Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
Fire and explosion on Mississippi River, 1837
Conflagration and explosion of the Ben Sherod (etching published 1846)
The Ben Sherod was an American steamboat that caught fire and then exploded on May 8, 1837, about 30 mi (48 km) south of Natchez, Mississippi. The fire ignited explosions of barrels of whiskey and brandy, and 39 barrels of gunpowder. The ship's boilers ultimately blew up as well. An estimated 175 people died of roughly 225 aboard. She had been steaming from New Orleans to Louisville.
.jpg)