The Dark Side of Steamboat Travel: The Disasters that Claimed Thousands of Lives on the Mississippi River

Send us Fan Mail

Steamboats revolutionized travel, dramatically shortening the time it took to get from place to place. When we think of the peak period of steamboat travel, we often picture images of tall boats with lacy trim and passengers dressed in finery relaxing in elegant lounges. But those steamboats were also prone to catastrophic failure that even the well-heeled passengers couldn’t escape. In this episode, I describe the threats that steamboat passengers and crew faced every day: the dangers of floating debris in the river, worries about boat-engulfing fires, and the terror of a boiler explosion. I share a few first-hand accounts from survivors of steamboat disasters and describe a boiler explosion inflicted terrible suffering on one of our most beloved personalities, Mark Twain.