1833 Andrew Jackson - Rise in Steamboat Boiler Explosions

Aside from Indian attacks, the number one danger to River Travel was boiler explosions.  If the crew did not watch and maintain the boiler closely, pressure could build and result in a deadly explosion.  In 1833, there had only been a handful of these "fatal disasters", but according to Andrew Jackson they seemed to be "constantly increasing".

One of the more notable disasters was that of the Tennessee Steamboat Helen McGregor explosion on February 1830. It is estimated that number of lives lost was between thirty to 60, an amount that was unprecedented at the time.  With about 410 passengers on board the steam boat was on her way from New Orleans to Louisville when she stopped in Memphis on February 24, 1830.  While in the act of pushing off, one of the boilers bursted into a tremendous explosion. According to the Memphis Advocate, citizens of that town rushed into action.

"Our citizens rushed spontaneously to the scene of disaster, and, by their activity and exertion, rescued many a poor fellow from a watery grave. Houses were thrown open, oils, lints, bandages and blankets freely furnished for the use of the wounded, and some were seen even contending for, and claiming the responsibility of nursing and protecting such as they had been instrumental in saving. We take particular pleasure in noticing the activity of our physicians on this occasion, all of whom immediately repaired to the spot, nor ceased their labours until the wounded had received every attention and comfort which their situation required."   - Memphis Advocate 1830

In his fifth State of the Union Address, Jackson laid the blame for these explosions squarely on the captains of these vessels Jackson when he called attention to their "criminal negligence".  Today, President Jackson warnings of such disasters seem more prophetic. 32 years later the Sultana would explode and sink in the Mississippi river killing more than 1800 people just seven miles from Memphis Tennessee. Recent investigations into the disaster determined the cause to be the mismanagement of water levels in the boiler and the fact that ship was severely overcrowded.  Recent studies have blamed Reuben Hatch the quarter master who had a long history of corruption and incompetence, and only able to keep his job due to political connections.

"The many distressing accidents which have of late occurred in that portion of our navigation carried on by the use of steam power deserve the immediate and unremitting attention of the constituted authorities of the country. The fact that the number of those fatal disasters is constantly increasing, not withstanding the great improvements which are every where made in the machinery employed and in the rapid advances which have made in that branch of science, shows very clearly that they are in a great degree the result of criminal negligence on the part of those by whom the vessels are navigated and to whose care and attention the lives and property of our citizens are so extensively intrusted."

References

Presidency.ucsb.edu. 2020. Fifth Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fifth-annual-message-2> [Accessed 20 March 2020].

Gendisasters.com. 2020. Memphis, TN Steamboat HELEN Mcgregor Explodes, Feb 1830 | Gendisasters ... Genealogy In Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods. [online] Available at: <http://www.gendisasters.com/tennessee/6124/memphis-tn-steamboat-helen-mcgregor-explodes-feb-1830> [Accessed 20 March 2020].

Gould, E., 1889. Fifty Years On The Mississippi Or, Gould's History Of River Navigation. Containing A History Of The Introduction Of Steam As A Propelling Power On Ocean, Lakes And Rivers--The First Steamboats On The Hudson, The Delaware, And The Ohio Rivers--Navigation Of Western Rivers Before The Introduction Of Steam--Character Of The Early Navigators--Description Of Consecutive Boats, When And Where Built--Their Effect Upon The Settlement Of The Valley Of The Mississippi--Character And Speed Of Boats At Different Periods--Appropriations By Congress For The Improvement Of Western Water Ways--Floods In The Mississippi Valley For 150 Years--Mississippi River Commission And Its Work. Rapid Increase And Decline Of River Transportation. Causes Of The Decline--Destruction Of Steamboats On Western Waters--Biographies Of Prominent Steamboatmen ... Saint Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., p.445.