Trending
On Monday evening June 3, 1816, Henry Shreve’s new steamboat WASHINGTON, built at Wheeling, cast off on its long maiden journey to New Orleans. She was built along Wheeling Creek; wood for the boat came from old Fort Henry. Florence Dorsey, Henry’s daughter, in Master of the Mississippi: (She) sat on the water like a great aquatic bird…Niles’ Weekly Register: She is 148 feet in length. Her main cabin is sixty feet; she has three handsome private rooms, besides a commodious bar room. She is furnished in very superior style…'”
Shreve’s years on the river had taught him the engineering features needed for a successful steamboat. His revolutionary designs - some ridiculed by boat "experts" – gave the WASHINGTON more power, a shallower draft, drastically lighter weight, a separate deck for passengers, and greater fuel efficiency than any other steamboat. It became the standard for all future steamboats. That's why Wheeling claims to be the "Birthplace of the American Steamboat." Wheeling residents wanted Shreve to name her “Andrew Jackson.” Shreve helped General Jackson move men and supplies with the steamboat ENTERPRISE just before the Battle of New Orleans in December 1814. Shreve said he preferred “Washington” because “She is the first of a new class.”
The WASHINGTON arrived at Marietta on June 7. Mariettans knew about captain Henry Shreve. He was a frequent visitor, having first stopped here years before on his keelboat as a quiet 22-year-old dressed “in sober gray and a wide brim hat.” People now crowded the waterfront to see his new and unusual vessel.
Two days later the WASHINGTON prepared to depart Marietta. Boilers were fired and steam raised. A crowd watched as the boat cast off. But something was wrong. The steam engines were not yet engaged, and WASHINGTON drifted out of control toward the Virginia shore. The crew threw out an anchor to stop her from running aground. Then all crew gathered on the stern to reorient the boat by pulling on the fixed anchor. Just then, by a cruel twist of fate, the boiler closest to the stern exploded spewing scalding water on them. Some, including Shreve, were blown overboard.
Marietta physicians and many others rushed to the boat. Lloyds Steamboat Disasters: "... no language can describe the scene of misery and torture...The deck was strewn with mangled and writhing human beings, uttering screams and groans… Some, more fortunate than their companions, lay still in the embrace of death. Among the wounded, six or eight, under the influence of their maddening torments, had torn off their clothes, to which (their) entire skin adhered; the eyes of others had been put out, and their faces were (disfigured) by the scalding water. But the greatest sufferers...were those who had ...(inhaled) the scalding steam, the effect of which on the lungs is agonizing beyond all the powers of imagination to conceive..."
Thirteen people died; several more were injured. Marietta citizens made arrangements for the injured and dead. The explosive build-up of pressure was caused by failure to release steam to the engines (reason unknown) and a jammed pressure relief valve. Surprisingly, very little else on the boat was damaged besides the boiler. The WASHINGTON was refitted and continued her trip in September and operated for 15 more years.
She had many "firsts" in steamboat history: First modern engineering design, first two-deck boat with a dedicated passenger area (including bar!), record-setting 25-day trip Louisville to New Orleans and back, first to demonstrate steamboat viability for upriver travel with full cargo and passengers, and the tragic first at Marietta: the first steamboat boiler explosion with loss of life on inland rivers. Despite a rough start, Henry Shreve's dream came true.