT. “A Mississippi Disaster…Steam-Boat Nick Wall Snagged and Sunk.” 22 Dec 1870.

Narrative Information

Bragg: “Grand Lake Cutoff. Mile 511.0 AHP, Map 28….Just above Princeton [MS], at Mayland Landing, there was another spectacular steamboat accident in 1870. The steamer Nick Wall, which had been built the previous year, was caught in a high wind and blown on a snag. The boat sank rapidly, and about 40 people drowned. It was said that most of the dead had been deck passengers en route for Texas, where they had hoped to find new homes and more prosperity than they had enjoyed on the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.” (Bragg. Historic Names…Places on… Lower Miss. Riv. “Grand Lake Cutoff,” 1977, p. 139.)

Nash: “The Nick Wall, a trim sternwheel wooden hull packet built in Pittsburgh, PA in 1869 (180×33×5) and rated at 388 tons, was named to honor the famed Missouri River captain Nicholas Wall. Owned by Capt. Jackman T Stockdale, Capt. Thomas W Poe, and others from Georgetown, the Nick Wall was designed for Missouri River commerce – the best mountain boat of the time according to Fredrick Way’s Packet Directory….

“On Sunday night Dec 18, 1870, the Nick Wall met a tragic end when it snagged and sunk near Napoleon, AR with 15 cabin and 135 deck passengers. Here a grisly incident occurred that Mark Twain retold in “Life on the Mississippi”. Though injured himself by the falling roof Capt. Thomas W Poe attempting to save his wife trapped in a stateroom chopped a hole in the roof with an ax striking the unfortunate Martha Jane Poe in the head… Her body was returned to Georgetown for burial. Thirty-nine lives, nine cabin and thirty deck passengers, were lost including Capt. Poe’s nephew, Charles McClure.

“At the time of the wreck, the Nick Wall was downbound between St Louis and New Orleans. Many of the passengers were Texas bound having boarded in Memphis and St Louis. Most had lost their property and other belongings during the Civil War and as a result decided to immigrate to Texas to begin anew. In addition to her passengers, the Nick Wall carried a cargo of 3,000 barrels of flour, 900 barrels of pork, and forty wagons. The Nick Wall floated three miles when the Capt. JD Clark master of the Seminole rescued many of the survivors.” (Nash, Fran. Georgetown [PA] Steamboats [website]. “Str. Nick Wall.”)

Way: Nick Wall. Sternwheel wood-hull packet, built at Pittsburgh in 1869 at 338 tons, measuring 180 x 33 x 5. “….Was downbound near Napoleon, Ark., St. Louis to New Orleans when snagged night of Dec. 18, 1870, with 15 cabin passengers and 135 on deck, many of whom were Texas-bound from North Carolina and Georgia having boarded at Memphis. The wreck floated three miles when the Seminole happened along and took off survivors. Capt. Poe, to rescue his wife trapped in a stateroom filled with water, seized an axe, chopped a hole in the roof overhead, and in doing so gashed Mrs. Poe’s head and brought her out unconscious. She died. Her remains were returned to Georgetown, Pa., for burial. Mark Twain reported this incident in Life On the Mississippi. Thirty-nine lives were lost….” (Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats of the Mississippi River System… 1999, pp. 348-349.)

Newspapers

NYT, Dec 21: “Vicksburg, Dec. 21.—The steamer Nick Wall, from St. Louis, for Vicksburg, struck a snag, on Sunday night, at Grand Lake. Her cabin fell in and floated four miles away from the hull. The steamer is a total loss. The hull is tied up at Maryland Landing. Her freight is badly damaged. She had 125 deck and 15 cabin passengers. Seventeen dead bodies have been recovered, and many others are supposed to have been lost….

“Further Particulars….St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 21.—A private dispatch from the clerk of the steamer Nick Wall…says that twenty lives were lost….She was laden with 3,000 barrels of flour and a large lot of assorted freight for Red River.” (NYT. “A Mississippi Disaster…Steam-Boat Nick Wall Snagged and Sunk.” 12-22-1870.)

NYT, Dec 22: “St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 22.—A special dispatch from Vicksburg says that nine cabin and thirty deck passengers were lost on the steamer Nick Wall. Capt. Poe released his wife from the cabin, which was full of water, by cutting a hole through the deck directly over Mrs. Poe. She received a gash on the head from the ax employed by her husband, and was brought out in an insensible condition, but was restored….” (NYT. “Steamboat Disasters. Thirty-Nine…Drowned …Loss of…Nick Wall…,” 12-23-1870, p. 1.)

Sources

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

Nash, Fran. Georgetown [PA] Steamboats. “St. Nick Wall.” Accessed 7/24/2010 at: http://georgetownsteamboats.com/gs/steamer-prologue/the-steamer-nick-wall/

New York Times. “A Mississippi Disaster. The Steam-Boat Nick Wall Snagged and Sunk—Seventeen Dead Bodies Recovered—Many Others Believed to Have Been Drowned.” 12-22-1870, 4. At: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C02E7D91431EF34BC4A51DFB467838B669FDE

New York Times. “Steamboat Disasters. Thirty-Nine Passengers Drowned by the Loss of the Nick Wall on the Mississippi,” 12-23-1870, p. 1. Accessed 10-10-2020 at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980DE4DC1F3CE13BBC4B51DFB467838B669FDE

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.