Washoe (steamboat) - Misplaced Pages

Boilers exploded 1864 in California

Washoe was an 1864 steamboat of the Sacramento River watershed in California, United States.

History

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. The explosion of 9 p.m. on September 5, 1864, resulted in 54 confirmed deaths and 67 missing passengers. Other accounts have the confirmed death toll from 70 to more than 80. The history of Sacramento County published in 1890 pegs the deal toll at close to 90. According to the New York Times, "the engineer said before he died that the cause of the explosion was rotten iron in the boiler." According to another report, Washoe was racing Chrysopolis at the time of the explosion. 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. 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.

References

^ "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.
^ 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.

v t e Steamboats of California
Particular vessels	Annie Abernathy Antelope Aquilo (yacht) City of Sacramento Bayocean Black Hawk Capital Captain Sutter Chrysopolis City of Seattle Delta King Delta Queen Eureka El Dorado El Primero George E. Starr General Frisbie Georgiana Goliah Hartford Governor Dana Ilwaco Issaquah Jack Hays Klamath (inland steamboat) Ocean Wave Magdalena McKim Mint Monarch New World Pioneer Rabboni Rosalie Sacramento San Rafael SS Senator Sitka Telephone Wallamet Washington Washoe Wilson G. Hunt Yosemite
Ferries of San Francisco Bay	Clinton Contra Costa Oakland Piedmont Solano Thoroughfare Transit Ukiah
Steamboat lines	Aspinwall Steam Transportation Line California Steam Navigation Company Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company George A. Johnson & Company Pacific Mail Steamship Company Simmons, Hutchinson & Company
Water routes	California Coast Colorado River San Francisco Bay Sacramento River San Joaquin River
Owners and captains	Joseph Barnard Benjamin M. Hartshorne George A. Johnson William Leidesdorff Charles Minturn James Turnbull Issac Warren
Builders	Domingo Marcucci John G. North Henry Owens Austin Hills Patrick Henry Tiernan
Shipyards	Hunters Point North's Shipyard Potrero Point Rincon Point Steamboat Point Sutter Iron Works Tichenor's Ways Union Iron Works Yerba Buena Cove
Lists of vessels	List of steamboats on the Colorado River List of steamboats and steam ferries on San Francisco Bay List of steamboats on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries
Steamboats in other areas	Columbia River Willamette River Oregon Coast Yaquina Bay and river Coquille River Cowlitz River Puget Sound Lake Washington Grays Harbor Chehalis River Hoquiam River Willapa Bay Columbia River (Wenatchee Reach) Lake Crescent Arrow Lakes Upper Fraser River Skeena River

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References