Washoe (steamboat)
Washoe was an 1864 steamboat of the Sacramento River watershed in California, United States.
History[edit]
Washoe suffered a catastrophic boiler explosion six months after she was launched. She was heading upriver from San Francisco to Sacramento when the boilers blew near Steamboat Slough, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Rio Vista.[1] The explosion of 9 p.m. on September 5, 1864, resulted in 54 confirmed deaths and 67 missing passengers.[2] Other accounts have the confirmed death toll from 70 to more than 80.[3][1][4] The history of Sacramento County published in 1890 pegs the deal toll at close to 90.[5] According to the New York Times, "the engineer said before he died that the cause of the explosion was rotten iron in the boiler."[6] According to another report, Washoe was racing Chrysopolis at the time of the explosion.[7] Mark Twain was a news writer for the San Francisco Call at the time and wrote up the newspaper's mournful coverage of the tragedy.[4] Owner Captain Kidd had her salvaged and restored and she steamed again until 1878 when a catastrophic fire put her out of service for good.[8]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Explosion on board the Washoe". The Sacramento Bee. 1864-09-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ "Days Gone By: 1864: Paddle-wheeler Washoe's boilers explode on S.F.-Sacramento trip". The Mercury News. 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ "Steamboat Catastrophe—Explosion of the Boiler of the Steamer Washoe". Chico Weekly Chronicle-Record. 1864-09-10. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ a b Secrest, William B. Jr.; Seacrest, William B. Sr. (2006). "1864: Explosion of the Washoe". California Disasters, 1812-1899: Firsthand Accounts of Fires, Shipwrecks, Floods, Epidemics, Earthquakes and Other California Tragedies. Quill Driver Books. pp. 106–109. ISBN 978-1-884995-49-1.
- ^ Davis, Winfield J. (1890). An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California: Containing a History of Sacramento County from the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time, Together with Glimpses of Its Prospective Future ... Portraits of Some of Its Most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of Many of Its Pioneers and Also Prominent Citizens of Today. Lewis Publishing Company.
- ^ "From the Pacific Coast". The New York Times. 1864-09-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
- ^ Canavit, Jerry (2017). "Steamboat Racing and Boiler Explosions" (PDF). steamboats.org. p. 4.
- ^ A Map and Record Investigation of HISTORICAL SITES AND SHIPWRECKS ALONG THE SACRAMENTO RIVER Between Sacramento City and Sherman Island (PDF) (Report). California State Lands Commission. 1988. p. 153.
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